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Measuring and Managing Sustainability Performance

The Strength of Green Ties

This project focuses on climate-adaptive collective action in U.S. metropolitan regions, a pressing issue in the 21st century due to climate change. Through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021 (IIJA) and the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (IRA), an estimated $600 billion is being directed to climate-related programs across multiple federal agencies. The amount directed to states, local, and tribal governments could top $120 billion. This research employs a unique mixed-methods approach, including longitudinal surveys, interviews with municipal officials in four key cities, and network analysis to study the distribution and implementation of these efforts. The objectives are twofold: understanding the factors shaping network participation and exploring how interactions drive adaptive changes in organizational and network structures.

This research offers a comprehensive understanding of collaborative governance in complex urban systems, bridging public administration, organizational science, and network science. By expanding upon Institutional Collective Action (ICA) and Functional Collective Action (FCA) dynamics, this research contributes to developing collective action theories. Additionally, the longitudinal approach provides insights into network changes over time, crucial for addressing sustainability challenges.

Recent Research:

Deslatte, Aaron, Michael D. Siciliano, and Rachel M. Krause. "Local government managers are on the frontlines of climate change. Are they ready?."Public Administration Review.

State and local governments in the United States are the implementation agents for a vast swath of federal policies. As the country embarks on an unprecedented foray into fiscal federalism to combat climate change, we face a stark reality: many local governments are not ready. Drawing from recent data and evidence on local sustainability activities, we argue policy makers and managers at all levels of governance need to apply the lessons learned over the last two decades of subnational climate efforts. For local government managers working in the 21st century, climate change will likely be a defining social dilemma of their lifetimes. After years of inaction, the United States has taken a major step in trying to meet its greenhouse-gas mitigation pledges. But implementation requires understanding both the opportunities and opportunity costs posed by such generational investments.

Performance

Measuring and Managing Sustainability Performance

The Strength of Green Ties

Recent Research:

Read abstract

Metropolitan Governance and Management Transitions Laboratory resources