Critical success factors for govering public goods in rural development of two Dutch regions, Winterwijk and Het Groene Woud

Sustainable regional development is a complex multi-stakeholder process that involves social and physical processes at different scales. The study aimed to provide adequate knowledge on the underlying mechanisms of regional development and the way actors in the region act upon these. Through two empirical Dutch cases (namely Winterswijk and Het Groene Woud) we identified key factors leading to success or failure in the formation of alliances for effective governance of public goods. By means of a literature survey we defined the concepts of governance and public goods and used them as a methodological approach on the definition, operationalization, monitoring and dynamics of the critical success factors. As a basis for the interaction among different actors we described three governance structures, which all provide elements of coordinating and regulating, namely: market, government and community. The main questions for the analysis of the Dutch cases were: What kind of processes are driving or inhibiting regional development? How is cooperation between actors accomplished? How takes decision-making place among actors? How is actors’ consideration of progress? In both regions regional development started in the 1990’s in reaction to new (governmental) policies, (e.g. environmental legislation). Both regions showed a remarkable regional development from mono-disciplinary agriculture towards an integrated multifunctional land use, combining agriculture with other functions like landscape conservation, stimulation of recreation, adaptations of water management to climate change, etc. Through local surveys, interviews and workshops with key actors in both regions, we studied how actors considered the processes of the regional development. From this we derived critical success factors and analysed their implications for land use policy.