The Role of Local Government in the Drive for Sustainable Development Public Policies. An Analytical Framework Based on Institutional Capacities

Abstract

The role of local governments in promoting policies to combat climate change is critical. In order to play this role, local administrations must have different capacities that allow them to analyze, manage and transform their environment through public policies. This article aims to contribute to the academic debate on the role of local governments in the articulation of climate change policies and sustainable development. The proposal combines a conceptual and analytical contribution, which is illustrated by means of a case study analysis. At the conceptual and analytical level, the article proposes a review of the contributions from the perspective of public policies and organizational management models in order to introduce an analytical framework based on four capacities: strategic, analytical, managerial and collaborative. This framework is developed based on the design of a strategy to measure the existence of these capabilities in a given local government by means of specific indicators. This analytical framework is applied through a case study of Barcelona City Council and its policies to combat climate change and promote sustainable development. The results of the analysis highlight the importance of the combined action of the four management capacities mentioned as a precondition for the articulation of this type of policies at the local government level.

1. Introduction

The challenge of climate change and sustainable development makes it necessary to define a framework of government policies that offer solutions to complex problems that affect the entire life cycle of citizens from an economic, social and environmental point of view.

As an expression of this challenge, the implementation of 2030 Agenda requires multilevel governance to stimulate collaboration between different actors, at different levels and sectors [1,2]. The guidelines and indicators for the 2030 Agenda development are more explicit in relation to the approaches at the international, national and regional levels than in relation to the local level [3,4,5]. However, the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) has shown that cities have become a key reference for the leadership of the processes to combat climate change and the promotion of sustainability policies [6]. Beyond Goal 11 (“Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable”), cities have promoted strategies, instruments and institutions to pursue the diversity of goals of the 2030 Agenda [7]. The concept of urban climate governance illustrates both how cities have emerged as important agents and sites in sustainability policy interventions, experimentations and networks and their difficulties in addressing climate change mitigation as an integrated and coherent agenda [8,9,10,11,12].

This academic debate assumes that local governments can play a key role in driving policies to combat climate change and in promoting sustainable development [13,14]. Their clear territorial orientation, proximity to citizens and the diversity of their competencies enable them to generate interactions and management dynamics which have great potential to deploy sustainable development objectives [15,16]. The main challenge facing local governments is knowing how to design, implement and evaluate management systems capable of reconciling the three major objectives that lead to sustainable development: sustainable economic growth, (social, economic and environmental) equity and environmental sustainability in the management processes of local policies [11,13,17].

This article argues that in order to respond to this challenge, local governments need to have certain institutional capacities that allow them to adequately diagnose the challenges of sustainable development and to select alternatives to address, implement and subsequently evaluate them [18,19,20]. The analysis aims to answer the following question: What are the institutional capacities that must be present as preconditions for local government to ensure that economic, social and environmental sustainability policies can be consistently developed? The argument to be developed highlights that the presence of at least four institutional capacities which directly affect the institutional structure of local government action is relevant to successful sustainability policy making: strategic or leadership capacity, analytical and data management capacity, organizational management capacity and collaborative or network management capacity. In order to measure these capacities at the local level, the article proposes several key indicators of different tools that illustrate the existence of these dimensions. This analytical framework is applied in a case study, the Barcelona City Council and its policies to combat climate change and promote sustainable development. This framework facilitates the analysis of how each dimension is developed and can contribute to enable local governments to define, implement and evaluate a solid public policy for sustainable development policies.

In order to provide both a conceptual and applied contribution, the article is organized in the following sections:

The section following this introduction is devoted to the theoretical framework to discuss the institutional capacities required by the local government for the design, implementation and evaluation of sustainable development policies. The concept of institutional capacity is defined based on the combination of theories associated with the analysis of public policies and those related to organizational management models. The integration of both analytical contributions leads to the definition of an integrated model that incorporates four institutional capacities as an element of support for local policies in this field: strategic capacity, analytical capacity, organizational management capacity and collaborative capacity.

The third section introduces the research design and methodology used in the study. It introduces an analysis strategy based on the study of key indicators for each institutional capacity in order to provide evidence of their existence and their development degree in a given local government. This section also includes the introduction of the case study of the Barcelona City Council and the field work strategy developed following the analytical framework proposed.

The fourth section presents the results of the analysis structured on the basis of the proposed analytical framework. The findings of the case study illustrate the institutional capacities deployed by the Barcelona City Council, both at a transversal level and specifically linked to sustainable development policies.

Finally, the Discussion and Conclusions section is devoted to integrating the evidence provided by the analytical framework and the variables related to the institutional capacities and to discussing their relevance to the local government potential to generate and deploy sustainable development policies and programs.

2. Theoretical Framework: Institutional Capacities and Sustainable Economic, Social and Environmental Development Policies

The capacities and resources that local governments have to deploy in their activities have been linked to the results obtained in the development of public policies and their effectiveness in meeting the challenges posed to the public sector [21]. The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) defines the capacity of an institution as its ability to (a) perform its activity and maintain such performance over time, managing changes and crises, (b) offer responses that can improve its fields of action and (c) present a framework that allows developing the required change [22].

There is a multiplicity of academic approaches to analyzing public organizations’ capacities. An initial classification allows differentiating between those that focus on public policies and the network of actors involved and those that place the emphasis on the characteristics of public organizations (government and administration). This research proposes the concept of institutional capacity, combining both approaches from the perspective of local administration.

