From territory to policy: co-designing governance indicators for sustainable public administration

The term governance refers to the processes, relationships and mechanisms through which collective decisions are made and implemented in order to produce public outcomes (Glass & Newig, 2019; Lemos & Agrawal, 2006; Moulaert et al., 2013). Contemporary governance approaches involve a plurality of actors to manage economic, political and social affairs (Treib et al., 2007) where the state is no longer considered the exclusive driver of policies, as power and responsibility are distributed across multiple levels, reflecting a shift from hierarchical decision-making towards more horizontal and collaborative models (Meadowcroft, 2007; Elstub and Escobar, 2019). In recent years, various governance paradigms have been developed each of which emphasises different aspects relating to the structure of authority, responsibility and participation. In local contexts, the definition of governance is particularly relevant as formal institutions operate in parallel with informal territorial norms, practices and dynamics (Driessen et al., 2012). Governance becomes a socio-political process in which different actors articulate interests, mediate differences and exercise their rights. It is also in these spaces that the proximity between citizens and institutions creates opportunities for trust building, experimentation and innovation (Kanie et al., 2014; Osborne, 2006). The quality of governance has a direct impact on several fronts: it affects citizens’ participation, trust, perceptions of fairness and responsiveness, and the satisfaction of needs (Glass & Newig, 2019). It improves institutions’ performance, transparency and legitimacy. On a broader level, governance frameworks enable evidence-based policy-making (Oman et al., 2010). These functions are particularly important in contexts where national, regional and local actors interact in defining policy outcomes. The Province of Trento, with its autonomy and tradition of civic engagement, represents a valuable case for exploring these dynamics. With the 2030 Agenda states are called upon to introduce goals, targets and indicators in their national development plans (Meuleman, 2021). Despite this, governance indicators have often been underdeveloped compared to the social, environmental and economic ones (García-Peña et al., 2021). In this context, international frameworks have been developed (e.g. WGI, SGI and Administrative Capacity Index) (García-Peña et al., 2021). These, created to ensure a high level of comparability, often fail to reflect territorial sensitivity, institutional agreements, participatory mechanisms or cultural specificities that characterise governance at the local level (Oman et al., 2010). In light of these challenges, the paper proposes to design governance indicators by integrating top-down benchmarking tools with bottom-up participatory methodologies, involving local stakeholders in defining, validating, and testing local governance criteria. By adopting a mixed-methods approach, the paper aims at answering the following research questions: i) What values, principles, and practices define sustainable governance according to the actors in the Province of Trento? ii) What indicators best reflect these visions and can guide sustainable public action? The methodological framework draws inspiration from dialogic and participatory research traditions (Brown, 2009), and from pluralist approaches to public interest (Dillard and Ruchala, 2005). By engaging with different actors, this paper aims to develop policy-relevant indicators that capture the complexity and aspirations of territorial governance in a sustainable and democratic key.