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Journal: all
Keyword: multi-level perspective
Total 14 articles
Article    23 Jan 2026
Susana Sobral, João Ricardo Catarino and Alexandre Morais Nunes
Sustainable development requires legitimate coordination of cross-sector trade-offs across environmental limits, social needs, and long-term economic viability. Because the implementation of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) relies on multi-actor arrangements, collaborative governance (CG) design features may condition Sustainable development requires legitimate coordination of cross-sector trade-offs across environmental limits, social needs, and long-term economic viability. Because the implementation of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) relies on multi-actor arrangements, collaborative governance (CG) design features may condition whether participation translates into joint decision-making. CG emerges from these dynamic strategies to produce public products and services with multiple stakeholders, aligning and integrating the various parties’ ambitions. Given the ongoing discussion on SDGs, marked by the complexity and interdependence of actors, innovative, collaborative solutions are needed to achieve the desired goals. This necessity is further underscored by introducing a goal related to partnerships and collaboration: “Partnerships for Development” (Goal 17), demonstrating that collaboration is a crucial element for sustainable development and the implementation of the SDGs and the 2030 Agenda. Thus, this study aims to explore how CG supports strategies to implement the SDGs. To this end, through content analysis, we examine four initiatives involving public and private actors related to the implementation of the SDGs in Portugal. We aim to analyze whether these meet the criteria of CG and the various dimensions anticipated for its process. Only one initiative meets the criteria for CG, and Portugal still needs an established collaborative governance arrangement for implementing the SDGs. Therefore, it is necessary to invest in collaborative arrangements initiated by public organizations that allow for participation in decision-making and greater consensus-building, preserving a real contribution to public policy and a better understanding of the impacts and benefits of collaboration. It is also necessary to discuss the need for metagovernance structures for sustainable development. or Access Full Article
Highlights of Sustainability
Volume 5 (2026), Issue 1, pp. 70–83
210 Views53 Downloads
Article    12 Jan 2026
Mehmet Recai Uygur, Fatih Tekin, Fatma Sever and Samson Abiodun Toye
Politics in all regimes hinges on ordinary acts of obedience, yet the mechanisms that sustain it differ. This article theorizes “sustainable obedience” as obedience (i.e., rule-following and deference to collectively binding authority) that reproduces itself because Politics in all regimes hinges on ordinary acts of obedience, yet the mechanisms that sustain it differ. This article theorizes “sustainable obedience” as obedience (i.e., rule-following and deference to collectively binding authority) that reproduces itself because the marginal costs of monitoring and sanctioning are kept low by institutional and cultural feedback. We develop a dual-channel model: a fear channel (deterrence through selective coercion and information control) and a trust channel (procedural justice, impartial enforcement, and legitimacy) that interact through path dependence and habit formation. Mixed methods combine cross-national indices (V-Dem, Freedom House, World Values Survey) with comparative discourse and document analysis (2014–2025) to trace these mechanisms in three contrasting regimes: the Netherlands (liberal democracy), Turkey (competitive authoritarianism), and Russia (closed autocracy). Findings show trust-based obedience dominates in the Netherlands and is temporarily supplemented by proportionate deterrence during crises; Turkey institutionalizes a high and persistent fear architecture, with limited compensatory appeals to performance and electoral legitimacy; Russia sustains obedience primarily through multi-layered coercion and digital control backed by ideological narratives. We derive testable propositions about substitution and complementarity between channels and show how crises can normalize exceptional measures. Normatively, democratic resilience depends on renewing the trust architecture without entrenching fear; authoritarian resilience remains cost-effective yet ultimately fragile under information shocks. or Access Full Article
