1. SDGs AT SUB-NATIONAL LEVEL: Roles and good practices for sub-national governments in relation to the SDG/post-2015 processes UNOSD, SDTF Regional Breakout Discussions - Europe Dr. Ingeborg Niestroy IISD Associate Public Strategy for Sustainable Development www.ps4sd.eu inge.niestroy@ps4sd.eu

2. Comparative studies on SD governance / strategies: I.N., Sustaining Sustainability200411 countries / EU IISD / FFU / GIZ200419 countries / global ESDNfrom 2007 (with regular updates) online country sheets / (28) EU Bertelsmann / IISD preparatory work for RMP 201232 countries and regions (sub-national) / global ASEF, Asia-Europe Strategies2012Aggregated / 2 regions Bertelsmann / I.N., RMP20134 countries, 1 region (sub-national) / global Bertelsmann / FFU, SDSs for the sub-national level (Germany), international study 20135 countries, 5 regions (sub-national) / global, but …

3. What is good practice for vertical coordination: 1)Links between the levels on the mere document side:SDSs refer to the strategies of the upper level, translate and break down goals and targets? 2)Not only top-down, but also bottom up? How much does the sub-national level develop own action? 3)SDSs refer to the lower level: national to sub-national (and local), sub-national to local level? 4)What are the coordination mechanisms, e.g. framework laws, targets that need to be broken down? What are the mechanisms that lower level needs, capabilities and ambitions are taken up in an upper level strategy? 5)What is the style of the vertical coordination? How does the cooperation of governments and administration of different levels look like: Formal rules for participation in decision-making (e.g. in federal states, EU)? Are there more cooperative mechanisms in place, such as consultation committees?

4. Good practice for vertical coordination (so far): National level SDSs: Joint SD strategy (“national”: federal and regional level ): Austria Emphasizing the local level, incl. bottom-up approaches: Finland, France, (Germany) / Bhutan, Ecuador Regions (sub-national): Tyrol (AT), Aargau (CH) Regions with good practice, but… : Basque Country, Catalonia (ES), Flanders (BE), Wales (UK), German Laender (varied) Soft steering: Greening the European Semester (economic policies of the EU MSs)

6. 3 themes with collaboration: public procurement, indicators (but still disconnected), land take (no reference to national target)

7. no reference to national SDS indicators

9. but totally outdated

10. no link to the national or regional level

13. Conclusions: Better links are needed; even on the mere document side rather rarely done Top-down framework and bottom-up feeding in (with policies and action) Sub-national level: D.Y.O.T. Avoid one-off projects; build in a capacity building strand from the onset, aim at scaling-up good practice and lessons learned, go for partnership approaches with effective duration National level: encourage, support, foster sub-national level (good for implementation) Establish functioning mechanisms (groups, bodies) for collaboration, deliberation, strategy and action plan development and monitoring Have metagovernance in mind

14. Insights on Governance for SD (2004): "and – and".. "mix/balance/moving towards ‘ends’"  diversity Leadership (is performed) Ownership (is fostered) P FIND Top-downBottom-up P FINB FirmnessFlexibility ALLUKD Framework document Action focus NLFIND D UK S P FIND Top-downBottom-up P FINB Firmness, Monitoring Flexibility ALLUKD Action focus NLFIND D UK S Niestroy, 10 April 2014, UNOSD SDTF, Korea

15. ... found in other theory development "Metagovernance" (Meuleman, 2008) - smart mix of the three basic governance styles: hierarchy, market, network - adapted to specific phases + situations "TransGov" (IASS / In 't Veld, 2011; Meuleman, 2012) - social reflexivity - knowledge democracy / transdisciplinarity - 'second modernity' (Beck, 1992) : - 'and'... 'and' (not 'or') - diversity rather than simplicity  combined: 'transgovernance' "Balance of the opposites" (Heraklit / Cornélis, 2012)