Public policy interventions and sustainability: complex stakeholder environments

Public policy interventions and sustainability: complex stakeholder environments

Complex issues, whether they be economic, social or environmental, pose significant challenges at all levels of governance. Keast, Mandell and Brown's theory on public policy governance of complex issues in 'crowded' policy domains is employed for interpretive and analytical purposes in a small case study about interventions relating to skills and workforce management in tight labour markets.
In particular, the case focuses on a skills ecosystem intervention for dealing with labour issues - skills acquisition, training, and the like. It highlights the extent to which multiple stakeholders are able to collaborate in analysing, formulating and implementing public policy strategy. In this sense it is a case about democratisation of the policy process and about the success with which ecosystems actors are able to align their skills and labour goals, narrowly defined, with holistic long term environmental sustainability goals.
First, three public policy imperatives are extracted from Keast et al's theory: (1) clarity of desired outcome (2) appropriate matching of the mix of governance modes to the clearly defined outcomes, and (3) better understanding of the operative systems and conventions on which those governance modes rely.
Second a case study is presented. The case finds that the three Keast et al imperatives remain complex and vexed issues themselves. Other aspects of Keast et al's theory are addressed in the case.
Third, on the basis of the brief glimpse the case provides into knowledge and implementation challenges inherent in complex mixed mode policy governance arenas, research questions are formulated and matched with each of the three policy imperatives identified at the outset. Conclusions are drawn.

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