Highlights of Sustainability
Volume 5 (2026), Issue 1, pp. 15–33
389 Views71 Downloads
Article    11 Jan 2026
John C. G. Lee, Yeney Widya Prihatiningtias, Febryanti Simon and Samantha Siu Ling Lee
Indonesia’s National Free Meals Programme (NFMP) faces systemic challenges of fragmented implementation across agricultural, educational, and logistical sectors. These systemic challenges are compounded by inequitable reach in its archipelagic geography, where rural infrastructure gaps exacerbate disparities. Indonesia’s National Free Meals Programme (NFMP) faces systemic challenges of fragmented implementation across agricultural, educational, and logistical sectors. These systemic challenges are compounded by inequitable reach in its archipelagic geography, where rural infrastructure gaps exacerbate disparities. This study examines these issues through an integrated theoretical framework—combining Policy Transfer, Multi-stakeholder Governance, and Sustainable Livelihoods theories—using a mixed-methods approach that synthesises global policy benchmarks, peer-reviewed literature, and Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) alignment metrics. Key findings identify governance fragmentation, supply chain inefficiencies (notably 15–20% food spoilage in eastern regions), and digital divides as critical constraints. The research proposes a three-tiered intervention framework: (1) geospatially tailored procurement mechanisms; (2) incentivised corporate partnerships for cold-chain infrastructure; and (3) co-created R&D for climate-resilient crops. These strategies synergistically advance SDG 1 (Poverty Reduction), SDG 2 (Zero Hunger), and SDG 4 (Quality Education), demonstrating potential for farmer income gains, reduced child stunting, and improved school attendance. The study contributes to theoretical debates on adaptive policy transfer and offers Indonesia a scalable blueprint for integrated food-security transformation in archipelagic contexts. or Access Full Article
Highlights of Sustainability
Volume 5 (2026), Issue 1, pp. 1–14
274 Views65 Downloads
Article    23 Dec 2025
Waleed Mugahed Al-Rahmi
Highlights of Sustainability
Volume 4 (2025), Issue 4, pp. 329–352
547 Views86 Downloads
Review    17 Oct 2025
Jesús Huerta de Soto, Antonio Sánchez-Bayón and Philipp Bagus
This paper reviews the efficiency and sustainability of the management model during the COVID-19 crisis and beyond. There is a comparison between the centralized bureaucratic management versus the agile market alternative or spontaneous and flexible social This paper reviews the efficiency and sustainability of the management model during the COVID-19 crisis and beyond. There is a comparison between the centralized bureaucratic management versus the agile market alternative or spontaneous and flexible social coordination. This is a study of Political Economy, Management, and Health Economics from the perspective of Austrian economics, with special attention to the Spanish case. The analysis is based on Mises theorem about the impossibility of economic calculation under centralized coactive systems, and other economic principles. In this context, we also pay attention to collateral problems of the centralized and coactive management. Finally, we propose a solution based on dynamic efficiency and the constitutions of wellbeing economics based on digitalization. or Access Full Article
Highlights of Sustainability
Volume 4 (2025), Issue 4, pp. 205–215
1241 Views347 Downloads1 Citations
Article    30 May 2024
Aristotelis Martinis, Maria Kaloutsa and Katerina Kabassi
Highlights of Sustainability
Volume 3 (2024), Issue 2, pp. 255–274
3461 Views2234 Downloads5 Citations
Article    10 May 2024
Henri Giudici, Kristin Falk, Gerrit Muller, Dag Eirik Helle and Erik Drilen
Highlights of Sustainability
Volume 3 (2024), Issue 2, pp. 240–254
4229 Views872 Downloads6 Citations
Article    13 Feb 2024
Piotr Gorzelanczyk and Henryk Tylicki
Highlights of Vehicles
Volume 2 (2024), Issue 1, pp. 1–12
3019 Views714 Downloads
Article    20 Dec 2023
Mouna Samaali, El-Hassane Aglzim, Xavier Dessertenne and Patrick Dubreuille
Highlights of Vehicles
Volume 1 (2023), Issue 2, pp. 68–85
3063 Views992 Downloads
Article    11 Nov 2023
Sevasti Malisiova and Stella Kostopoulou
Highlights of Sustainability
Volume 2 (2023), Issue 4, pp. 241–258
4248 Views1102 Downloads1 Citations
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