An example of concepts associated with the public policy approach and the network of actors is governance capacity, understood as the set of organizational and systemic resources needed to make policy decisions and implement them [23,24]. The concept of policy capacity is also associated with the existence, nature and quality of resources available to support the analysis of public policies, assess alternatives and their implications and facilitate strategic decision making [25]. A classification of policy capacities proposed by Moore [26] that is concretized in the model proposed by Wu, Ramesh and Howlett [20], identifies three types of key competencies: analytical, operational (or managerial) and political. Each of these includes resources that can be disaggregated at the individual, organizational and systemic levels. The result of combining the three types of competencies with the three levels of resources provides the traditional analytical scheme used from the perspective of public policy analysis.

From the second approach, focused on public organizations, the concept of administrative capacity stands out, associated with the set of skills and competencies that public authorities use to address governance challenges [27]. From the same perspective, the concept of a state’s management capacity is associated with the development, direction and control of resources to achieve policy and program objectives, including fiscal, infrastructure, human capital and information management dimensions [28]. The more widespread term of state capacity has received a multiplicity of definitions, ranging from the capacity and ability of the state to implement policies [29] to the state’s capacity for action and how this is reflected in the instruments and institutions available for it to set objectives, transform them into policies and implement them [30] and to considering the presence of public organizations and employees as an indicator of the so-called “infrastructure of power” [31]. Skocpol and Finegold [32] put it in terms of how governments have (directly or can mobilize) knowledge, resources and organizations capable of implementing policies (with an idea more closely linked to network governance). From this perspective, strategic capacity can be identified as a reference for aligning the development of the above with the objectives of the institution and the actions it undertakes. The strategic capacity offers an initial but revealing vision of the importance given to the rest of the institutional capacities that are proposed to be aligned for its deployment.

The integration of contributions made from both perspectives (public policy analysis and organizational management) allow us to identify the key local government institutional capacities we consider to function as preconditions to face the challenges posed by the good design, implementation and evaluation of policies and programs, especially those related to sustainable development. The four capacities highlighted are strategic, analytical, organizational management and collaboration.

(1) Strategic capacity refers to the organization’s ability to articulate a vision and to establish clear goal setting for the interrelated policies To this end, it is essential that politicians and managers combine clarity in the formulation of strategic objectives with their appropriate development at the operational level, reaching the different levels of the organization [33]. Strategic capacity is directly related to analytical capacity, so that the development of planning and leadership strategies is based on solid information structures and enables flexible and adaptable proposals that allow learning and readjustment, in what Mayne et al. call “reflective-improvement capability” [34]. Finally, strategic capacity must involve prioritizing the allocation of sufficient resources for the development of planned action programs, connecting with the management capacity.

(2) Analytical capability refers to the abilities of public organizations to obtain, manage and use data and evidence of a different nature to improve decision-making processes and the development of public action based on “better knowledge of the external context, internal conditions and performance results” (34: 8). Key components associated with this competence include the existence of a team of professionals with analytical skills, legitimized by the different levels of the organization to favor their involvement and performance, and who are linked to a central advisory unit [23,35]. However, in addition to having professionals, the organization should also deploy an adequate organizational architecture and ensure the availability of devices and processes associated with acquiring and processing data and information, as well as their subsequent dissemination and use. A key support to sustain analytical capacity are the information systems linked to data collection and process and to their analysis and preparation in order to be addressed in the appropriate format and presentation to different recipients [36].

Analytical capacity must lead to data governance. Among the multiplicity of meanings provided by the literature to define data governance, there is a certain consensus regarding associating it with the ideas of (1) placing value on data as an asset of the organization to be managed, (2) establishing responsibilities in decision making (rights) and associated tasks (duties) and (3) establishing guidelines and standards to ensure the quality of data and their proper use [37]. Following this argument, data governance is associated with organizational processes that make it possible to specify the allocation of responsibilities and decisions, aligned with the organization’s objectives, to drive desirable behavior in which data processing is considered a key asset of the organization [38]. To this end, both the infrastructure (especially the technological one) and the human capital (in terms of experience and knowledge) available to the organization, as well as its skills to integrate them, are essential.

In the development of this analytical capacity, administrations must have their own sources of information (integrating those of different departments) and access to data and knowledge of external actors, including citizens themselves [39]. This takes shape in the availability, agility and ease of access to data and evidence by different actors, but also in the generation of joint dynamics to turn them into information and knowledge, i.e., in combining the existence of data and information resources with the willingness to share them and generate organizational and management synergies both externally and internally.

(3) Organizational management capacity focuses on the effectiveness in articulating the resources and activities necessary for the development of the strategy and the objectives that deploy it [23]. This capacity is connected to pragmatic leadership theory [7,40], and it includes issues such as management of the administrative structure, budget, human resources and organizational dynamics.

Within this capacity, a first issue is the configuration of organizational structures and job positions, specialized in activities linked to sustainable development policies. Depending on internal dynamics, it is important to take into account both structures of the main area related directly to sustainable development policies and structures and job positions or personnel in charge in other related areas, such as those responsible for urban planning, mobility or energy uses. A second issue is linked to organizational processes and dynamics, looking at both how they respond to the requirements of the strategy and how they are adapted to simplify, streamline and promote the activity associated with sustainable development policies. A third issue is related to human resource management, with special attention paid to the organization’s internal information and communication policies and to the dynamics of socialization and learning to promote personal implication with policy objectives.

