advance of the committees’ working processes.
Table 1 provides an example of the investigated
objects, corresponding success indicators and
database used.
5 Findings on the Participatory
Process
Developing and especially implementing integrated sustainability strategies at the local level
can be successful in the long term only if they are
co-developed by the local community and meet
the necessary acceptance and support of the citizens, civil society, administration and politics
(see Sect. 3). For this reason, the working
structure of the LAG 21 NRW approach provides
a wide participatory process in the form of a
steering committee that is composed of local
stakeholders and meets at least five times during
the project period. Initial findings of the accompanying monitoring and evaluation concerning
the establishment, composition and work of the
steering committees are presented below.
Establishment, Size and Composition of the
Steering Committees in the GNK NRW
Project
Because the steering committee serves as the
central body for developing the IMSS, its personnel composition and the selection of attending
actors requires careful consideration. For this
reason, the first step in establishing the municipal
working groups (see Sect. 3) included an extensive actor mapping to identify relevant local
stakeholders who should participate in the process due to their specific resources. After a joint
brainstorming with the LAG 21 NRW, the project coordination and managing personnel of the
municipality, all actors identified from politics,
administration and civil society were categorized
according to the following criteria:
– Available resources (e.g., know-how, human
resources, networks, finances, and leverage)
– Thematic proximity/affinity to sustainability
topics
With the help of this group assessment,
potential members of both the core group and the
steering committee were identified. These suggestions were finally discussed in the course of a
detailed kick-off meeting with the project coordination, potential members of the core group,
managing personnel of the municipality and the
LAG 21 NRW. Thereupon, the potential members of the steering committee were invited to
help develop the IMSS as volunteers in a cooperative planning process.
The monitoring and evaluation of the actual
size and composition of the steering committees
were based on attendance lists, which were
signed by members every time the committees
met. To analyze the committees’ composition,
the participants were also invited to note their
profession and the institution they represent. On
this basis, the participants were assigned to one
of the actor groups (administration, politics, civil
society, science and the economy).
As shown in Fig. 6, representatives of the
administration—including the core group and
coordination—formed the majority within the
steering committees. However, civil society
actors, for example, those from NGOs, associations or churches, were also strongly represented
so that the target system of the IMSS also reflects
societal interests to an appreciable extent. In
addition to these dominant groups, stakeholders
from the local economy and science participated
in the process of IMSS development in almost
every municipality. With shares of 5 percent and
4 percent, the presence of these stakeholders is
considerably smaller, and particularly in the
smaller model municipalities, it presents an eyecatching effect. Moreover, representatives from
the major political groups participated in all
municipal steering committees.
The total number of steering committeemembers differed between the 15 model municipalities. While in some municipalities, only 14
to 15 people, including core group and coordination, attended the steering committee meetings,
other committees consisted of 30 actors or more.
A clear link between the population size of a
250
S. Eichhorn et al.
Table 1 provides an example of the investigated
objects, corresponding success indicators and
database used.
5 Findings on the Participatory
Process
Developing and especially implementing integrated sustainability strategies at the local level
can be successful in the long term only if they are
co-developed by the local community and meet
the necessary acceptance and support of the citizens, civil society, administration and politics
(see Sect. 3). For this reason, the working
structure of the LAG 21 NRW approach provides
a wide participatory process in the form of a
steering committee that is composed of local
stakeholders and meets at least five times during
the project period. Initial findings of the accompanying monitoring and evaluation concerning
the establishment, composition and work of the
steering committees are presented below.
Establishment, Size and Composition of the
Steering Committees in the GNK NRW
Project
Because the steering committee serves as the
central body for developing the IMSS, its personnel composition and the selection of attending
actors requires careful consideration. For this
reason, the first step in establishing the municipal
working groups (see Sect. 3) included an extensive actor mapping to identify relevant local
stakeholders who should participate in the process due to their specific resources. After a joint
brainstorming with the LAG 21 NRW, the project coordination and managing personnel of the
municipality, all actors identified from politics,
administration and civil society were categorized
according to the following criteria:
– Available resources (e.g., know-how, human
resources, networks, finances, and leverage)
– Thematic proximity/affinity to sustainability
topics
With the help of this group assessment,
potential members of both the core group and the
steering committee were identified. These suggestions were finally discussed in the course of a
detailed kick-off meeting with the project coordination, potential members of the core group,
managing personnel of the municipality and the
LAG 21 NRW. Thereupon, the potential members of the steering committee were invited to
help develop the IMSS as volunteers in a cooperative planning process.
The monitoring and evaluation of the actual
size and composition of the steering committees
were based on attendance lists, which were
signed by members every time the committees
met. To analyze the committees’ composition,
the participants were also invited to note their
profession and the institution they represent. On
this basis, the participants were assigned to one
of the actor groups (administration, politics, civil
society, science and the economy).
As shown in Fig. 6, representatives of the
administration—including the core group and
coordination—formed the majority within the
steering committees. However, civil society
actors, for example, those from NGOs, associations or churches, were also strongly represented
so that the target system of the IMSS also reflects
societal interests to an appreciable extent. In
addition to these dominant groups, stakeholders
from the local economy and science participated
in the process of IMSS development in almost
every municipality. With shares of 5 percent and
4 percent, the presence of these stakeholders is
considerably smaller, and particularly in the
smaller model municipalities, it presents an eyecatching effect. Moreover, representatives from
the major political groups participated in all
municipal steering committees.
The total number of steering committeemembers differed between the 15 model municipalities. While in some municipalities, only 14
to 15 people, including core group and coordination, attended the steering committee meetings,
other committees consisted of 30 actors or more.
A clear link between the population size of a
250
S. Eichhorn et al.