Panel Paper: Stakeholder Engagement & Comprehensive Sustainability in Local Government: A Case Study of Ventura County

Friday, November 7, 2014 : 9:30 AM
Enchantment Ballroom E (Hyatt)

*Names in bold indicate Presenter

Andrew Pattison and Manal M. Bahobeshi, California Lutheran University
The research is aimed at analyzing the sustainability-related policies that are implemented by the local governments of the ten cities of Ventura County. The relationship between local government stakeholder engagement and policy implementation is examined. Also investigated is the degree to which the sustainability-related policies each city has implemented are comprehensive in their integration of the three pillars of sustainability: economics, environment, and social equity. It is hypothesized that more active stakeholder engagement will lead to greater implementation of sustainability-related policies. It is also hypothesized that cities’ sustainability-related policies will more often prioritize economic concerns over environmental concerns, and further that both of those sustainability-related concerns will be prioritized in terms of actual implementation of sustainability policy over concerns of social equity. Data was collected using an original survey of approximately 75 local government employees in the county, including but not limited to: program managers, division directors, and city managers. Early analysis supports both hypotheses.

Full Paper: