The objective of the panel is to bring together contributions that initiate transdisciplinary dialogues. These dialogues will focus on epistemic, theoretical, and methodological reflections on forms of governance that could constitute sustainable governance in diverse cultural and institutional contexts.
We recognize that, in the face of the need for effective solutions to the problems society faces, there is significant convergence around the concept of governance. As a theoretical construct, governance is distinguished from government in that it is not confined to acts of governing through the exercise of the state apparatus. Instead, it integrates into the analysis the coordination of situated actors, constrained by the rules of the game and strategically related through processes and the use of public policy tools. For this reason, it is argued that governance implies complex relationships that open opportunities when facing challenges where hierarchical government action, the market, and even networks demonstrate failures or insufficiencies, thereby revealing unavoidable interdependencies.
These relationships can occur through government initiatives, in non-visible ways (in the shadows), or within and from society in modes of self-coordination. The idea recognizes the indispensability of government linked to the rule of the majority, as well as the value of the influence of organized social and private actors in the policy process, either directly or indirectly. In this context, orientations have emerged that seek to explain the sociopolitical capacity for public-collective action in the face of hyper-complex problems such as climate change, organized crime, and the multiple urban challenges in large metropolises.
The idea of sustainable governance seeks to integrate contributions from three forms of governance that have produced abundant reflection: inclusive, adaptive, and collaborative. Among others, opportunities have been identified in forms of local norms (narratives, agendas, self-reflection); conditions of interdependence (inclusion, sense of interdependence, vertical and horizontal accountability); collaborative processes (leadership, building trust and mediation, innovation tools, co-participation); and co-creation ecosystems (institutional participation and platforms; environmental conditions).
We will include papers that contribute to these orientations, particularly those focused on reflecting on the diverse challenges faced by countries with traditional democracies, as well as those with fragile or questioned democratic institutions.