(4) Collaborative capacity is linked to the skills associated with the promotion of network activities, involving external actors in the development of public action to enhance sustainable development. This capacity is related to cities’ efforts to engage and motivate multiple formally independent yet interconnected actors, such as private businesses and civil society groups [7,41]. Its deployment implies creating and distributing information among the actors involved in the network, coordinating activities and sharing decisions to address challenges jointly. The assessment of this capacity is based on its scope in terms of breadth (according to the number and type of actors involved, both internally and externally) and in terms of the depth of the exchange relationships established between them [34]. Collaborative capacity must also involve the generation of dynamics that involve citizens, sharing responsibilities and generating common objectives, in which public managers act as “orchestrators of networked interaction and mutual learning”, stimulate innovation, increase operational capacity and strengthen the legitimacy of public action [42]. This can be promoted through open participation mechanisms that incentivize the incorporation of the citizen perspective in the decision-making process. Finally, collaborative capacity implies the articulation of transparency and accountability systems.

The four competencies affect different activities of the organization, but they are interdependent, i.e., the development of one clearly affects the others. Therefore, they should be considered as an integrated whole which, through their interaction, acts as a precondition that, although not guaranteeing, strongly encourages local governments to generate responses to the challenges posed by policies to combat climate change and promote sustainable development.

3. Research Design and Methodology

The research aims to analyze the institutional capacities that local governments must incorporate in order to successfully promote policies to fight climate change and to enhance sustainable development. In order to complement theoretical contributions, a case study is used to illustrate and concretize the existence of the identified four institutional capacities.

The research begins with the research question: What are the key institutional capacities that local governments need that act as prerequisites to promote the development of economic, social and environmental sustainability policies? The argument to be discussed is that sustainable development policies require institutional preconditions related to the presence of at least four institutional capacities: strategic or leadership capacity, analytical and data management capacity, management and organizational capacity and collaborative or network management capacity. These institutional preconditions do not guarantee, but strongly encourage local governments to generate policies against climate change and in favor of sustainable development.

To develop the analytical framework and measure these capacities at the local level, the research proposes the design of an analysis strategy, based on the study of key indicators with three options of compliance (full, partial, non-existent) for each capacity. An indicator is considered full if enough evidence is detected to ensure that the institutional capacity analyzed is achieved in the case study. A partial degree of compliance implies that the evidence detected in the case study is insufficient to ensure that the institutional capacity analyzed is reliably achieved. A non-existent degree of compliance implies that there is no evidence of that particular institutional capacity in the case study.

The indicators used in the study are specified below:

Variable 1. Strategic capacity

Indicators:

1.1. Vision, leadership and policy direction: Existence of a government action program that prioritizes the fight against climate change and the promotion of sustainable development.

This indicator identifies the existence of leadership to articulate a vision and lines of action to establish a clear policy direction. The existence of a government action program is required for aligning the institution’s objectives and the actions it undertakes. This strategic capacity offers an initial but revealing vision of the importance given to these policies in the public organization. The presence of a coherent program is a solid indicator of the organization’s ability to articulate a vision and to establish clear goal setting for the interrelated policies, such as those connected with urban climate governance [8].

1.2. Political decision makers directly linked to sustainable development: Existence of one or various political decision makers with explicit attributions linked to the fight against climate change and the promotion of sustainable development.

This indicator identifies the allocation of responsibilities at the political level in the formulation of strategic objectives that allow different organization levels to be aligned with the planned objectives. It is essential that politicians and managers combine clarity in the formulation of strategic objectives with their appropriate development at the operational level, reaching the different levels of the organization. To this end, this indicator identifies a particularly relevant variable expressed by the academic literature on this topic: the existence of an explicit identification of responsibilities and attributed roles, ensuring clear and sustainable leadership throughout the local administration term of office [34].

1.3. Allocated budget: Existence of a budget linked to each action program to ensure that the action plan can be developed.

This indicator identifies the concreteness of leadership based on budget allocation decisions. In this sense, it assesses the prioritization of an allocation of sufficient resources for the development of planned action programs. This indicator identifies the capacity to involve resources, prioritizing the allocation of sufficient financial resources for the development of planned action programs, connecting with the management capacity.

Variable 2. Analytical Capacity

Indicators:

2.1. Data units: Existence of specific data analysis and management units in the organization, with adequate human resources to obtain, manage and use data and evidence to improve decision-making processes and the development of public action related to the fight against climate change and the promotion of sustainable development.

This indicator identifies one of the key components associated with analytical capacity: the existence of a professional team with analytical skills, enough resources and legitimized by the different levels of the organization to favor their involvement and performance. This indicator informs us about the abilities of public organizations to obtain, manage and use data and evidence of different nature to improve decision-making processes. The indicator seeks to provide information regarding the existence of a team of professionals with analytical skills, legitimized by the different levels of the organization to favor their involvement and performance [23,35].

2.2. Information system: Existence of an adequate information system to ensure the availability of processes associated with acquiring and processing data and information, as well as their subsequent dissemination and use.

This indicator identifies valid information systems linked both to the collection and processing of data, and to their analysis and preparation. The indicator identifies if the data can be delivered in the appropriate format and presentation to the different decision makers’ target groups, to sustain analytical capacity. This indicator is related to the measurement of one of the key variables defined by the academic literature on this topic: the development of planning and leadership strategies are to be based on solid information structures. This enables flexible and adaptable proposals that allow learning and readjustment in this type of public policy at the local level [34]. The indicator informs us about the existence of an adequate organizational architecture [36].

2.3. Data-driven decisions: Existence of organizational processes that allow data-driven decision making, aligned with the objectives of the sustainability policy. The indicator identifies the organization’s capacity to create its own data.

