Environmental Policy and Governance最新文献

{"title":"From Spectators to Co-Managers: Understanding Smallholder Farmers' Climate Adaptation Through Bounded Rationality and Institutional Logics","authors":"Enoch Yeleliere,&nbsp;Emmanuel Frimpong Boamah","doi":"10.1002/eet.70114","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/eet.70114","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 <p>Smallholder farmers in the Guinea Savannah region of Ghana face multiple climate stressors, including droughts and floods. Farmers navigate these climate stressors by making adaptation decisions based on limited information, cognitive constraints, and time pressures, circumstances that reflect bounded rationality. The study moves beyond traditional “rational choice” models to explain how farmers make “satisficing,” practical, and context-specific decisions based on limited information, cognitive constraints, and time pressures, and the role of institutional logics in shaping farmers' adaptation choices. The empirical analysis draws on a phenomenological qualitative design and semi-structured interviews with 36 farmers across nine farming communities in three districts within Ghana's Guinea Savannah zone. The findings suggest that farmers draw on local awareness, ecological memory, and indigenous knowledge to manage climate stressors. In managing climate stressors, farmers make boundedly rational adaptation decisions through procedural rationality, heuristics, and ecological rationality. Such decisions are mediated by institutional logics, specifically the logics of appropriateness, consequentiality, and meaningfulness, which can either marginalize farmers to become spectators or empower them to become “co-managers” of environmental change. The paper argues that climate policy design should incorporate the realism of psychological regularities to enhance adaptation governance. Doing so will strengthen adaptation governance by reinforcing state capacities to recognize, legitimize, and promote locally relevant knowledge and adaptation strategies. This perspective offers a more realistic and empowering approach to adaptation co-management, particularly in vulnerable agricultural communities.</p>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":47396,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Policy and Governance","volume":"36 5","pages":"1346-1364"},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2026-10-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149099506","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Collective Decision-Making and Institutional Configurations in Polycentric Environmental Governance","authors":"Kirsten Hegsvold","doi":"10.1002/eet.70091","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/eet.70091","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Why do formally similar polycentric governance arrangements differ in their governance performance, and how do institutional configurations of enabling conditions account for these differences? [Correction added on 07 July 2026, after first online publication: The preceding sentence has been updated.] This article examines variation in governance performance across three metropolitan regions in Norway operating under the national Urban Growth Agreement (UGA) framework and pursuing the shared objective of zero growth in private car traffic. Drawing on participatory observation of steering group meetings, three rounds of elite interviews, and document analysis, the study analyzes how polycentric governance operates in practice. Building on the Institutional Analysis and Development framework and Carlisle and Gruby's concept of enabling conditions, it argues that variation in governance performance is explained less by whether enabling conditions are present than by how they are configured across decision arenas. The findings identify three governance configurations: one characterized by structured bargaining and distributive tensions, one by stable coordination supported by technical expertise and consensus-oriented procedures, and one by consensus-constrained adaptation shaped by territorial balancing. The findings show that institutional configurations of enabling conditions shape adaptive capacity, institutional fit, and redundancy in polycentric urban climate governance systems.</p>","PeriodicalId":47396,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Policy and Governance","volume":"36 5","pages":"1203-1218"},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2026-10-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/eet.70091","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149099559","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Integrating Traditional Ecological Knowledge Into Forest Governance: Pathways to Sustainable Development in Protected Forest Ecosystems","authors":"Yao Yang,&nbsp;Sani Abubakar Mashi,&nbsp;Nnachi Ikwou Nnachi","doi":"10.1002/eet.70117","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/eet.70117","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 <p>Traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) of forest communities plays a vital role in sustainable development by sustaining biodiversity, enhancing climate resilience, securing livelihoods through practices such as sacred groves and agroforestry, and supporting integrated forest management (IFM). It directly advances SDGs 1, 2, 5, 13, 15, and 16 by promoting food security, gender equality, climate adaptation, biodiversity conservation, and strong institutional governance. Despite longstanding recognition of TEK's ecological value, limited attention has been given to how it is embedded within governance systems, particularly in major protected areas where institutional and sociopolitical dynamics shape the TEK–science–governance