Transforming governance: improving livelihoods

The document argues that conventional formal institution building is insufficient for sustainable development and calls for new collaborations between governments, civil society, and the private sector. It emphasizes the need to link livelihoods in low-income regions with consumption patterns in affluent regions and to integrate disaster risk reduction (DRR) into development planning to build resilience. SEI highlights various projects, including palm oil governance in Southeast Asia, Arctic resilience, and sanitation in East Africa, to illustrate the need for 'hybrid accountability' and 'institutional bricolage' in governance.

• Conventional formal institution building is no longer sufficient for sustainable development because public authorities often suffer from capacity gaps and poor performance, and policies are frequently implemented to benefit elites over marginalized groups.
• Livelihoods in low-income contexts are inextricably linked to affluent regions through international networks of trade, investment, and consumption, necessitating governance that addresses global supply chains and sustainability certifications.
• Disaster risk reduction (DRR) is evolving from a focus on relief and compensation toward the prevention of loss and damage by building resilience, which requires DRR to be integrated into development planning and urbanization processes.
• SEI advocates for 'hybrid accountability' or 'institutional bricolage', which involves blending different institutional building blocks, such as combining government regulation with market intervention and stakeholder negotiation, to suit specific contexts.
• Research in the Southeast Asian palm oil sector in Indonesia, Thailand, and Cambodia identified non-compliance by companies, leading SEI to provide input for the European Commission’s EU Renewable Energy Directive and the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) standards.
• In rural Rwanda, research on sanitation and hygiene revealed a gap between formal standards and household practice caused by low prioritization among locals, financial constraints, and a lack of understanding of guidelines.

APA

Stockholm Environment Institute (2014). Transforming governance: improving livelihoods. https://www.sei.org/mediamanager/documents/Publications/SEI-SynthesisBrief-TG-Livelihoods.pdf

Chicago

Stockholm Environment Institute. Transforming governance: improving livelihoods. 2014. https://www.sei.org/mediamanager/documents/Publications/SEI-SynthesisBrief-TG-Livelihoods.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Stockholm Environment Institute |title=Transforming governance: improving livelihoods |date=2014 |url=https://www.sei.org/mediamanager/documents/Publications/SEI-SynthesisBrief-TG-Livelihoods.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{stockholmenvironmentinstitute2014transforming, author = {{Stockholm Environment Institute}}, title = {{Transforming governance: improving livelihoods}}, institution = {Stockholm Environment Institute}, year = {2014}, url = {https://www.sei.org/mediamanager/documents/Publications/SEI-SynthesisBrief-TG-Livelihoods.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }