Conference Agenda

Sustainability has been extensively studied in different disciplines especially since the publication of the Brundtland commission’s report in 1987. However, its presence in public management and knowledge management literature is limited, particularly regarding its management. Despite being a critical societal challenge, there is limited understanding of how sustainability policies and strategies are implemented and managed in public organizations (e.g., Fiorino, 2010; Zeemering, 2018). Moreover, there is a crowing need to approach sustainability as a performance goal in public sector (Vikstedt et al., 2024). As scholarly focus has been on ecological and (macro-)economic sustainability, there is room for studies on socio-financial sustainability. In public administration context, this is a fundamental public management dilemma, as public managers are constantly balancing between financial and social sustainability: using scarce financial and human resources to ensure citizens’ wellbeing in a thriving society (Sinervo & Laihonen, 2024).

This article explores how socio-financial sustainability is managed in local government from the specific viewpoint of knowledge and collective knowledge formation. The article analyses how public managers understand sustainability information, its role in public management, and how they use it in their management tasks specifically in local government context. Our focus is on the collective social process of knowledge formation in which information is collected, interpreted, and shared (Laihonen et al., 2023, cf. Douglas & Ansell, 2021; 2023). Our article continues and strengthens the research on performance information use in public sector to cover complex sustainability phenomenon and shifting the focus on collective sustainability knowledge. Moreover, as typically performance information use is mainly studied with quantitative methods, we broaden the methodological scope with qualitative research setting.

The article utilizes two different data sets. An interview study was conducted with 25 branch and financial directors in Finnish municipalities. The findings provide an in-depth, knowledge-based perspective on managing sustainability in local government. To deepen the understanding of role of knowledge in sustainability management, we conducted three development workshops in two Finnish cities involving participants from early childhood education, basic education, and various management and expert roles in finance, catering, cleaning, and property services. This research design aimed to capture the knowledge formation process as public managers developed a shared understanding of socio-financial sustainability and integrated the operations and finances of early childhood education and basic education.

The adoption of environmental practices in public sector organizations has been progressively emphasized by a range of stakeholders as an effective way to mitigate their environmental footprint (Duong et al., 2024). This is particularly true for the healthcare sector, with its ever-increasing waste generation (Rizan et al., 2021) and energy consumption (Dion & Evans, 2023). Although public healthcare organizations have only started to address environmental issues in the past decade, the implementation and combination of different environmental practices in public hospitals have been empirically shown to have a positive impact on their environmental performance (Piubello Orsini et al., 2024). This aligns with the predictions of the Practice-Based View, which posits that the “imitable activities” implemented in an organization will positively influence its performance (Bromiley & Rau, 2014, p. 1249). In this regard, the existing literature points out the role of the organizational leadership, either the top management team or the board of directors, in promoting the adoption and implementation of pro-environmental practices (Walls & Hoffman, 2013).

Nevertheless, the literature has so far mainly focused on organizational characteristics as antecedents of environmental performance rather than on leadership traits as potential ”triggers” for the adoption and implementation outcome of environmental practices (Balasubramanian et al., 2021). Some scholarly works focusing on the healthcare sector have investigated the impact that governance attributes, particularly the characteristics of boards of directors, may have on environmental sustainability in relation to organizational disclosure and performance (Garzoni et al., 2024). However, we still have little understanding on the role that the board of directors plays in adopting and implementing environmental practices.

To fill this gap, drawing on insights from the Practice Based View and Board Human Capital Theory, we investigate how certain board characteristics, such as its structure and composition, may influence the adoption of green practices. In addition, the study seeks to deepen the understanding that other traits, such as the competence of board members, have on the implementation of such practices, including potentially moderating their effect on environmental performance. To do so, we analyze the board characteristics of 137 public NHS hospital trusts from 2018 to 2023, and investigate how these may have influenced the adoption and implementation of different green practices - namely, the presence of a waste manager, waste reuse scheme, estate development strategy, green procurement, energy manager, energy efficient schemes, and heat decarbonization plan - and their effect on environmental performance. Given the panel nature of our data, we utilize time series (Veronesi et al., 2023). Preliminary results will be discussed in relation to theory, research, and practical implications.

The European Commission's Circular Economy Action Plan (CEAP) aims to halt unsustainable resource consumption and double the circular material use rate within the next decade (European Commission, 2020). Transitioning to a circular economy requires commitment and collective action across all societal sectors. It also necessitates local-level governance networks that bring together public administrators, businesses, citizens, and non-governmental organizations dedicated to advancing the circular economy (Petit-Boix & Leipold, 2018; Vikstedt et al., 2024).

