Contextual factors for transnational municipal network's local environmental action: a study of ICLEI Africa's LAB Wetlands SA Programme

Katharina Rochell; Linjun Xie; Ryan Fisher; Kirsty Griffin

doi:10.1080/13549839.2022.2045479

Contextual factors for transnational municipal network's local environmental action: a study of ICLEI Africa's LAB Wetlands SA Programme

Katharina Rochell
, Linjun Xie^*
, Ryan Fisher
, Kirsty Griffin

^*Corresponding author for this work

Copernicus Institute for Sustainable Development

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Academic › peer-review

Abstract

While the existence and significance of transnational municipal networks (TMNs) in the realm of environmental governance have been well documented, the implementation and impacts of their local programmes, especially in sub-Saharan Africa, remain underexplored. This paper contributes to addressing this gap of knowledge by examining what obstructs or facilitates TMNs’ local actions and the extent to which they can catalyse wider transformative impacts on local environmental governance. We focus on an urban wetlands programme implemented by ICLEI Africa from 2015 to 2018 in 9 district and 2 metropolitan municipalities in South Africa–the Local Action for Biodiversity: Wetlands SA (LAB Wetlands SA) Programme. From an insider perspective, this paper reviews the implementation of the LAB Wetlands SA Programme in three locations, namely the Overberg, iLembe, and Frances Baard District Municipalities of South Africa. Based on comparative analysis, the paper identifies three key influential factors–political buy-in, policy champions and institutional capacity–that interact in combination to affect the practices of the LAB Wetlands SA Programme. These three factors are closely interlinked and strongly depend on the social, economic, political and cultural aspects of local context. In advancing local environmental actions and promoting transformative environmental governance, the design and practices of TMNs’ local programmes and projects must be informed by, tailored to, and able to adapt to the local context.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	882-899
Number of pages	18
Journal	Local Environment
Volume	28
Issue number	7
Early online date	2022
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1080/13549839.2022.2045479
Publication status	Published - 2023
Externally published	Yes

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
This work was supported by European Commission’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme [grant number 730243]. We would like to thank the two anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments and suggestions. We are also thankful to Samantha Williams, who contributed to the development of the first draft by compiling empirical material by ICLEI Africa. Linjun Xie acknowledges support from the NATURVATION project funded by the European Commission's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement no. 730243. As ever, any errors of fact or misinterpretations remain the responsibility of the authors.

Funding Information:
We would like to thank the two anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments and suggestions. We are also thankful to Samantha Williams, who contributed to the development of the first draft by compiling empirical material by ICLEI Africa. Linjun Xie acknowledges support from the NATURVATION project funded by the European Commission's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement no. 730243. As ever, any errors of fact or misinterpretations remain the responsibility of the authors.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

SDG 11 Sustainable Cities and Communities

Keywords

South Africa
Transnational municipal networks
local environmental actions
transformation
urban wetlands

Access to Document

10.1080/13549839.2022.2045479

Cite this

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title = "Contextual factors for transnational municipal network's local environmental action: a study of ICLEI Africa's LAB Wetlands SA Programme",

abstract = "While the existence and significance of transnational municipal networks (TMNs) in the realm of environmental governance have been well documented, the implementation and impacts of their local programmes, especially in sub-Saharan Africa, remain underexplored. This paper contributes to addressing this gap of knowledge by examining what obstructs or facilitates TMNs{\textquoteright} local actions and the extent to which they can catalyse wider transformative impacts on local environmental governance. We focus on an urban wetlands programme implemented by ICLEI Africa from 2015 to 2018 in 9 district and 2 metropolitan municipalities in South Africa{\textendash}the Local Action for Biodiversity: Wetlands SA (LAB Wetlands SA) Programme. From an insider perspective, this paper reviews the implementation of the LAB Wetlands SA Programme in three locations, namely the Overberg, iLembe, and Frances Baard District Municipalities of South Africa. Based on comparative analysis, the paper identifies three key influential factors{\textendash}political buy-in, policy champions and institutional capacity{\textendash}that interact in combination to affect the practices of the LAB Wetlands SA Programme. These three factors are closely interlinked and strongly depend on the social, economic, political and cultural aspects of local context. In advancing local environmental actions and promoting transformative environmental governance, the design and practices of TMNs{\textquoteright} local programmes and projects must be informed by, tailored to, and able to adapt to the local context.",