interface. Using the social–ecological systems (SES) framework and a mixed-methods approach, this study examined four forest-dependent communities in the Okwango Division of Cross River National Park, Nigeria. Findings reveal that although knowledge holders are predominantly middle-aged men, women play critical roles in non-timber forest products (NTFPs) management and intergenerational knowledge transfer, and long-term married residents serve as key custodians of culturally embedded practices such as taboos, sacred sites, and agroforestry. However, TEK remains marginalized within centralized, state-led governance structures characterized by minimal participation, insecure land tenure, and a lack of legal recognition. The study provides both theoretical and empirical insights into how TEK can be effectively integrated with scientific forest management to advance sustainable forest policy development. It concludes that embedding TEK within inclusive, legally recognized, and participatory hybrid governance systems can strengthen resilience, adaptive management, and equity and recommends legal recognition of customary tenure, co-management frameworks, youth engagement, benefit-sharing mechanisms, and cross-sectoral partnerships to advance sustainable forest policy and conservation outcomes.</p>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":47396,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Policy and Governance","volume":"36 5","pages":"1378-1401"},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2026-10-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149100317","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Addressing Barriers to Fair Community Participation in Mangrove Carbon Credit Projects: Insights From Thailand","authors":"Danny Marks,&nbsp;Kittima Leeruttanawisut","doi":"10.1002/eet.70111","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/eet.70111","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Thailand has announced ambitious plans to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, including a programme that allows private companies to earn carbon credits from protecting and restoring mangroves. In 2023, the Department of Marine and Coastal Resources (DMCR) began enrolling local communities and private firms in this scheme. We examine whether communities can participate fairly, drawing on 18 semi-structured interviews with government officials, NGOs, community leaders and private sector actors. We identify five barriers: unclear policies that leave communities uncertain about their rights; benefit-sharing arrangements widely perceived as unfair; divergent views among communities and NGOs about carbon offsetting; knowledge and capacity gaps that limit meaningful engagement; and prohibitive verification and implementation costs. We argue that these barriers are not discrete problems but mutually reinforcing features of T-VER's governance architecture, producing distributive, procedural and recognitional injustices that constrain participation. State mediation does not necessarily protect communities. Without formal rights, independent accountability mechanisms and accessible verification pathways, it can instead concentrate power in the hands of state and corporate actors. Thailand's experience raises important concerns for other countries where forest land remains under state control. We conclude with recommendations for reform that could make community participation more equitable and projects more durable.</p>","PeriodicalId":47396,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Policy and Governance","volume":"36 5","pages":"1252-1264"},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2026-10-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/eet.70111","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149100157","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"How Do Regional Governments Navigate Policy Integration for Eco-Industrial Parks? Dimensions and Mechanisms","authors":"Wenting Jiao,&nbsp;Yanwei Li","doi":"10.1002/eet.70116","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/eet.70116","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 <p>Environmental policy integration (EPI) is essential for reconciling economic development with environmental sustainability, yet its temporal evolution and underlying mechanisms remain underexplored, particularly at the regional governance level. The development of eco-industrial parks (EIPs) exemplifies this challenge as a cross-cutting policy issue that necessitates horizontal integration of economic and environmental domains. To address these gaps, this study adopts and extends a process-oriented analytical framework to examine EIP policy integration in the Province of South Holland, the Netherlands. Our findings demonstrate that the interplay between policy framing and subsystem involvement shapes integration outputs, namely policy objectives and instruments. We further identify hierarchical authority and reflective learning as two parallel mechanisms. Hierarchical authority drives EPI advances during periods of high political attention, and reflective learning builds administrative capacity that sustains integration beyond electoral cycles. This study provides implications that enhancing mainstreaming capacity and institutionalizing learning mechanisms are effective approaches to improve EPI.