153
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
P. Saundry, B. L. Ruddell (eds.), The Food-Energy-Water Nexus, AESS
Interdisciplinary Environmental Studies and Sciences Series,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-29914-9_6
Chapter 6
International Governance
Antti Belinskij, Kaisa Huhta, Marko Keskinen, Outi Ratamäki,
and Peter Saundry
6.1 Introduction
One of the criteria for considering the nexus of food, energy, and water systems are
that they are governance-heavy, as noted in Chap. 1. The word governance refers
here generally to the processes by which organizations and other groups of people
make and implement decisions, policies, and rules.
While governance has many definitions, it can generally be seen to consist of two
key elements, that is, actors and institutions. Actors include variety of organizations,
groups, and individuals that participate and/or have an interest in the governance
processes at different scales. They can thus include formal government-related
actors such as ministries, international actors such as the United Nations organizations as well as other actors such as private corporations, academia, and civil society
organizations. Institutions, on the other hand, can be generally defined as persistent
social arrangements that shape and regulate actors’ behavior and actions. Institutions
include both formal institutions (such as policies and laws) and informal institutions
(such as norms and traditions).
A. Belinskij (*) · K. Huhta · O. Ratamäki
Social Sciences and Business Studies, Law School, University of Eastern Finland,
Joensuu, Finland
e-mail: antti.belinskij@uef.fi; kaisa.huhta@uef.fi; outi.ratamaki@uef.fi
M. Keskinen
Water & Development Research Group, Aalto University, Espoo, Finland
e-mail: marko.keskinen@aalto.fi
P. Saundry
Energy Policy and Climate, Advanced Academic Programs, Krieger School of Arts
and Sciences, Johns Hopkins University, Washington, DC, USA
e-mail: psaundr1@jhu.edu
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
P. Saundry, B. L. Ruddell (eds.), The Food-Energy-Water Nexus, AESS
Interdisciplinary Environmental Studies and Sciences Series,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-29914-9_6
Chapter 6
International Governance
Antti Belinskij, Kaisa Huhta, Marko Keskinen, Outi Ratamäki,
and Peter Saundry
6.1 Introduction
One of the criteria for considering the nexus of food, energy, and water systems are
that they are governance-heavy, as noted in Chap. 1. The word governance refers
here generally to the processes by which organizations and other groups of people
make and implement decisions, policies, and rules.
While governance has many definitions, it can generally be seen to consist of two
key elements, that is, actors and institutions. Actors include variety of organizations,
groups, and individuals that participate and/or have an interest in the governance
processes at different scales. They can thus include formal government-related
actors such as ministries, international actors such as the United Nations organizations as well as other actors such as private corporations, academia, and civil society
organizations. Institutions, on the other hand, can be generally defined as persistent
social arrangements that shape and regulate actors’ behavior and actions. Institutions
include both formal institutions (such as policies and laws) and informal institutions
(such as norms and traditions).
A. Belinskij (*) · K. Huhta · O. Ratamäki
Social Sciences and Business Studies, Law School, University of Eastern Finland,
Joensuu, Finland
e-mail: antti.belinskij@uef.fi; kaisa.huhta@uef.fi; outi.ratamaki@uef.fi
M. Keskinen
Water & Development Research Group, Aalto University, Espoo, Finland
e-mail: marko.keskinen@aalto.fi
P. Saundry
Energy Policy and Climate, Advanced Academic Programs, Krieger School of Arts
and Sciences, Johns Hopkins University, Washington, DC, USA
e-mail: psaundr1@jhu.edu