Environmental Policy and Governance最新文献

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Constructing Policy (In)coherence in Germany's Energy Transition and Impacts on (In)equality 构建德国能源转型中的政策一致性及其对能源平等的影响
IF 3.4 3区 社会学
Environmental Policy and Governance Pub Date : 2026-08-11 Epub Date: 2026-05-20 DOI: 10.1002/eet.70083
Alexia Faus Onbargi, Ines Dombrowsky
{"title":"Constructing Policy (In)coherence in Germany's Energy Transition and Impacts on (In)equality","authors":"Alexia Faus Onbargi,&nbsp;Ines Dombrowsky","doi":"10.1002/eet.70083","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/eet.70083","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Policy coherence is widely regarded as essential for achieving sustainable development, climate targets, and reducing inequality, as reflected in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Recent scholarship has moved beyond technocratic approaches, drawing on comparative politics, particularly the “3 I's” of ideas, interests, and institutions, to highlight the inherently political nature of coherence. Yet even these studies often treat coherence as binary, easily observable, and intrinsically beneficial. Building on a coherence literature focused on discourses and frames, this paper challenges these assumptions by examining how policy (in)coherence is constructed and contested. Focusing on policy implementation in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany's coal heartland, we analyse two cases before and during the 2022 energy crisis triggered by the war in Ukraine: the commissioning of the Datteln IV hard coal plant in 2020, and the clearance of the village of Lützerath for mining in 2023. Drawing on 28 semi-structured interviews with German energy, climate, and environmental experts, alongside policy and media analysis, we find that (in)coherence is greatly constructed and contested under shifting political and economic pressures, instrumentalised and legitimisatised by different actors to advance their interests, and profoundly shaped by temporal dynamics. Given recent findings that challenge the 2030 Agenda's assumption that policy coherence reduces inequalities, we also explore how (in)coherence is perceived to shape multidimensional inequality in the <i>Energiewende</i> more broadly. Here, we find that (in)coherence is most prominently perceived to cause delays in climate mitigation, disproportionately affecting youth, low-income households, migrants, and activists. In this context, (in)coherence is not merely technical, political nor constructed, but fundamentally a matter of justice, shifting the analytical focus from whether policies and their implementation are coherent to how, and for whom, coherence matters.</p>","PeriodicalId":47396,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Policy and Governance","volume":"36 4","pages":"1034-1048"},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2026-08-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/eet.70083","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148704450","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}
引用次数: 0
Does Subnational Climate Action Trigger a Tipping Point? Catalytic Cascading and Vertical Policy Diffusion in the Net-Zero Transition 地方气候行动是否会触发临界点?净零转型中的催化级联和垂直政策扩散
IF 3.4 3区 社会学
Environmental Policy and Governance Pub Date : 2026-08-11 Epub Date: 2026-05-01 DOI: 10.1002/eet.70078
Angel Hsu, Diego Manya, Nihit Goyal
{"title":"Does Subnational Climate Action Trigger a Tipping Point? Catalytic Cascading and Vertical Policy Diffusion in the Net-Zero Transition","authors":"Angel Hsu,&nbsp;Diego Manya,&nbsp;Nihit Goyal","doi":"10.1002/eet.70078","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/eet.70078","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 <p>Subnational climate commitments are widely viewed as potential catalysts of national climate ambition, yet systematic evidence on whether and under what conditions subnational action shapes national target-setting remains limited. We introduce the concept of catalytic cascading to describe a cumulative process in which expanding policy commitments change the likelihood of subsequent policy commitment, even at a different jurisdictional level, through reinforcing top-down, horizontal, and bottom-up dynamics, without necessarily following an abrupt threshold or tipping behavior. We examine this theory through the lens of vertical policy diffusion, assessing whether subnational net-zero target declarations are associated with later national net-zero adoption while accounting for country characteristics and cross-national peer influences. Using a novel global time-series dataset of national and subnational net-zero targets, we estimate discrete-time adoption models using a directed country-pair (dyad–time) event history design that incorporates dyad-specific similarity and exposure measures alongside within-country subnational coverage. Across specifications, the share of a country's population, GDP, or greenhouse gas emissions covered by subnational net-zero commitments is positively and statistically significantly associated with the probability of national target adoption. The estimated relationship is gradual and monotonic rather than characterized by a sharp inflection, suggesting that bottom-up influence operates through cumulative reinforcement rather than threshold acceleration in this setting. These findings provide empirical support for catalytic cascading as an observable bottom-up linkage within polycentric climate governance and clarify the conditions under which subnational momentum is plausibly consequential for national target-setting.</p>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":47396,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Policy and Governance","volume":"36 4","pages":"768-781"},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2026-08-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148704311","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}
引用次数: 0
From Crisis to Capacity: Adaptive Governance for Natural Resource Management in Iran 从危机到能力:伊朗自然资源管理的适应性治理
IF 3.4 3区 社会学
Environmental Policy and Governance Pub Date : 2026-08-11 Epub Date: 2026-05-14 DOI: 10.1002/eet.70096
Iman Islami, Kristina Janečková, Petr Sklenička, Nicolae Ajtai, Christine Fuerst, Imaneh Goli, Hossein Azadi
{"title":"From Crisis to Capacity: Adaptive Governance for Natural Resource Management in Iran","authors":"Iman Islami,&nbsp;Kristina Janečková,&nbsp;Petr Sklenička,&nbsp;Nicolae Ajtai,&nbsp;Christine Fuerst,&nbsp;Imaneh Goli,&nbsp;Hossein Azadi","doi":"10.1002/eet.70096","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/eet.70096","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 <p>The degradation of natural resources, driven by rapid urbanization and population growth, presents profound challenges to biodiversity and sustainable development. This study proposes a strategic framework for adaptive governance of natural resources, emphasizing the integration of institutional capacity, leadership, and institutional work. Employing Social Network Analysis (SNA), the research investigates governance structures within Fars Province, Iran. The results showed that the network had moderate density (0.497 on a scale of 0 to 1, where 1 indicates complete connectivity), a clustering coefficient of zero (0.000), indicating no triadic closure, and high external centralization (55.57%, meaning more than half of the network's power is concentrated in external actors). These characteristics reflect weak inter-organizational coordination, fragile cooperation, and excessive reliance on a few dominant institutions. The average path length of 2.047 steps further indicates slow information flow and limited responsiveness. These structural weaknesses collectively impede effective resource management. The proposed framework advocates for polycentric governance, enhanced institutional connectivity, decentralization of authority, and the incorporation of adaptive governance principles to bolster resilience and responsiveness. By synthesizing theoretical insights with empirical evidence, the study offers actionable strategies to improve natural resource governance, thereby contributing to sustainable environmental management and social equity. This study underscores the necessity of a holistic approach that addresses the complexities of socio-ecological systems, providing a comprehensive roadmap for policymakers and practitioners.</p>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":47396,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Policy and Governance","volume":"36 4","pages":"1001-1018"},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2026-08-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148704370","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}
引用次数: 0
Governing Positive Energy Districts: The Role of Legitimation and Identity Across Residential and Industrial Contexts 管理正能量区:在住宅和工业背景下的合法性和身份的作用
IF 3.4 3区 社会学
Environmental Policy and Governance Pub Date : 2026-08-11 Epub Date: 2026-04-29 DOI: 10.1002/eet.70081
Jussi Valta, Tuomas Vanhanen, Tuomo Joensuu, Saku Mäkinen
{"title":"Governing Positive Energy Districts: The Role of Legitimation and Identity Across Residential and Industrial Contexts","authors":"Jussi Valta,&nbsp;Tuomas Vanhanen,&nbsp;Tuomo Joensuu,&nbsp;Saku Mäkinen","doi":"10.1002/eet.70081","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/eet.70081","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Increasing electricity demand from data centres, industrial applications, electric vehicles and domestic heating is creating pressure to develop electricity systems in many parts of the world, but especially in Western countries. In response to challenges such as grid congestion, interconnection queues and climate-related hazards, network operators, municipalities and entrepreneurs are turning their attention to local solutions. Positive energy districts (PEDs) are emerging as a prominent new organisational model to implement these solutions. The main objective of a PED is to achieve net-zero emissions on an annual basis, which requires investments in local energy production and its flexible use. However, their success is not guaranteed, as they must overcome the ‘liability of newness’. PEDs require strong policy support and a shared understanding among diverse stakeholders, who often have conflicting business objectives and interests. This article examines the legitimation processes of four distinct frontrunner PED projects in Finland and qualitatively analyses the challenges associated with their legitimation. Drawing on the ecosystem literature on legitimacy, we categorise legitimation efforts into identity creation, discursive legitimation and performative legitimation. The qualitative case analysis reveals that the primary legitimation challenges facing PEDs can be distilled into four identity-creation dilemmas: (1) differentiation versus conformity in relationships with energy incumbents; (2) holistic versus focused scope; (3) top-down versus bottom-up governance; (4) balancing timescales and uncertainties through stability versus innovation. This paper contributes to the literature in two main ways. First, it explores the challenges that PEDs face in legitimising themselves. Second, it compares legitimation dynamics across industrial and residential PED contexts. The findings enhance our understanding of PED creation processes and can inform the development of more effective policy support to facilitate their diffusion.</p>","PeriodicalId":47396,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Policy and Governance","volume":"36 4","pages":"751-767"},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2026-08-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/eet.70081","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148704518","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}
引用次数: 0
Letting People in: Redefining Collaboration in Wildland–Urban Interface Governance 让人们进入:重新定义荒地-城市界面治理中的协作
IF 3.4 3区 社会学
Environmental Policy and Governance Pub Date : 2026-08-11 Epub Date: 2026-05-07 DOI: 10.1002/eet.70093
Clara Mosso, Harrison Fried, Karissa Courtney, Jonathan Salerno, Stephanie Kampf, Andrea Baudoin Farah
{"title":"Letting People in: Redefining Collaboration in Wildland–Urban Interface Governance","authors":"Clara Mosso,&nbsp;Harrison Fried,&nbsp;Karissa Courtney,&nbsp;Jonathan Salerno,&nbsp;Stephanie Kampf,&nbsp;Andrea Baudoin Farah","doi":"10.1002/eet.70093","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/eet.70093","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Intensifying wildfire regimes and expanding human settlements into wilderness areas have heightened concerns about the wildland–urban interface (WUI) due to the associated increase in fire risk. However, the WUI presents broader social-ecological challenges that go beyond wildfire risk and remain understudied. We assessed two WUI governance systems to identify challenges and opportunities for implementing adaptive governance and facilitating transdisciplinary approaches to WUI planning and management. Our approach considers WUI areas as complex social-ecological systems and the challenges of WUI planning and management as a wicked problem. Specifically, we focus on collaboration and participatory processes within WUI governance, recognizing their potential to integrate broader perspectives and facilitate the co-production of knowledge that characterizes transdisciplinary approaches. Results from policy analysis and semi-structured interviews suggest that WUI governance systems in Colorado (US) and Neuquén (Argentina) present a mix of opportunities and challenges for advancing adaptive governance and facilitating transdisciplinary approaches to WUI management. Reflexive policies (flexible and adaptable) based on minimum standards and legal sunsets (periods for policy revision and adaptation) emerged as adaptive governance enablers in both systems. However, ambiguity in the definition of social-ecological boundaries and the way in which participatory processes are currently implemented represent important challenges to adaptive governance and transdisciplinary approaches to WUI planning and management. We suggest that, to advance a more comprehensive management of WUI areas, WUI governance systems (including actors, legal frameworks, processes, etc.) should emphasize collaboration and participatory processes, facilitating active forms of community participation and the co-development of WUI management objectives.</p>","PeriodicalId":47396,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Policy and Governance","volume":"36 4","pages":"910-926"},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2026-08-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/eet.70093","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148704353","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}
引用次数: 0
When Policy Is the Hazard: Institutional Legitimacy and Climate Risk Attribution Among Farmers in Water Stressed California 当政策是危险:制度合法性和气候风险归因在缺水的加州农民
IF 3.4 3区 社会学
Environmental Policy and Governance Pub Date : 2026-08-11 Epub Date: 2026-05-06 DOI: 10.1002/eet.70088
M. Anne Visser, Jordan Pantano, Grace Kumetat, Julia Marhenke
{"title":"When Policy Is the Hazard: Institutional Legitimacy and Climate Risk Attribution Among Farmers in Water Stressed California","authors":"M. Anne Visser,&nbsp;Jordan Pantano,&nbsp;Grace Kumetat,&nbsp;Julia Marhenke","doi":"10.1002/eet.70088","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/eet.70088","url":null,"abstract":"<p>This study examines how farmers perceive and respond to climate policy risk in the context of drought and argues that understanding such responses is as important as understanding farmer reactions to the biophysical impacts of climate change. Drawing on a 5-year longitudinal case study in California's Tulare Lake Basin, we analyze farmers' climate risk perceptions, adaptive behaviors, and responses to water governance policy through an integrated theoretical framework. We organize our analysis around three propositions: that climate risk perception is institutionally mediated; that adaptive capacity is socially structured; and that perceived policy legitimacy mediates the relationship between risk awareness and adaptive action. Our findings show that farmers consistently attribute water scarcity to governance failures rather than biophysical climate change, effectively decoupling drought experience from climate attribution, and that perceived procedural fairness, institutional flexibility, and governance responsiveness are stronger predictors of adaptive engagement than biophysical risk exposure or individual climate change beliefs. Findings of the analysis underscore the need for procedurally just and contextually sensitive natural resource governance frameworks to support agricultural resilience in water-stressed regions.</p>","PeriodicalId":47396,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Policy and Governance","volume":"36 4","pages":"898-909"},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2026-08-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/eet.70088","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148704501","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}
引用次数: 0
Licensed Commoning and the Authoritarian Commons: Governing Participation in China's Community Gardens 许可共享与权威共享:管理中国社区园林的参与
IF 3.4 3区 社会学
Environmental Policy and Governance Pub Date : 2026-08-11 Epub Date: 2026-05-01 DOI: 10.1002/eet.70079
Linjun Xie, Mengqi Shao, Gaohan Deng
{"title":"Licensed Commoning and the Authoritarian Commons: Governing Participation in China's Community Gardens","authors":"Linjun Xie,&nbsp;Mengqi Shao,&nbsp;Gaohan Deng","doi":"10.1002/eet.70079","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/eet.70079","url":null,"abstract":"<p>China's environmental governance transition combines intensified vertical accountability and performance-based management with expanding calls for public participation. However, despite growing demand for civic engagement, there remains limited understanding of how participatory environmental initiatives are structured and governed in practice. Drawing on multi-sited ethnographic research on community gardens in Shanghai and Nanning, this paper argues that community-based environmental initiatives in urban China increasingly operate through <i>licensed commoning</i>, a mode of collective stewardship in which participation is formally authorised, procedurally regulated, and conditionally delegated by state actors. The analysis shows that community gardens are shaped by procurement contracts, performance indicators, and intermediary organisations that structure who may participate, how responsibilities are allocated, and how outcomes are evaluated. Licensed commoning enables rapid scaling, policy alignment, and short-term stability, but it also constrains relational autonomy and shifts long-term governance risks onto communities and civil society actors. Comparative evidence further reveals that more embedded forms of commoning, characterised by informal authorisation and dense relational practices, can sustain deeper collective engagement, yet remain institutionally fragile and vulnerable to administrative intervention. By conceptualising licensed commoning as a distinct governance modality, the paper contributes to debates on environmental participation, multilevel governance, and accountability in authoritarian contexts. Empirically, it demonstrates that participation in China's environmental transition is neither purely bottom-up nor simply co-opted, but actively produced and governed through auditable and revocable arrangements that shape both the possibilities and limits of collective environmental action.</p>","PeriodicalId":47396,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Policy and Governance","volume":"36 4","pages":"782-797"},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2026-08-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/eet.70079","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148704312","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}
引用次数: 0
From External Intervention to Endogenous Resilience: NGO Pathways to Adaptive Environmental Governance in State—Centric Settings 从外部干预到内生弹性:国家中心环境下非政府组织的适应性环境治理路径
IF 3.4 3区 社会学
Environmental Policy and Governance Pub Date : 2026-08-11 Epub Date: 2026-05-12 DOI: 10.1002/eet.70095
Jingjing Cai, Ling Dai
{"title":"From External Intervention to Endogenous Resilience: NGO Pathways to Adaptive Environmental Governance in State—Centric Settings","authors":"Jingjing Cai,&nbsp;Ling Dai","doi":"10.1002/eet.70095","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/eet.70095","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 <p>External nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) play a pivotal role in rural environmental governance, yet little is known about how they navigate multilevel institutional barriers to enhance villages' self-organized ecological governance. This study examines an environmental NGO in rural China to uncover the mechanisms through which exogenous actors activate endogenous governance capacity. Findings show that the NGO strengthened grassroots governance by enhancing actor interaction and performance through three interrelated mechanisms: a system-integration mechanism leveraging multichannel embedding, an agenda-setting mechanism combining community-space cultivation with embedded deliberation, and a capacity-absorption mechanism linking technical and conceptual support with trust-building. Effective intervention also depended on professional and ethical conditions—professionalism in balancing human–nature tensions, and ethical engagement rooted in community-based affective governance and individual self-realization. Moreover, the NGO employed legitimacy strategies to resolve integration dilemmas, fostered villager agency through people-centered approaches, provided alternative livelihoods to mitigate human–wildlife conflict, and promoted village organizational structures and equitable benefit-sharing. Collectively, these mechanisms enhanced the adaptability and resilience of village self-governance under institutional diversity and external shocks. The study offers practical insights for context-sensitive rural development initiatives, such as China's “Ten-Thousand Villages” program, and contributes to theoretical understanding of modernized, adaptive environmental governance in state-centric, resource-constrained settings.</p>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":47396,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Policy and Governance","volume":"36 4","pages":"974-987"},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2026-08-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148704432","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}
