What variables foster the adoption and implementation of sustainable practices by local governments?

Abstract

The importance of local governments in developing sustainable communities and meeting the challenges of climate change was recognized at the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development. The principle ways that local governments may influence the pursuit of sustainability and the creation of resilient and adaptive communities is their planning responsibilities, building codes, infrastructure investments and economic development efforts. Yet most local governments are not pursuing sustainability nor embarking on efforts to build more resilient communities. This exploratory study evaluated variables that appeared useful for explaining the pursuit of sustainability and resiliency by local governments. Casting more light on the variables that foster sustainability at the local government level may help more local governments pursue such efforts. The research question that guided the research is: What variables foster the adoption and implementation of sustainable practices by local governments? Answering this question provides a foundation for additional research on the results found here and thereby foster sustainability at the local government level. A multi-case study approach was used as the selected research method. The cases included fourteen small local governments located in Alaska and Oregon, some practicing sustainability and others not. Data were collected through surveys, interviews, government reports and databases as well as archival document analyses. This exploratory research identified the variable categories of institutional setting, political party affiliation and community well-being as having strong to moderate association with local government pursuit of sustainability. In other words, of the variables studied, these three categories are the most likely to foster sustainability. If these results are confirmed by further studies, then doing what we can to increase these four characteristics would also foster sustainability. The study also suggests that small local governments behave differently than large local governments (populations exceeding 250,000). While additional research is necessary to confirm this studys exploratory findings, it appears that in order for local government pursuit of sustainability to occur, a favorable milieu as described by the variable categories noted above must exist.