Institutional arrangements, forms of coordination and complex international problems

a look at the Sustainable Development Goals

Abstract

The effectiveness of public policies to deal with complex problems has been affected by the difficulty in producing institutional arrangements capable of dealing with uncertainties, the multidimensional nature and the interdependent character of the various domains of such objects. This becomes even more evident when such problems are part of the international agenda, as multi-scale coordination requirements add additional layers of difficulty, as any solution must involve actors, regulations, incentives and investments at the international, national and local levels. This article analyzes how the institutional arrangement for implementing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) seeks to resolve some of these dilemmas. To achieve this, the research is based on an adapted version of a framework that takes as its object four dimensions in which efforts should be undertaken to better deal with the complexity of this problem: horizontal integration, vertical integration, forms of coordination between State, society and market, and finally territoriality. The results show that the institutional arrangement for implementing the SDGs brings ambiguous results, highlights the innovations introduced and, mainly, points out a set of domains in which it would be necessary to reinforce coordination between actors, areas and levels of government in the policy.