引用次数: 0
Enabling a Circular Water Transition: Identifying Governance Pathways for Wastewater Reuse 实现循环水过渡:确定废水再利用的治理途径
IF 3.4 3区 社会学
Environmental Policy and Governance Pub Date : 2026-08-11 Epub Date: 2026-05-01 DOI: 10.1002/eet.70069
Kirsty Holstead, Katrin Pakizer, Nicolas W. Jager, Eva Lieberherr, Manuel Fischer
{"title":"Enabling a Circular Water Transition: Identifying Governance Pathways for Wastewater Reuse","authors":"Kirsty Holstead,&nbsp;Katrin Pakizer,&nbsp;Nicolas W. Jager,&nbsp;Eva Lieberherr,&nbsp;Manuel Fischer","doi":"10.1002/eet.70069","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/eet.70069","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Over 80% of the world's wastewater is discharged untreated, making reuse a widely underutilised strategy for addressing water scarcity. Due to the complexity of implementing water reuse systems, supportive governance conditions are required to steer this process and overcome barriers. Insights from water governance and sustainability transitions literature suggest that configurations of governance-related conditions, such as the extent of regulatory certainty, economic incentives, social acceptance, innovation capacity and contextual conditions of water scarcity, influence water reuse. Previous research has explored the barriers to water reuse, focusing on isolated case studies leaving the question of how these conditions interact to enable implementation largely unresolved. This study applies Fuzzy Set Qualitative Comparative Analysis across 15 international cases to identify configurations of conditions that enable water reuse, moving beyond individual drivers to map archetypal pathways. We found three distinct pathways to successful implementation. First, low regulatory uncertainty alone was sufficient to enable reuse, underscoring the foundational role of regulatory frameworks. Second, high social acceptance—rooted in public trust, engagement, and participatory design—can compensate for the absence of financial incentives, particularly in European contexts. However, this may be less applicable in resource-constrained settings. The third and most globally distributed pathway confirms that water scarcity can drive reuse, but only when accompanied by social and technical readiness. The third and most globally distributed pathway confirms that water scarcity can drive reuse, but only when accompanied by social and technical readiness involving technical knowledge, skills training, interdisciplinary collaboration and opportunities for experimentation. Notably, neither water scarcity nor financial incentives emerged as necessary conditions for successful implementation across all pathways. These findings challenge commonly held assumptions about what drives water reuse and offer a more nuanced understanding of the governance configurations that can support water reuse.</p>","PeriodicalId":47396,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Policy and Governance","volume":"36 4","pages":"798-828"},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2026-08-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/eet.70069","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148704313","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}
引用次数: 0
Policy Integration for Enabling Environments: Decentralised Water Technologies for Rural Water Reuse 扶持环境的政策整合:农村水再利用的分散式水技术
IF 3.4 3区 社会学
Environmental Policy and Governance Pub Date : 2026-08-11 Epub Date: 2026-05-01 DOI: 10.1002/eet.70080
Elizabeth Lawson, Jaime Amezaga
{"title":"Policy Integration for Enabling Environments: Decentralised Water Technologies for Rural Water Reuse","authors":"Elizabeth Lawson,&nbsp;Jaime Amezaga","doi":"10.1002/eet.70080","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/eet.70080","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Water reuse holds significant promise for addressing global water challenges, yet wide scale implementation remains limited. Decentralised water technologies for reuse have been highlighted as a potential aide in the reduction of water challenges, specifically for environments that have typically been considered ‘water rich’, and in rural areas that are currently outside the reach of large-scale centralised networks. Yet for many, a number of challenges remain, with the current policy landscape remaining unsupportive for the creation of an enabling environment. Policy integration is used as a theoretical and analytical framework to explore how enabling environments for decentralised water reuse are, or are not, created in rural and island Scotland. The analysis examines how cross-sectoral coordination across water, planning, rural development and climate policy shapes the potential for water reuse initiatives, highlighting both institutional fragmentation and emerging opportunities. Through this lens, key policy drivers, gaps and tensions are identified, and alternative pathways for more coherent support of decentralised technologies and systems are traced. Recommendations to strengthen integration mechanisms, reduce governance fragmentation and better align rural water, climate and land-use agendas are provided.</p>","PeriodicalId":47396,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Policy and Governance","volume":"36 4","pages":"829-840"},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2026-08-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/eet.70080","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148704317","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}
引用次数: 0
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