Greening regions: the effect of social entrepreneurship, co-decision and co-creation on the embrace of good sustainable development practices

Abstract

Adoption of Local Agenda 21 (LA21) in Europe has been very uneven. However, the embrace (or eager adoption) of LA21-like tools by local governments is usually considered as a requisite to achieve the sustainable development (SD) global aims. This research analyses a successful networking practice in the Basque Country (BC) over an 8-year period in order to identify the main dimensions that explain the embrace of LA21 by Local Governments (LGs). The Basque experience is studied using a qualitative and a quantitative approach. Results show that the factors of entrepreneurial presence (at the regional and local levels), co-decision and co-creation have an effect on local government embrace of the LA21. We also study the motivational mechanisms underlying co-decision and co-creation.

Keywords:

• social entrepreneurship
• institutional entrepreneurship
• sustainable development
• regions
• co-creation
• co-decision

Acknowledgements:

The authors would like to thank the Editor and three anonymous referees for their helpful comments and suggestions. The research was funded by the Spanish Government (Grant Number ECO 2010-20792), the Basque Government (Grant Number GIC 10/54-IT 473-10, SAIOTEK S-OA08UN01-SAI08-91) and the University of the Basque Country (Grant Number UNESCO 08/04).