However, effectively orchestrating local efforts and governing circularity performance presents a central transition challenge. This mission does not clearly align with organizational and sectoral mandates or simplified principal-agent relationships, and the involvement of “many hands” and “many eyes” in advancing the circular economy makes it difficult to develop performance governance systems and create institutionalized accountability mechanisms for policy performance (Brandsma & Schillemans, 2013; Rajala & Kokko, 2022; Vakkuri et al., 2021; Johanson & Vakkuri, 2024).

To address this challenge, this study examines the accountability problem in local governance networks that focus on advancing the circular economy. By drawing particularly from hybrid governance and network accountability literature (e.g., Willems & van Dooren, 2011; Koliba et al., 2011; Benish & Mattei, 2020; Rajala & Jalonen, 2025), we focus on the following research question: How can hybrid governance networks develop joint systems of performance governance to foster accountability on local progress towards a circular economy? What are the most important challenges in institutionalizing hybrid horizontal accountability?

This question is addressed through qualitative inquiry. The paper uses semi-structured interviews with key actors participating in the networks for governing local circularity in the Pirkanmaa Region, Finland. Through thematic content analysis of the interview data, this study outlines the key challenges and bottlenecks actors face when developing performance governance and accountability systems to support the circular economy transition. The results contribute to a more comprehensive empirical scrutiny of performance governance in the context of circular economy policies. Moreover, the analysis demonstrates why and how it is difficult to develop accountability on shared policy goals in the context of hybrid governance networks.

This study investigates public perceptions of state and federal government performance in addressing environmental issues, drawing on a general population survey of N=1,137 U.S. respondents conducted in 2024. Public views on governance effectiveness are shaped by factors such as, federal and state environmental efforts, state economic development performance, perceived urgency surrounding key environmental concerns (e.g., climate change, endangered species, waste recycling), and demographic characteristics including political leanings, income, religion, and residential location, will be examined. The research also explores the influence of broader attitudes, such as overall federal performance approval and civic engagement (volunteering and donating), on these perceptions.

Research on public environmental perceptions occurs sporadically across countries and continents (e.g., Bord et al., 1998; Dunlap, 2014; Papoulis et al., 2015; Tran, 2006; White & Hunter, 2009; Wong, 2010). In China, rapid economic growth and resulting environmental degradation have heightened public awareness, though residents primarily rely on government action to address these issues (Wong, 2010). Conversely, in Greece, residents exhibit low trust in government and industries, viewing them as culprits of environmental problems, and instead look to scientific and environmental organizations for solutions (Papoulis et al., 2015). Similarly, in Anguilla, public awareness of the environmental and social impacts of development strongly influences support for sustainable policies, with 80% of residents recognizing the need to protect natural resources, though they often lack detailed knowledge of specific strategies (Tran, 2006). In Coastal Ghana, substantial environmental awareness is evident, with higher education and political engagement consistently associated with greater concern, and residents prioritizing environmental issues even over socioeconomic challenges (White & Hunter, 2009). Globally, public concern about issues like global warming varies, with stronger awareness in developed nations but growing recognition in developing contexts (Bord et al., 1998; Dunlap, 2014). In the United States, research on public perceptions of environmental issues and government performance remains limited. Bord et al. (1998) noted that public concern was minimal before the mid-1980s but grew significantly by the late 1980s due to awareness of the “greenhouse effect,” peaking in the late 1990s (Dunlap, 2014). Their 1997 survey found that U.S. respondents ranked climate change and hazardous chemical waste management as the issues they were least informed about, with air and water pollution at moderate awareness levels. Regarding perceived threats, climate change was seen as the least likely to impact lifetime well-being, followed by hazardous chemical waste, while water pollution and air pollution were ranked as mid-to-high concerns.

Building on prior research, this study not only examines the perceived urgency of environmental concerns but also analyzes how this urgency correlates with perceptions of federal and state government performance. Using ordered logistic regression, the study identifies distinct perceptual patterns between state and federal levels, exploring the interplay of policy perceptions, environmental priorities, and societal factors. International perspectives and policies are also considered, with implications for targeted environmental policy communication. This research yields significant findings and lays the groundwork for future studies on perceptions of specific environmental issues.