This indicator identifies whether the organization has its own sources of information (integrating those of different departments) and has access to data and knowledge of external actors, and whether there are systematized organization processes for decision making based on data and evidence. One of the key elements in assessing analytical capacity must lead to establishing guidelines and standards to ensure the quality of data and their proper use [37]. This indicator shows us if in the development of this analytical capacity, administrations have their own sources of information, a key precondition to ensure the quality of data and their use [39].

Variable 3. Management capacity

Indicators:

3.1. Sustainability organizational structure in different city council areas: Existence of organizational structures and job positions, specialized in activities linked to sustainable development policies in different areas of the local government.

This indicator identifies the organizational structural relevance of policies to fight climate change and to promote sustainable development. It assesses the incidence of units and job positions dedicated to this issue in the different functional areas of the organization beyond the cross-cutting area of environmental policies. The indicator detects this structural capacity, related to the configuration of organizational structures and job positions, specialized in activities linked to sustainable development policies. Depending on internal dynamics, it is important to take into account both structures of the main area related directly to sustainable development policies and structures and job positions or personnel in charge in other related areas, such as those responsible for urban planning, mobility or energy uses. The indicator focuses on the effectiveness of articulating the resources and activities necessary for the development of the strategy and the objectives that deploy it.

3.2. Coordination systems: Existence of systems for the coordination, negotiation and exchange of information between internal units and external agents in order to define strategies and monitor actions.

This indicator identifies organizational processes and dynamics, taking into account how they respond to the requirements of the sustainability strategy, assessing how different units adapt to simplify, streamline and promote the activity associated with the development of these policies. This indicator identifies issues that include aspects such as coordination, negotiation and information exchange between internal units, and between these and the external agents with which they collaborate [43].

3.3. Personnel skills and competences: Existence of specific actions in terms of communication, training and development of skills associated with the development of programs to fight climate change and promote sustainable development.

This indicator assesses the organization’s capacity to facilitate professional transformation appropriate to the promotion of cross-cutting initiatives linked to sustainable development, in connection with the rest of the institutional capacities (such as analytical or collaborative capacities, for example).This indicator informs us about the presence of the so-called “infrastructure of power” [31], which is related to human resource management, with special attention paid to the dynamics to promote personal implication with policy objectives.

Variable 4. Collaborative capacity

Indicators:

4.1. Management of external networks: Existence of an explicit strategy for external actors’ network management, which foresees its scope in terms of breadth (in accordance with the number and typology of actors involved) and in terms of the depth of the exchange relationships established with external actors.

This indicator assesses the organizational skills associated with the promotion and development of network activities, involving external actors in the development of public action to promote sustainable development. Its deployment implies creating and distributing information among the actors involved in the network, coordinating activities and sharing decision making to address challenges jointly. Various authors such as Skocpol and Finegold [32] highlight the importance of this indicator in terms of how governments have (directly or can mobilize) knowledge, resources and organizations capable of implementing policies (with an idea more closely linked to network governance).

4.2. Citizen participation: Existence of participation systems and mechanisms specific to issues linked to sustainability and environmental policies, which encourage the incorporation of citizens in the decision-making process.

This indicator assesses organizational capacity for the inclusion of the citizens’ assessments in the decision-making process. In this sense, collaborative capacity must also include the generation of dynamics that involve citizens, sharing responsibilities and generating common objectives. This can be promoted through open participation mechanisms that incentivize the incorporation of the citizen perspective in the decision-making process.

4.3. Transparency: Existence of accountability and transparency systems on the design, implementation and evaluation results of programs related to fighting climate change and promoting sustainable development.

This indicator assesses collaborative capacity from a public opinion and accountability perspective. It assesses the articulation of transparency systems aimed at enabling a critical assessment of government action in this area by the citizens. This indicator informs about the articulation of transparency and accountability systems. Collaboration or participation are closely linked to an accurate information exchange that contributes to create a solid critical view of policy development, hence the need for a transparent governance model.

This analytical framework is applied, through a case study, to Barcelona City Council and its policies to fight climate change and promote sustainable development. On the basis of a battery of indicators, with this case study, the paper analyzes how each of the four capacities has functioned as a prerequisite to enabling the local government to define, implement and evaluate a solid public policy for environmental action. We are aware that the existence of these four institutional capacities does not exclusively explain the existence of policies to combat climate change and promote sustainable development. Even these capacities do not guarantee the development of these policies; they are a precondition to allow local governments to generate responses to the challenges posed by climate change and sustainable development.

The methodology is based on the development of a case study with a qualitative approach. A case study is a complex system [44] that examines a researched topic within its context where it represents a typical case, given the nature of the research questions [45]. It is proposed to explore a limited system (the sustainable development strategy promoted by a local administration) through a detailed and in-depth data collection with multiple sources of documentary information (policy documents, strategic action plans, monitoring and evaluation reports, web information systems) and resources of information from in-depth interviews. The result is an analytical description of the object of study (sustainable development policy planning, implementation and evaluation) in line with the research objectives (mainstreaming institutional capacities) [46].

Qualitative case studies, despite their limitations, are considered to be very useful for institutional analysis as they can describe, explore and explain very complex organizational phenomena, such as the incorporation of institutional capacities into sustainable development strategies. The use of this approach provides a deep understanding of the context that can lead to generalizable findings and universal conceptual contributions [47,48]. Thus, this methodological approach aims to obtain detailed information about the context, constraints, strategy and processes related to the study objective [49].

