Introduction: Governing Sustainable Development From Theory to Practice: Wicked Problems, Expected Capacities, and Design in Uncertain Environments

Abstract

The introduction of the book is aimed at providing the reader with a comprehensive analytical framework on the purpose and content of sustainable development analysis as a wicked problem in policymaking. The UN's 2030 Agenda is an ambitious and far-reaching initiative that encompasses 17 broad goals and 169 targets, which may be too general and potentially conflicting. Translating this agenda into practice is a challenging and possibly frustrating task that requires a pragmatic and methodologically structured approach. Accordingly, the introduction is organized around five key concepts that favor a translation into practice: the definition of problems and solutions, the policymaking of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the wicked nature of policy problems in a sustainable development perspective, the specific kinds of capacity the policymakers must get to accomplish any task in the field of sustainable development, and, lastly, the type of policy design allocating ends and means for solving the problems. In particular, the theoretical framework supports the reader in understanding the wicked nature of sustainable development policies and the additional capacities policymakers must have in order to be able to design effective and coherent strategies. After a detailed presentation of each of the 12 chapters divided into two parts (six chapters in a section dedicated to the analysis of wicked sustainable development policies and six chapters dedicated to the analysis of the capacity of institutional instruments in resolving wickedness), the introduction anticipates the reader the rationale of the book.

Citation

Lippi, A. and Tsekos, T.N. (2024), "Introduction: Governing Sustainable Development From Theory to Practice: Wicked Problems, Expected Capacities, and Design in Uncertain Environments", Lippi, A. and Tsekos, T.N. (Ed.) Policy Capacity, Design and the Sustainable Development Goals, Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 1-23. https://doi.org/10.1108/978-1-80455-686-320241002