Institutions and Sustainable Development
One of the basic pillars of sustainable development is the presence of effective institutions. With “institutions” is meant not only the circle of national or international organizations, but also the stakeholders who interact with them in decision-making processes and activities.
Policies for sustainable development are facing challenges of global dimension, of threefold nature (economic, environmental, social), and in a context of uncertainty with respect to their long-term impact. According to the OECD report of 2001 on Sustainable Development, the change in the role and functions of the government, which affected many Western countries in the last quarter of the last century, it has had a major impact on policies for sustainable development. It is the state’s tendency to abandon the role of direct management of various sectors, to reduce the resources available to the public and, ultimately, to delegate responsibility to the local level. National governments have created newly bodies responsible for the management of policies for sustainable development. Roundtables and committees give consultative activities, campaigns to raise public awareness and shared management of information. With the privatization of certain activities previously carried out by public institutions, the social and environmental policies are increasingly carried out by the voluntary sector and non-governmental organizations, while the companies and the unions become key players in sustainable policies. Especially non-governmental organizations are changing their function, from an external role, aimed at preventing the action or inaction of the institutions, in an active collaboration.
