Policy diffusion for sustainability through local governments and institutions

Abstract

The concept of social tipping points has become a buzzword within social science research concerned with the transformation of current social systems towards sustainability. Originally coming from the natural sciences, tipping points within social systems are understood as points at which a certain behaviour, norm, trend, policy etc. becomes the (new) predominant one in a population. The recent interest in the concept seems to stem on the hope that the generated insights can inform ‘tools’ for transforming societies towards sustainability effectively, and at the quick pace that seems to be needed. There are various avenues through which social tipping points can be brought about, including policymakers at different levels of governance. This panel aims to discuss the potential influence of local governments and institutions to tip societal systems on multiple geographical scales. This includes unravelling the contribution of different governance levels for the diffusion of local climate change adaptation policies in different countries. Moreover, the panel explores how policymakers can take advantage of local governments in cities to provide unprecedented momentum to materialize transitions to circularity. To integrate the micro level perspective on the impact of governmental institutions, it will also be discussed how the provision of information from public institutions affect sustainable behaviours of citizens.

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