The case selected is the municipal government of Barcelona City Council formed after the 2015 local elections, a government that was re-elected in the 2019 elections. The choice of this case study is justified both by the challenges facing the city in terms of sustainable development and by the fact that it has a clear strategy to address them (https://ajuntament.barcelona.cat/agenda2030/es, accessed on 19 May 2021). At the contextual level, there is an institutional ecosystem, at city, metropolitan (https://www.amb.cat/s/es/web/ecologia/sostenibilitat.html, accessed on 19 May 2021) and regional level (http://mediambient.gencat.cat/es/05_ambits_dactuacio/educacio_i_sostenibilitat/desenvolupament_sostenible/index.html, accessed on 19 May 2021), which is fully aware of sustainable development objectives. In this context, Barcelona City Council has stood out as a reference in innovation processes both in the social sphere [50,51] and in economic promotion, urban transformation and public–private collaboration [52,53,54]. This can be seen in the improvement of the impact indicators of the Barcelona municipal government’s policies relating to the fight against climate change and the introduction of sustainable development strategies (https://ajuntament.barcelona.cat/agenda2030/sites/default/files/2021-01/Agenda%202030%20Barcelona%20SDG%20Targets%20and%20Key%20Indicators.pdf, accessed on 19 May 2021). On the other hand, comparative studies of European cities and their development of sustainable development programs also place Barcelona in an advantageous position (https://www.sdgindex.org/reports/sdg-index-and-dashboards-report-for-european-cities/, accessed on 19 May 2021).

The information-gathering strategy and construction of the case study have relied on different techniques and combined various sources of information. Documentary analysis has focused on website resources and reports published by the City Council and has been used both to report on cross-cutting factors of the organization’s institutional capacities and specific to the field of sustainable development. For the construction of the case study, it has also used information from previous research in which interviews with key actors were combined with group meetings to address different aspects linked to cross-cutting institutional capacities, in which the sustainable development strategy of the City Council was also addressed [55].

The results of the case study are presented below.

4. Results

4.1. Results for Variable 1. Strategic Capacity

1.1. Vision, leadership and policy direction: Full compliance.

Evidence of indicator compliance:

Municipal Action Plan 2016–2019 (https://ajuntament.barcelona.cat/estrategiaifinances/ca/programa-dactuaci%C3%B3-municipal-pam-2016-2019bp, accessed on 19 May 2021).

This document sets the benchmark for the government’s strategy for the first term of the political mandate of 2016–2019 and includes a programmatic focus on making Barcelona more humane and in ecological transition. The Plan includes specific policy measures and programs in this area.

Municipal Action Plan 2020–2023 (https://bcnroc.ajuntament.barcelona.cat/jspui/bitstream/11703/121467/1/PAM%202020-2023_26FEB2021.pdf, accessed on 19 May 2021).

This is the new Municipal Action Plan for the second term of the political mandate, which is divided into six transversal axes, the third of which refers to: “Accelerating the ecological transition against the climate crisis”, including “Sustainable and safe mobility, Urban greenery and biodiversity, New energy model, Ecological transition and Zero waste”.

The City Council has a specific program for the 2030 Agenda (https://ajuntament.barcelona.cat/agenda2030/en, accessed on 19 May 2021) structured in six dimensions (localization, evaluation, innovation, partnerships, awareness raising and leadership). It also has various specific measures in the areas of climate change (https://www.barcelona.cat/barcelona-pel-clima/en/climate-plan/introduction, accessed on 19 May 2021) promoting a social and solidarity-based economy (https://ajuntament.barcelona.cat/economia-social-solidaria/en, accessed on 19 May 2021) and sustainable mobility, (https://www.barcelona.cat/mobilitat/en/new-mobility/new-sustainable-mobility-model-new-public-space, accessed on 19 May 2021), among others.

In addition, Barcelona City Council specifies its lines of action in this area through a whole series of sectoral strategic plans, such as:

Noise pollution reduction plan 2010–2020.

Green and Biodiversity Plan 2012–2020.

Strategic Plan for Internal Sustainability of Urban Ecology 2015–2022.

Barcelona Tree Plan 2017–2037.

Climate Plan 2018–2030.

Barcelona Energy, Climate Change and Air Quality Plan 2011–2020 (https://ajuntament.barcelona.cat/transparencia/ca/accio-de-govern, accessed on 19 May 2021).

1.2. Political decision makers directly linked to sustainable development: Full compliance.

Evidence of indicator compliance:

Barcelona City Council has a political structure organized by area. In relation to sustainable development policies, the areas of Agenda 2030, Digital Transition, Sports and Territorial and Metropolitan Coordination and the Area of Ecology, Urban Planning, Infrastructure and Mobility stand out (https://ajuntament.barcelona.cat/es/organigrama-municipal/arbol-jerarquico, accessed on 19 May 2021).

On the other hand, and within this last area, the City Council has a Climate Emergency and Ecological Transition Councilor, who is responsible for promoting issues related to water, energy, greenery, waste and the fight against pollution (https://ajuntament.barcelona.cat/ca/organigrama-municipal/organ/Regidoria%20d%27Emerg%C3%A8ncia%20Clim%C3%A0tica%20i%20Transici%C3%B3%20Ecol%C3%B2gica, accessed on 19 May 2021).

1.3. Allocated budget: Full compliance.

Evidence of indicator compliance:

The annual budgets of the municipal government have included, in all cases, budget allocations related to the climate change and sustainable development policies and programs, which ensures that these programs can be developed. An example of this is the 2020 budget, where 62 million euros are allocated to the environment program. On the other hand, the budgets for urban planning and urban mobility also present programs with an environmental rationale (https://ajuntament.barcelona.cat/pressupostos2020/ca/, accessed on 19 May 2021).

