and complex administrative processes require
a flexible adaption to local specifics and
should allow an affiliation to existing committees. Experiences from the GNK NRW
model project and many other municipal
management processes that were accompanied
by the LAG 21 NRW show that existing
working structures are clearly more accepted
than new ones.
• The coordination and core groups must be
able to independently organize, explain and
justify the main working steps to develop
IMSS. Furthermore, it is important that the
coordination and core groups act coherently in
the steering committees. Diverging interests
and conflicts should be discussed in other
contexts, e.g., in core group meetings or at a
bilateral level.
• The composition of the steering committee
should be well balanced so that individual
interests do not dominate the cooperative
IMSS development process. Furthermore,
when selecting stakeholders, it is necessary to
ensure that actors from all actor groups (administration, politics, civil society, economy
and science) attend steering committee meetings in order to include a wide range of local
expertise, ensure local ownership of the IMSS
and guarantee a strong commitment of all
stakeholders from the very start.
• Against the background of the Agenda 2030,
the attendance of the so-called One World
Promoters, for example, from One World
Net NRW,
5 is particularly relevant. While
most of the involved actors represent more or
less generic fields of municipal development,
One World Promoters help to integrate
objectives and measures that expand the view
to the Global South.
• An early and intense involvement of important political decision-makers is one of the key
success factors identified. The continuous
involvement of political actors increases
identification with the process, as their
potential influence rises during the development of IMSS. Regarding the invitation to
join the steering committees, it should be
considered that the chosen politicians have
sufficient influence within their parties to
increase acceptance in the political arena of
decision-making. Thus, the flow of information into the political groups facilitates the
formal decision regarding the IMSS. In this
context, it is also advisable to raise awareness
amongst local politicians with the help of
concerted lobbying.
• To foster inter-municipal learning and
knowledge sharing among the model municipalities, seven networking conferences
specifically addressed to the project coordination were organized. Further, projectexternal municipalities were invited to join
the intercommunication at certain points.
These opportunities were highly utilized so
that networking conferences must also be
considered as essential success factors of the
GNK NRW project.
As the development and implementation of
the IMSS is designed as a CIP (see Sect. 3), the
continuation of the cooperative processes in the
steering committees after having adopted the first
IMSS (e.g., for monitoring and evaluation) is an
essential factor for successfully implementing the
Agenda 2030 in the long term. The conducted
survey of project coordinators shows that a
consensus target system, clear political guidance
and the provision of specific human and financial
resources are equally important for this purpose
as ambitious but realizable targets and visible
achievements.
6 Conclusions and Outlook
With the ecological, social and economic
dimensions, the Agenda 2030 affects many fields
of action in which different stakeholders operate.
Therefore, developing IMSS in this context
depends on an integrated approach and the
5
The One World Net NRW is the umbrella association of
the development associations in North Rhine-Westphalia.
The main tasks of the One World Network are consulting
One World Engagement, education and outreach projects,
as well as networking and training on all aspects of One
World work in North Rhine Westphalia.
A Participatory Multi-Stakeholder Approach to Implementing …
253
a flexible adaption to local specifics and
should allow an affiliation to existing committees. Experiences from the GNK NRW
model project and many other municipal
management processes that were accompanied
by the LAG 21 NRW show that existing
working structures are clearly more accepted
than new ones.
• The coordination and core groups must be
able to independently organize, explain and
justify the main working steps to develop
IMSS. Furthermore, it is important that the
coordination and core groups act coherently in
the steering committees. Diverging interests
and conflicts should be discussed in other
contexts, e.g., in core group meetings or at a
bilateral level.
• The composition of the steering committee
should be well balanced so that individual
interests do not dominate the cooperative
IMSS development process. Furthermore,
when selecting stakeholders, it is necessary to
ensure that actors from all actor groups (administration, politics, civil society, economy
and science) attend steering committee meetings in order to include a wide range of local
expertise, ensure local ownership of the IMSS
and guarantee a strong commitment of all
stakeholders from the very start.
• Against the background of the Agenda 2030,
the attendance of the so-called One World
Promoters, for example, from One World
Net NRW,
5 is particularly relevant. While
most of the involved actors represent more or
less generic fields of municipal development,
One World Promoters help to integrate
objectives and measures that expand the view
to the Global South.
• An early and intense involvement of important political decision-makers is one of the key
success factors identified. The continuous
involvement of political actors increases
identification with the process, as their
potential influence rises during the development of IMSS. Regarding the invitation to
join the steering committees, it should be
considered that the chosen politicians have
sufficient influence within their parties to
increase acceptance in the political arena of
decision-making. Thus, the flow of information into the political groups facilitates the
formal decision regarding the IMSS. In this
context, it is also advisable to raise awareness
amongst local politicians with the help of
concerted lobbying.
• To foster inter-municipal learning and
knowledge sharing among the model municipalities, seven networking conferences
specifically addressed to the project coordination were organized. Further, projectexternal municipalities were invited to join
the intercommunication at certain points.
These opportunities were highly utilized so
that networking conferences must also be
considered as essential success factors of the
GNK NRW project.
As the development and implementation of
the IMSS is designed as a CIP (see Sect. 3), the
continuation of the cooperative processes in the
steering committees after having adopted the first
IMSS (e.g., for monitoring and evaluation) is an
essential factor for successfully implementing the
Agenda 2030 in the long term. The conducted
survey of project coordinators shows that a
consensus target system, clear political guidance
and the provision of specific human and financial
resources are equally important for this purpose
as ambitious but realizable targets and visible
achievements.
6 Conclusions and Outlook
With the ecological, social and economic
dimensions, the Agenda 2030 affects many fields
of action in which different stakeholders operate.
Therefore, developing IMSS in this context
depends on an integrated approach and the
5
The One World Net NRW is the umbrella association of
the development associations in North Rhine-Westphalia.
The main tasks of the One World Network are consulting
One World Engagement, education and outreach projects,
as well as networking and training on all aspects of One
World work in North Rhine Westphalia.
A Participatory Multi-Stakeholder Approach to Implementing …
253