Institutional barriers are critical obstacles to policy implementation and innovation. This policy brief is derived from ongoing research across nine case studies covering marine energy, maritime transport, marine plastics, and marine life. The case studies used key informant interviews, document analysis, and PERMAGOV’s diagnostic tool to identify institutional barriers. The two most common barriers that have been reported across the nine case studies are:
There is a mismatch between the scale of a governance problem and the scale of the governance institutions; and
The processes through which knowledge is produced, used or communicated have caused barriers to effective policy implementation.
PERMAGOV recommendations
The development of nested and multi-level marine governance arrangements; and
That future iterations of relevant directives include a commitment to open science and data sharing.
Institutional barriers were identified using a diagnostic tool that PERMAGOV developed based on a literature review and co-creation sessions with end-user partners and stakeholders. The diagnostic tool assigns governance issues and institutional barriers to governance attributes.
PERMAGOV considers institutional barriers to be symptoms of deeper governance design issues. PERMAGOV identifies three categories of institutional attributes, i.e. rules, procedures and norms in terms of: 1) their scale, rigidity and formality, 2) actor participation, accountability and connectivity, and 3) managing conflict and knowledge processes.
As barriers are deeply rooted in prevailing governance practices and institutions, they will continue to hamper effective policy implementation if left unaddressed. Developing solutions to these barriers requires identifying how they link to specific institutional attributes.
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