This textbook explores the meaning of good governance and sustainable development in the present-day context of a growing planetary crisis, socio-economic polarisation, and politicisation of knowledge.
Part 1 sets the stage by exploring theories of power, network governance, and global governance. Meri Juntti contrasts prevalent and emerging framings to arrive at a definition of sustainable development as a transformation encompassing the economic system, societal values, and the relationship of humanity with nature, and identifies distinct approaches and solutions for advancing this. Part 2 delves into the twin global issues of climate change and food security. Their drivers and manifestations are examined in detail and a range of governance responses – from global strategies and policies through to local-level case studies – are explored in the light of earlier theorisations. Part 3 focuses on lessons for good governance and sets out five key challenges that governance for sustainable development needs to negotiate, as well as the four principles that are central to its success. A concluding chapter considers what good governance for sustainable development could mean in practice.
Balancing theory with real-world examples, and featuring learning outcomes, further reading, and links to relevant media content, Governing for Sustainable Development will be a highly valuable resource for advanced undergraduate and postgraduate students of sustainable development, geography, public policy, politics, and international relations.
Table of Contents:
1: Introduction
Part I: Setting the Scene – Governing in The Age of Crises
2: The 21st-Century Governance Context
3: Sustainable Development as Transformation
4: Governance and Power
Part II: Understanding Global Governance Issues and Solutions
5: Governing the Climate Crisis
6: Governing for Food Security
Part III: Lessons For Good Governance for Sustainable Development
7: Identifying Good Governance for Sustainable Development
8: Conclusions
About the Author :
Meri Juntti, PhD, SFHEA, is Associate Professor of Environmental Governance in the School of Law and Social Sciences at Middlesex University, UK. She has co-designed and presently leads an MA Programme (MA Global Governance and Sustainable Development), co-leads the Sustainable Development Research Cluster, and chairs the University’s Sustainability Steering Group. She has undertaken a number of externally funded research projects in the field of environmental governance and has published several single and co-authored publications in this area. Dr Juntti holds an honorary position at the Bartlett School of Planning, UCL, and is a Trustee of the London Development Trust.
Review :
"Both governance and sustainable development are complex and often poorly understood concepts. However, both are essential to understanding how we can hope to address the current planetary crisis. Meri Juntti’s book is an invaluable aid to this task: unpicking these multi-faceted and contested concepts and then applying them to the pressing issues of climate change and global food security. In doing so, complex questions and arguments around sustainable governance are presented here in an accessible, though authoritative, manner with the judicious use of effective learning tools to aid the reader, be they a student or a concerned citizen."
- Peter Hough, Professor at Middlesex University, London, UK
"Drawing on years of excellent scholarship and empirical experience ‘on the ground’, Meri Juntti’s Governing for Sustainable Development: 21st Century Challenges and Principles makes essential reading for undergraduate, postgraduate students, and scholars on governance and sustainability. With an excellent combination of breadth and depth, using contemporary examples, Juntti dextrally illustrates the complexity of current governance global challenges. She does so using accessible language and approach that will make this a key reference in higher education. "
- Julia Martin-Ortega, Professor and Associate Director of Sustainability Research Institute at University of Leeds, UK
“Understanding and acting on the many-dimensioned challenges - environmental, social, cultural, political, economic, institutional – we face can feel like a daunting task, especially in the context of multiple crises. Meri Juntti has given us an important and accessible guide to navigating these difficult paths. By examining challenges, debates, and principles for analysing governance, she points the way towards improved governance for sustainable development through better analysis and action.”
- John Turnpenny, Associate Professor, School of Politics, Philosophy and Area Studies, University of East Anglia, UK
