Ecological sustainability has become a central concern for public administrations across Europe and beyond. Climate change, biodiversity loss, pollution, resource depletion, and ecosystem degradation increasingly challenge public authorities, who are confronted with uncertainty, interdependence, and contested priorities. These challenges are not only environmental, but fundamentally socio-political, mobilising public administration, public management, public policy, and related disciplines.
This Study Group provides an interdisciplinary forum for scholars interested in how ecological challenges shape public action, administrative processes, and governance arrangements across different institutional contexts, including countries, levels of government, and policy sectors. It brings together theoretical and practice-oriented research, fosters critical debate, encourages interdisciplinary exchange, and welcomes methodological pluralism. The Study Group does not function as an expert body or advocacy platform, but as a space for critical inquiry, dialogue, and collective reflection.
For the launch of the study group, we have decided to structure this call around two broad themes relating to the Governance of Ecological Sustainability. The first theme relates to the definition, understanding and interpretation of ecological sustainability and the grand challenges it aims to tackle. The second theme relates to the actors of ecological sustainability governance, how they interact, negotiate, and co-create public decisions and policies.