4.2. Results of Variable 2. Analytical Capacity

2.1. Data units: Full Compliance.

Evidence of indicator compliance:

In 2018, Barcelona City Council created the Municipal Data Office (OMD) (https://ajuntament.barcelona.cat/digital/es/transformacion-digital/city-data-commons/oficina-municipal-de-datos, accessed on 19 May 2021) which was assigned the responsibility of promoting the improvement of the management, quality, governance and exploitation of data owned or held by the City Council and all its associated entities (public or private) [55].

Within the Management of the Area of Agenda 2030, Digital Transition and Sports, there is a Directorate for Transparency and Good Practices to which a Directorate of Management Control Services and a Directorate of Analysis Services (https://ajuntament.barcelona.cat/ca/organigrama-municipal/arbre-jerarquic, accessed on 19 May 2021) are attached. The Urban Ecology Area Management also has a Directorate of Resources and Management Control for activities linked to data governance in its area of action (https://ajuntament.barcelona.cat/ca/organigrama-municipal/arbre-jerarquic, accessed on 19 May 2021).

Barcelona City Council is responsible for generating data relating to the development and management of its public policies, including those with an environmental impact. The multitude of studies and surveys carried out to assess these programs, as well as the public’s perception of them, can be consulted in its register of studies (https://ajuntament.barcelona.cat/ca/informacio-administrativa/registre-enquestes-i-estudis-opinio, accessed on 19 May 2021).

2.2. Information system: Full compliance.

Evidence of indicator compliance:

The City Council has the CityOs technological platform, with solutions and services that enable the rapid, efficient and reliable integration of the different sensitization elements distributed throughout the city and the integration of the databases and repositories of information from multiple sources and with heterogeneous formats (http://ajuntament.barcelona.cat/imi/es/proyectos/cityos, accessed on 19 May 2021). It also has dashboards and Business Intelligence systems for different sectoral managements (such as those linked to Agenda 2030 and Urban Ecology) and a Municipal Management Dashboard (https://ajuntament.barcelona.cat/digital/en/digital-transformation/city-data-commons/municipal-management-dashboard, accessed on 19 May 2021).

2.3. Data-driven decisions: Full compliance.

Evidence of indicator compliance:

Internal deliberation and decision-making processes at sectoral and general level use data and evidence provided by the different information systems discussed above. For example, in the management meetings of the Area and the Ecology, Urban Planning, Infrastructures and Mobility Department, a “Situation Room” application is used. This is a platform that allows the visualization and management of information on the functioning of the city in real time through the different operators involved (https://ajuntament.barcelona.cat/ecologiaurbana/ca/serveis/la-ciutat-es-transforma/resiliencia-urbana/analisi-informacio, accessed on 19 May 2021). The platform is based on cross-data between all municipal services and the rest of the urban systems, both public and private, offering a cartography and providing support knowledge for decision making, both at strategic and operational level.

In order to facilitate decision-making processes, it is important to adapt the presentation of the data to the different actors. In this sense, the development of maps linked to issues such as air quality or the acoustic quality of the city (https://ajuntament.barcelona.cat/ecologiaurbana/en/environmental-data-maps, accessed on 19 May 2021) should be highlighted for their impact both internally and externally. In addition, it is worth highlighting the map “Barcelona + sostenible” (https://www.bcnsostenible.cat/en, accessed on 19 May 2021) with geo-referenced information on the diversity of resources for the promotion of sustainability, from trade, services and sustainable tourism, companies and organizations, information and environmental education facilities, environmental facilities and eco-innovation, mobility and accessibility or community participation and innovations.

4.3. Results for Variable 3. Management Capacity

3.1. Sustainability structure in different city council areas: Full Compliance

Evidence of indicator compliance:

At the level of internal management, Barcelona City Council has stood out as a benchmark in transformation processes with the development of a professional management model, in a Spanish administrative context in which this figure has not been consolidated [55,56]. In relation to sustainability structures, the Area Management of Agenda 2030, Digital Transition, Territorial Coordination and Sports and the Area Management of Urban Ecology stand out (https://ajuntament.barcelona.cat/ca/organigrama-municipal/arbre-jerarquic, accessed on 19 May 2021).

An example of this organizational capacity can be found in the area of renewable energy generation and commercialization programs, in which Barcelona City Council acts as a company that generates and commercializes electricity through the public company TERSA (https://www.tersa.cat/ca-es/grup-tersa/qui-som/, accessed on 19 May 2021).

On the other hand, there are organizational structures and job positions specializing in activities linked to sustainable development in the different sectoral areas of local government. In each area of local government and in each territorial district where municipal action is carried out, there is a designated figure as a point of reference for sustainability, who is responsible for monitoring compliance with the standards of the internal strategic sustainability plans of each area of government. The Sustainable City Council program coordinates this network of agents distributed throughout the different management areas (http://www.ajsosteniblebcn.cat/en, accessed on 19 May 2021).

Thanks to this strategy, the different municipal areas approve and implement strategic sustainability plans (http://www.ajsosteniblebcn.cat/ca/plans-estrategics-de-sostenibilitat_59477, accessed on 19 May 2021).

3.2. Coordination systems: Full compliance.

Evidence of indicator compliance:

To promote coordination at a strategic level, the City Council has the Municipal Management Office (https://ajuntament.barcelona.cat/es/organigrama-municipal/organ/Oficina%20de%20la%20Gerencia%20Municipa, accessed on 19 May 2021) and the Strategic Projects Department (https://ajuntament.barcelona.cat/es/organigrama-municipal/organ/Direcci%C3%B3n%20de%20Proyectos%20Estrat%C3%A9gicos, accessed on 19 May 2021) to align projects shared by the entire organization.

One of the coordination forms articulated to achieve negotiation and exchange of information spaces both between internal units and with external agents is the constitution of the so-called Resilience Boards. These boards are made up of multidisciplinary work teams with technicians responsible for different municipal areas. Their objective is to identify problems and propose solutions for the articulation of an environmental and sustainability policy, consistently with the sectoral programs of the different management areas (https://ajuntament.barcelona.cat/ecologiaurbana/sites/default/files/ModelResilienciaBarcelona.pdf, accessed on 19 May 2021).

There are technical instructions relating to sustainability in the public procurement of the different areas of the City Council. This procurement standardization is defined on the basis of a coordinating body, the Public Procurement Board. This committee has defined a plan with objectives for sustainable public procurement that has been elevated to an internal rule that must be complied with throughout the City Council (https://ajuntament.barcelona.cat/contractaciopublica/ca/noticies/nou-pla-dobjectius-de-contractacio-publica-sostenible-2020-2021_1022810, accessed on 19 May 2021).

3.3. Personnel skills and competences: Partial compliance.

Evidence of indicator compliance:

Internal communication initiatives and training and competence development actions linked to the fight against climate change or the promotion of sustainable development have been identified, but these do not reach a sufficient strategic and operational definition to guarantee full competence training of City Council staff in this area.

One of the objectives of the 2020–2030 professional development plan (https://ajuntament.barcelona.cat/transparencia/sites/default/files/pla_de_desenvolupament_professional_2020_2023_0.pdf, accessed on 19 May 2021) is to “Train to update knowledge, skills and attitudes for the exercise of professional functions and competences, with special emphasis on the capacity for innovation”. To this end, a “Competence framework for the innovative profile of public administrations” is established. It is proposed to face “the new complexities arising from, for example, the challenges set out in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations”. However, the training actions scheduled for 2020 and 2021 (https://ajuntament.barcelona.cat/transparencia/es/informacion-institucional-y-organizativa/#formacion_2021, accessed on 19 May 2021) do not yet identify specific proposals for this purpose.

4.4. Results of Variable 4. Collaborative Capacity

4.1. Management of external networks: Full compliance.

Evidence of indicator compliance:

The City Council has promoted intense dialogue with different networks of actors to promote agreements in the fields of ecology, urban planning, infrastructures and mobility. This work has led to the creation of spaces for deliberation, such as the Citizens’ Council for Sustainability (https://ajuntament.barcelona.cat/ecologiaurbana/en/bodies-involved/citizen-council-for-sustainability, accessed on 19 May 2021), the Barcelona + Sustainability network(https://ajuntament.barcelona.cat/ecologiaurbana/en/bodies-involved/network-for-a-more-sustainable-barcelona, accessed on 19 May 2021), the Committee against Air Pollution (https://ajuntament.barcelona.cat/ecologiaurbana/en/bodies-involved/air-quality-roundtable, accessed on 19 May 2021) and the Working Group on Noise and Health (https://ajuntament.barcelona.cat/ecologiaurbana/en/bodies-involved/noise-health-working-group, accessed on 19 May 2021).

Examples of the results of these interaction processes include the initial approval of the 2024 Urban Mobility Plan (https://www.barcelona.cat/mobilitat/en/news-and-documents/initial-approval-2024-urban-mobility-plan, accessed on 19 May 2021) and the “new labor mobility pact for Barcelona” (https://www.barcelona.cat/mobilitat/en/new-mobility/labour-mobility-pact, accessed on 19 May 2021).

Barcelona + Sustainable Interaction Network: This is a network of more than 1300 organizations committed to environmental, social and economic sustainability that collectively build a city that is responsible for people and the environment. The network is made up of citizens’ organizations, business and commercial organizations, educational centers, universities, professional associations and administrations. Each organization joins the Barcelona + Sostenible (B+S) network by signing the Citizen Commitment to Sustainability 2012–2022 and contributes to the transformation of the city through its actions. B+S members promote sustainability measures within their organizations, share good practices and develop projects with the other members of the network (https://ajuntament.barcelona.cat/ecologiaurbana/ca/que-fem-i-per-que/compromis-ciutada/compromis-ciutada-per-la-sostenibilitat-barcelona-sostenible, accessed on 19 May 2021).

4.2. Citizen participation: Full compliance.

Evidence of indicator compliance:

The digital platform Decidim Barcelona (https://www.decidim.barcelona/?locale=es, accessed on 19 May 2021) is a portal for participation processes promoted by the City Council (Municipal Action Plan, development of regulations, urban planning, etc.) and for those promoted by citizens and associations (popular initiatives, community development, etc.). For the fields of ecology, urban planning, infrastructures and mobility, this participatory model has taken the form of different sectoral initiatives (https://ajuntament.barcelona.cat/ecologiaurbana/en/bodies-involved/citizen-participation/what-is-citizen-participation, accessed on 19 May 2021).

4.3. Transparency: Partial compliance.

Evidence of indicator compliance:

Evidence has been detected of the existence of systems to promote transparency in municipal action in general (https://ajuntament.barcelona.cat/transparencia/ca, accessed on 19 May 2021).

Evidence of environmental and sustainability information on Barcelona City Council’s Open Data portal has been detected (https://opendata-ajuntament.barcelona.cat/es/, accessed on 19 May 2021).

There is also a municipal data office which citizens can access to request information on environmental and sustainability policies (https://ajuntament.barcelona.cat/digital/ca/transformacio-digital/city-data-commons/oficina-municipal-de-dades, accessed on 19 May 2021).

There is no evidence of the articulation of a specific system of accountability on the design, implementation and evaluation of programs related to the fight against climate change and the promotion of sustainable development. An easy and intuitive access accountability system would be necessary to enable a citizen critical assessment of the degree of development and impact of the different programs in this policy area.

The aggregated results are presented in the next table (

Table 1. Institutional capacity indicators: level of compliance in the case of Barcelona.

Institutional Capacity		Level of Compliance
		Full	Partial	Non-Existent
Strategic capacity
	Vision, leadership and policy direction	X
	Political decision makers linked to sustainable development	X
	Allocated budget	X
Analytical Capacity
	Data units	X
	Information system	X
	Data-driven decisions	X
Management capacity
	Organizational structure in different city council areas	X
	Coordination systems	X
	Personal skills and competences		X
Collaborative capacity
	Management of external networks	X
	Citizen participation	X
	Transparency		X

):

5. Discussion and Conclusions

The proposed analytical framework to assess institutional capacities, through its application to a case study, has allowed us to analyze Barcelona City Council’s capacity to deploy policies to promote sustainable development. The analytical framework provides an integrated picture of the different dimensions that explain the generation of institutional incentives to the development of these policies in a local government, and it facilitates a complementary view of the relationship between programs implemented and institutional capacities. In the case of the Barcelona City Council, the four dimensions analyzed obtain a positive evaluation. In the first two, strategic capacity and analytical capacity, the indicators show a degree of full compliance with each one of the considered dimensions. In the next two capacities, management capacity and collaborative capacity, the pattern is reproduced in that one of the indicators shows a degree of partial compliance, while the others are evaluated as full compliance. The overall result of the analysis consistently indicates that Barcelona City Council has the necessary institutional prerequisites to lead, implement and evaluate policies and programs to combat climate change and promote sustainable development.

Strategic capacity is critical to align government action. The analysis of the Barcelona City Council provides evidence of its capacity to build a vision and strategic direction. The identification of policy makers and budget allocation have been identified as key elements to transcend from discourse to implementation in this policy. The evidence provided on analytical capacity supports the theory that information management of the Barcelona City Council is one of the critical elements to achieve a data-driven decision-making process, which allows a good design of action programs against climate change and in favor of sustainable development. The identification of cross-cutting and sectoral management units, the development of information systems and, finally, the use of data in deliberation and decision-making processes complete this cycle. Without data and their inclusion in decision-making processes, strategic leadership runs the risk of not clearly identifying both the problems and the best alternatives for action. Without data, no evaluation is possible, nor is it possible to assess whether results have been obtained in accordance with the objectives to be achieved in the strategic action plans.

In terms of management capacity, Barcelona City Council presents notable strengths, although the results are uneven in some of the indicators analyzed. Important achievements have been confirmed in relation to the structure, assignment of responsibilities at the managerial and technical–professional levels and systems of coordination to enhance internal transversality. Sustainable development policies require a level of action that implies the need for solid transversal dynamics, especially in highly fragmented organizational structures such as large city councils. In the area of human resources, the indicator shows that more challenges may emerge, especially related to the process of socialization and training in professional skills appropriate for the policies of combating climate change and promoting sustainable development.

The ability to collaborate and interact with networks of actors in the environment is critical for sustainable development policies. As mentioned above, Barcelona City Council has achieved a good rating in this capacity, managing to promote and consolidate a series of external networks with different actors that contribute to the design of programs and to the implementation of their related activities. Important advances have also been carried out to promote citizen participation in this area. The government of the city of Barcelona has defined citizen participation as a critical element in enhancing its public action programs. In terms of transparency, significant progress has been made in the provision of information and open data, but challenges related to improving the accountability of design, implementation and policies’ evaluation are still pending. The systematization of accountability formulas, through mechanisms for easy and intuitive access to this type of information from the citizen’s perspective, could allow citizens to deploy a better critical assessment of the degree of implementation and impact of environmental and sustainable development programs.

The result of the analysis makes it possible to highlight the importance of the combined action of the four institutional capacities to incentivize the articulation of policies at the local government level. These four capacities constitute an institutional framework that conditions and encourages the development of this type of environmental and sustainability policies. This is a set of institutional capacities whose existence clearly promotes a good governance model for design and implementation policies at the local level.

Research shows that the effective development of policies to combat the climate crisis and promote sustainable development requires the presence of at least the four institutional capacities as a prerequisite: strategic or leadership capacity, analytical and data management capacity, organizational management capacity and collaborative or network management capacity. As prerequisites, they are a necessary but not sufficient condition. We believe our contribution will require further studies to identify how other variables such as leadership, political will, technical competence or social support influence the definition and effectiveness of this type of policy programs. These future studies are necessary because we understand the institutional capabilities encourage, as prerequisites, effective climate policy at local level but do not inform us about the ambition level or the success of these policies. In this sense, we recommend studying the effects of the institutional framework more in depth, incorporating the assessment of the different actors present in this type of sectoral arenas, in order to improve it.

The analytical framework developed in this study offers a basis that can be adapted to be replicable to other public policy contexts at the local government level, as it allows the analysis of different institutional realities in a systematic and comparable way. One of the contributions of the study is the articulation of an analytical framework that connects the institutional capacities of local government with its ability to promote the definition and the implementation of local policies. However, although the contributions of this study are significant, they should be interpreted based on the limitations related to the research strategy focused on a single case study and to the diversity of indicators related to each capacity that must be adapted to different institutional contexts and public policies.