The book discusses how to tackle long-term social and ecological problems by using different environmental governance approaches to creating sustainable development. It explores opportunities and requirements for the governance of long-term problems, and examines how to achieve a lasting transformation.

 

When investments are made to mitigate climate change or preserve biodiversity, future generations can reap benefits from the efforts of the present generation. However, long-term social-ecological change towards sustainable development is disrupted by the fact that the costs and benefits of action are seen by different generations. With a global focus that includes case studies from Europe, Asia, Africa, and North America, this book attempts to address the difficulty of developing and implementing effective long-term governance solutions. The authors examine what distinguishes long-term problems from other policy problems, what governance responses are available and used, and how different governance mechanisms, namely economic incentives, participation, as well as knowledge and learning, help to address them.

 

 

Content:

 

Introduction: Long-term policy: setting the scene Bernd Siebenhuener, Marlen Arnold, Klaus Eisenack and Klaus Jacob 

 

Part 1: Institutions and Governance Mechanisms 

The role of expertise in European environmental governance: theoretical perspectives and empirical evidence Michael Pregernig and Michael Böcher 

A third Industrial Revolution? Martin Jänicke and Klaus Jacob 

Governance in the Face of Socio-Ecological Change: A Legal Response Anél Du Plessis 

 

Part 2: Economics and Tools 

Assessing financial adaptation strategies to extreme events in Europe Stefan Hochrainer and Reinhard Mechler 

Population dynamics, adaptive capacity & regulation of supply systems Diana Hummel, Cedric Janowicz and Alexandra Lux 

Innovation dynamics as lever for adaptive long-term policies: an evolutionary approach Jan Nill 

 

Part 3: Participation

From Interest Consultation to Collective Knowledge Production: The Influence of Participation on EU Environmental Governance Hui-Yin Sung and Ho-Ching Lee 

Potential and limits for businesses to address long-term social-ecological challenges: the case of European fish processors Franziska Wolff and Katharina Schmitt 

Participation Beyond the State: Why some NGOs Partner with Environmental NGOs, and Others Do Not Kristian Krieger and M Brooke 

Participatory Scenarios in Developing and Implementing Long-Term Policies – Potential Contributions and Attributes of Influence Christian Albert 

 

Part 4: Knowledge and Learning

Coping with creeping catastrophes: National political systems and the challenge of slow-moving policy problems Volker Schneider, Philip Leifeld and Thomas Malang 

Scenarios as boundary objects in the allocation of water resources and services in the Mekong Region Louis Lebel 

Stakeholder Integration and Social Learning in Integrated Sustainability Assessment Lisa Bohunovsky and Jill Jäger