</p>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":47396,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Policy and Governance","volume":"36 5","pages":"1333-1345"},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2026-10-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149099321","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Closing the Governance Gap: Aligning Finance, Assessment, and Disclosure for Climate-Compatible Infrastructure","authors":"Shivam Srivastava,&nbsp;Chirag Kothari,&nbsp;Usha Iyer-Raniga,&nbsp;Sudhir Misra","doi":"10.1002/eet.70118","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/eet.70118","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 <p>Governments worldwide are advancing climate-compatible infrastructure (CCI) to meet the UN's Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and Paris Agreement targets. Yet implementation remains fragmented and weakly coordinated, limiting transformative impact. We identify a structural gap across three governance functions critical to CCI delivery: financing, performance assessment, and impact disclosure. These functions are governed by distinct and often disconnected systems led respectively by Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs), Infrastructure Rating Tools (IRTs), and Sustainability Reporting Frameworks (SRFs). We propose a systems-based governance model, the “MDB–IRT–SRF” nexus, that enables infrastructure to be more accountable, traceable, and responsive to regional contexts. Drawing on the comparative analysis across six regions (Asia, Africa, Europe, Oceania, North America, and South America), we illustrate that the nexus provides a diagnostic framework applicable across diverse contexts. However, its effectiveness depends on enabling conditions, including institutional capacity, regulatory alignment, and interoperable data systems. Rather than a technical solution alone, realizing this integration requires an incremental institutional shift toward coordinated financing, assessment, and disclosure systems. We argue that stronger alignment across these governance functions can support more credible, measurable, and context-sensitive CCI outcomes.</p>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":47396,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Policy and Governance","volume":"36 5","pages":"1430-1445"},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2026-10-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149100643","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Unraveling the Interplay Between Collaborative Governance and Experimentation for Transformative Potential in Circular Water Systems: A Dutch Case Study","authors":"Flavia Simona Albu Cosoveanu,&nbsp;Kirsty Holstead,&nbsp;Jean-Marie Buijs,&nbsp;Dave Huitema","doi":"10.1002/eet.70112","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/eet.70112","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Freshwater availability is a critical climate change challenge in coastal delta regions. This challenge requires a transformative change toward circular water management. While experimentation and collaborative governance are recognized as enablers of transformative change, their interaction remains complex and insufficiently understood. Experimentation offers flexibility and learning processes with innovative solutions, whereas collaborative governance is based on collective decision-making and is often resistant to change. Despite the differences, both concepts complement each other and jointly shape the transformative potential of water systems. This paper unravels the interplay between collaborative dynamics and experimentation, advancing transformative potential in circular water systems. We operationalize the framework of Emerson et al. to analyze a Dutch case study in which a diverse actor network engages in water experiments and other initiatives aimed at developing a circular and resilient system. Data were collected through document analysis, four workshops, and 10 in-depth interviews. The findings show that the transformative potential of a water system depends on key collaborative dynamics, including open and transparent deliberation to address conflicting interests, developing a mutual understanding, and determining collective actions. Deliberation also plays a central role in fostering mutual trust and shared commitment among stakeholders. In addition, clearly defined leadership, flexible procedural and institutional arrangements for experimentation, and the availability of financial and human resources are crucial to support the transformative potential of water systems. Finally, the study demonstrates that experiments contribute to transformative potential when they function as collaborative spaces in which stakeholders jointly engage in advancing a circular water system.</p>","PeriodicalId":47396,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Policy and Governance","volume":"36 5","pages":"1282-1303"},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2026-10-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/eet.70112","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149100621","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Circularity Before Strategy: Translating the Circular Economy for Environmental Policy and Governance in Emerging Economies","authors":"Solmaz Filiz Karabag,&nbsp;Cali Nuur","doi":"10.1002/eet.70107","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/eet.70107","url":null,"abstract":"<p>The circular economy (CE) is now a cornerstone of global environmental policy. However, current debates often frame CE as a future-oriented strategy to be adopted or scaled, implicitly assuming that emerging economies and the Global South are starting from strictly linear conditions. Drawing on practice-oriented and institutional perspectives, this paper reconceptualizes CE as a set of already-operating, economically rational practices—such as repair, reuse, and informal material circulation. We argue that the central governance challenge in these contexts is not the introduction of CE from scratch, but understanding how existing circularity is recognized, reorganized, or displaced during institutionalization. By synthesizing research across capability, governance, transition, and justice-oriented framings, we illustrate how dominant models neglect everyday circularity as “informal” rather than constitutive of the system. We develop a practice-based translation perspective to distinguish between practices of CE and CE in practice, elucidating how these processes shape value creation and power relations. Ultimately, this paper posits that emerging economies are not merely “catching up,” but are analytically informative settings for understanding circular governance under constraint. We conclude by outlining implications for transformative and mission-oriented innovation policy.