The Coordination of European Development Cooperation in the Field: Myth or Reality?
By Terhi Lehtinen, 2003
Coordination in the field takes place increasingly in the context of PRSPs, which provides opportunities for more effective coordination of donors by the partner government. This is a highly desirable development goal that helps to enhance ownership and commitment, both of which are usually tied to improved aid effectiveness. In this context, the role of EU should be seen positively. In contrast, the EU’s special role as a ‘global player’ gives it added value in the areas of political
coordination, political dialogue on good governance and democracy in the partner countries. The perceived lack of European coordination of development interventions appears to be a ‘false problem’ in the field: there are various formal and informal fora for the exchange of information and pragmatic cooperation. In addition, the Commission is supporting initiatives to improve the quality of Community development assistance and works closely with other agencies in the context of PRSPs, budget support, sectoral approaches and programmes.
Comparing Coordination Structures for Crisis Management in Six Countries
By Tom Christensen, Ole Andreas Danielsen, Per Lægreid and Lise H. Rykkja, 2015
The article analyses organizational structures and coordination mechanisms for crisis management in six European countries, focusing on the prevalence of hierarchical and network arrangements, administrative culture and perceptions of coordination quality. Our main research question concerns the importance of collaboration and cooperation in the management of crises. We apply a structural–instrumental and a cultural perspective, and examine data on formal organizational structures as well as survey data from administrative executives. The mapping reveals hybrid coordination
arrangements with different national ‘flavours’. The survey data show that the executives accorded significant weight to coordination, but the use of different coordination mechanisms was only loosely linked to their assessments of coordination quality. Our findings support a view of public administration as a largely composite system combining contradictory organizational principles that have evolved through institutional layering. National context and the specific challenges from different types of crises therefore influence crisis management capacity profoundly.
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Territorial Governance, Participation, Cooperation and Partnership: A Matter Of National Culture?
By Louis Wassenhoven, 2008
Cooperation and participation are discussed in this paper as essential elements of territorial governance, with emphasis on participation and the effect of national culture. The experience of European countries is presented and placed in a theoretical context. Use is then made of the example of Greece to discuss the effect of socio-political culture on the adoption of participation and cooperation practices and territorial governance strategies. The impact of a national tradition of patronage and client-relations has a negative influence on the prospects of a governance approach.
Boosting Territorial Multi-Stakeholder Cooperation, Coordination And Collaboration: Strategic And Managerial Issues
By Valéry Michaux, Christian Defélix, Nathalie Raulet-Croset, 2011
This article introduces a special issue of the Review “Management & Avenir” on a new field of research. Our research subject here is not the territory as a historical, socio-economic entity generating positive externalities, a point of view well defined by the fields of economics and geography. Neither is it the quasi-spontaneous emergence of forms of coordination, without the impetus of one driver. Here we are interested in territorial processes, initiated by local actors themselves or by state authorities to develop more local cooperation, coordination and collaboration. Although research has been interested in the difficulties of implementing such multiple partnerships for a long time, it has taken less interest in the managerial and strategic issues of boosting territorial multi-stakeholder cooperation, coordination and/or collaboration.