keywords = "South Africa, Transnational municipal networks, local environmental actions, transformation, urban wetlands",

author = "Katharina Rochell and Linjun Xie and Ryan Fisher and Kirsty Griffin",

note = "Funding Information: This work was supported by European Commission{\textquoteright}s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme [grant number 730243]. We would like to thank the two anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments and suggestions. We are also thankful to Samantha Williams, who contributed to the development of the first draft by compiling empirical material by ICLEI Africa. Linjun Xie acknowledges support from the NATURVATION project funded by the European Commission's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement no. 730243. As ever, any errors of fact or misinterpretations remain the responsibility of the authors. Funding Information: We would like to thank the two anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments and suggestions. We are also thankful to Samantha Williams, who contributed to the development of the first draft by compiling empirical material by ICLEI Africa. Linjun Xie acknowledges support from the NATURVATION project funded by the European Commission's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement no. 730243. As ever, any errors of fact or misinterpretations remain the responsibility of the authors. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2022 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor \& Francis Group.",

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doi = "10.1080/13549839.2022.2045479",

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AU - Fisher, Ryan

AU - Griffin, Kirsty

N1 - Funding Information: This work was supported by European Commission’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme [grant number 730243]. We would like to thank the two anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments and suggestions. We are also thankful to Samantha Williams, who contributed to the development of the first draft by compiling empirical material by ICLEI Africa. Linjun Xie acknowledges support from the NATURVATION project funded by the European Commission's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement no. 730243. As ever, any errors of fact or misinterpretations remain the responsibility of the authors. Funding Information: We would like to thank the two anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments and suggestions. We are also thankful to Samantha Williams, who contributed to the development of the first draft by compiling empirical material by ICLEI Africa. Linjun Xie acknowledges support from the NATURVATION project funded by the European Commission's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement no. 730243. As ever, any errors of fact or misinterpretations remain the responsibility of the authors. Publisher Copyright: © 2022 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

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N2 - While the existence and significance of transnational municipal networks (TMNs) in the realm of environmental governance have been well documented, the implementation and impacts of their local programmes, especially in sub-Saharan Africa, remain underexplored. This paper contributes to addressing this gap of knowledge by examining what obstructs or facilitates TMNs’ local actions and the extent to which they can catalyse wider transformative impacts on local environmental governance. We focus on an urban wetlands programme implemented by ICLEI Africa from 2015 to 2018 in 9 district and 2 metropolitan municipalities in South Africa–the Local Action for Biodiversity: Wetlands SA (LAB Wetlands SA) Programme. From an insider perspective, this paper reviews the implementation of the LAB Wetlands SA Programme in three locations, namely the Overberg, iLembe, and Frances Baard District Municipalities of South Africa. Based on comparative analysis, the paper identifies three key influential factors–political buy-in, policy champions and institutional capacity–that interact in combination to affect the practices of the LAB Wetlands SA Programme. These three factors are closely interlinked and strongly depend on the social, economic, political and cultural aspects of local context. In advancing local environmental actions and promoting transformative environmental governance, the design and practices of TMNs’ local programmes and projects must be informed by, tailored to, and able to adapt to the local context.

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DO - 10.1080/13549839.2022.2045479

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JO - Local Environment

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ER -

Contextual factors for transnational municipal network's local environmental action: a study of ICLEI Africa's LAB Wetlands SA Programme

Abstract

Bibliographical note

UN SDGs

Keywords

Access to Document

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