Governing the Baltic Sea : a study of the functionality of contemporary environmental governance
Grönholm, Sam (2020-01-31)
Grönholm, Sam
Åbo Akademi - Åbo Akademi University
31.01.2020
Julkaisu on tekijänoikeussäännösten alainen. Teosta voi lukea ja tulostaa henkilökohtaista käyttöä varten. Käyttö kaupallisiin tarkoituksiin on kielletty.
Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:ISBN:978-952-12-3899-4
https://urn.fi/URN:ISBN:978-952-12-3899-4
Tiivistelmä
The research interest of this thesis is outlined by the concept of governance. Governance is used to describe, understand and explain the development of governing styles applied to solve complex societal problems. Governance embodies a societal shift in governing problems by emphasizing the need of interaction across and between state and non-state actors to augment the capacity of public policy. Governance transforms the role of the government by subverting the hierarchical principles for governing through interface and collaboration. The normative perception of governance is that it improves governments’ ability to develop alternative and innovative governing solutions to intricate problems and challenges.
The study of governance entails the research on complex and interactive governing. The design of innovative governing commands an integration of a range of actors in the development of programs, strategies and policy. In contemporary interactive governing the position of the government is redefined. Formal and hierarchical governing is interlinked with informal and multi-level governing through networks. Networks join the interests of public entities operative on different levels, with non-state actors, e.g. citizen, business and local organizations. Networks operate based on varied institutional interests and diverse sociopolitical preferences and often have their own view of societal problems and opinion of methods to deal with these problems. A functional interactive governing implies that the design of innovative policy solutions is a result of a coordinated interaction where the interests and preferences of different networks are respected and integrated. This is a precondition for an informed problem understanding that reflects the complexity of contemporary societal challenges.
This thesis describes and examines governance endeavors designed to solve contested and illdefined environmental challenges. The thesis contributes to the academic literature by using the Baltic Sea Region (BSR) as a research area. The BSR is a relevant area to study governance, as it has been a laboratory for alternative modes of governing ever since the 1950s. The focus of this thesis is the environmental governance of the Baltic Sea. The BSR environmental governance is synonymous with autonomous network endeavors that aim to generate policy responses that target the shared challenges of the Baltic Sea. The BSR network governance is tasked with the multi-level governing of the environmental degradation of the Baltic Sea ecosystems. The destruction of the Baltic Sea ecosystems is largely a consequence of extensive chemical pollution, eutrophication and overfishing.
The thesis examines how the current BSR environmental network governance functions in practice and summarizes the key features that define the reality of governing the Baltic Sea. The thesis illustrates how the current mode of Baltic Sea governing does not comply with normative logic. Modern environmental governance advocates interactive governing through inclusive actor arrangements to attain a holistic view of the underlying structures and features defining complex challenges. The hierarchical conditioned BSR network governance fails to transform and reframe the Baltic Sea governing style to comply with and respond to the conflict-ridden and intricate ecosystem challenges. Ecosystem based challenges are difficult to solve, as there is not a shared view of the scope of their true nature, because of diverging and conflicting societal and actor interests. In particular, the governing of the Baltic Sea does not properly consider the social dimension of ecosystem challenges. Technical and expert guided governance cannot solve the underlying socio-cultural tensions in the region, which impedes the usefulness, efficiency and the true potential of current policy actions.
A future Baltic Sea environmental network governance must be defined based on a broad and varied actor base. The governing of the Baltic Sea needs to accept normative reasoning. This entails adaptive governing that combine technical actions with interactive and participatory governance styles to enable a functional governance of the Baltic Sea. This offers improved provisions for integrating multilayered knowledge, by joining expert, lay and indigenous actors into the development of policy. This enhances the conditions for an informed governance approach of the ecosystems of the Baltic Sea.
The study of governance entails the research on complex and interactive governing. The design of innovative governing commands an integration of a range of actors in the development of programs, strategies and policy. In contemporary interactive governing the position of the government is redefined. Formal and hierarchical governing is interlinked with informal and multi-level governing through networks. Networks join the interests of public entities operative on different levels, with non-state actors, e.g. citizen, business and local organizations. Networks operate based on varied institutional interests and diverse sociopolitical preferences and often have their own view of societal problems and opinion of methods to deal with these problems. A functional interactive governing implies that the design of innovative policy solutions is a result of a coordinated interaction where the interests and preferences of different networks are respected and integrated. This is a precondition for an informed problem understanding that reflects the complexity of contemporary societal challenges.
This thesis describes and examines governance endeavors designed to solve contested and illdefined environmental challenges. The thesis contributes to the academic literature by using the Baltic Sea Region (BSR) as a research area. The BSR is a relevant area to study governance, as it has been a laboratory for alternative modes of governing ever since the 1950s. The focus of this thesis is the environmental governance of the Baltic Sea. The BSR environmental governance is synonymous with autonomous network endeavors that aim to generate policy responses that target the shared challenges of the Baltic Sea. The BSR network governance is tasked with the multi-level governing of the environmental degradation of the Baltic Sea ecosystems. The destruction of the Baltic Sea ecosystems is largely a consequence of extensive chemical pollution, eutrophication and overfishing.
The thesis examines how the current BSR environmental network governance functions in practice and summarizes the key features that define the reality of governing the Baltic Sea. The thesis illustrates how the current mode of Baltic Sea governing does not comply with normative logic. Modern environmental governance advocates interactive governing through inclusive actor arrangements to attain a holistic view of the underlying structures and features defining complex challenges. The hierarchical conditioned BSR network governance fails to transform and reframe the Baltic Sea governing style to comply with and respond to the conflict-ridden and intricate ecosystem challenges. Ecosystem based challenges are difficult to solve, as there is not a shared view of the scope of their true nature, because of diverging and conflicting societal and actor interests. In particular, the governing of the Baltic Sea does not properly consider the social dimension of ecosystem challenges. Technical and expert guided governance cannot solve the underlying socio-cultural tensions in the region, which impedes the usefulness, efficiency and the true potential of current policy actions.
A future Baltic Sea environmental network governance must be defined based on a broad and varied actor base. The governing of the Baltic Sea needs to accept normative reasoning. This entails adaptive governing that combine technical actions with interactive and participatory governance styles to enable a functional governance of the Baltic Sea. This offers improved provisions for integrating multilayered knowledge, by joining expert, lay and indigenous actors into the development of policy. This enhances the conditions for an informed governance approach of the ecosystems of the Baltic Sea.