In pursuit of sustainable development: a governance perspective
8th International Conference of the European Society for Ecological Economics, page 1--17. Ljubljana, European Society for Ecological Economics, ESEE, (June 2009)Abstract
We begin with a brief examination of the two key concepts of the paper, that of 'governance' and of 'sustainable development'. Attention is then turned to two very distinctive characteristics that are inherent in sustainable development as a policy objective: the scale of social transformation required and the multi-dimensional character of the steering logic involved. These two characteristics have significant implications for the governance of sustainable development and point to the specific governance requirements that are needed if society is to move along a more sustainable development trajectory. The paper focuses on the governance of sustainable development as it relates to the European Union (EU) and its member states.