</p>","PeriodicalId":47396,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Policy and Governance","volume":"36 5","pages":"1193-1202"},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2026-10-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/eet.70107","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149099328","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The Ecological U-Turn in Nordic Forestry: Policy Learning, Measurement, and the Retrenchment of Ecological Ambitions","authors":"Gisle Andersen,&nbsp;Monika Berg,&nbsp;Hogne Lerøy Sataøen","doi":"10.1002/eet.70115","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/eet.70115","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Since the 1990s, environmental policy has shifted toward ecosystem protection and biodiversity conservation, a development often described as an ecological turn. This article argues that in practice this turn has taken the form of an ecological “U-turn,” as environmental ambitions are subordinated to production-oriented objectives. While earlier research has documented tensions between production and environmental protection in forest governance, less attention has been paid to how ecological measurements and indicators become central sites of political struggle. Drawing on expert interviews and policy documents from Norway and Sweden, the article analyses how ecological goals were translated into forestry through new forms of measurement, monitoring, and assessment, and how these instruments became contested. Combining insights from Peter Hall's theory of policy change, the Advocacy Coalition Framework, and research on policy instrumentation, we show that the ecological turn reconfigured forest governance by introducing new environmental goals, instruments, and forms of expertise, and by temporarily rebalancing relations between competing coalitions within the forest-policy subsystem. Over time, however, this more collaborative dynamic gave way to a more adversarial subsystem, in which measurement practices shifted from supporting the identification and protection of ecological values to defining thresholds for acceptable degradation and legitimizing trade-offs. The article shows how technical measurements do not simply inform policy learning but also reshape environmental conflict. Though rooted in forest governance, these findings speak to broader cross-cutting tensions in environmental policymaking, where technical measurements may obscure political choices embedded in ecological turns and other sustainability transformations.</p>","PeriodicalId":47396,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Policy and Governance","volume":"36 5","pages":"1320-1332"},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2026-10-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/eet.70115","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149099320","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Learning Networks Drive Environmental Innovation: Evidence From Fourth-Stage Purification Diffusion","authors":"Simon Bulian,&nbsp;Jale Tosun,&nbsp;Katrina Smith Korfmacher,&nbsp;Theresa Baur","doi":"10.1002/eet.70094","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/eet.70094","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Contaminants of emerging concern, including pharmaceuticals and industrial chemicals, threaten water quality globally. In the European Union (EU), until the adoption of the revised Urban Wastewater Treatment Directive in 2024, a regulatory gap had left the member states and the municipalities in them without binding removal standards. Nonetheless, cities in the German state of Baden-Württemberg had voluntarily upgraded wastewater treatment plants to include a fourth purification stage. This study investigates whether institutionalized peer learning forums—wastewater treatment plant neighborhoods (WTPNs)—drove this diffusion in the absence of a legal mandate. We hypothesize that epistemic learning within WTPNs is the primary diffusion mechanism. Using Cox regression models (<i>N</i> = 14,636 municipality-years, 2009–2022) combined with six expert interviews, we find that membership in a WTPN containing a prior adopter increases a municipality's upgrade probability substantially. Qualitative evidence confirms that this effect operates through structured epistemic learning, including “teacher”–“student” role differentiation, designated contacts, and iterative knowledge exchange. We conclude that formalized learning institutions can drive voluntary environmental innovation even without regulatory mandates, and recommend strengthening such forums as EU member states implement the revised Urban Wastewater Treatment Directive.</p>","PeriodicalId":47396,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Policy and Governance","volume":"36 4","pages":"961-973"},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2026-08-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/eet.70094","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148704363","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}