A number of environmental partnerships have been evolving between Europe and the U.S. at the sub-national level. As state and local authorities on both continents work to respond to environmental challenges such as urban sprawl, brownfield redevelopment and energy efficiency, they are looking across the Atlantic for models of innovative policies and projects. Thanks to a scholarship from the American Council on Germany Ecologic Fellow Markus Knigge investigated the creation, maintenance and impacts of transatlantic environmental cooperation at the subnational level in the US.
The transatlantic partnership suffers by differences on a number of international environmental policies, such as climate change, trade in genetically modified organisms or the application of the precautionary principle. However, on the subnational level, numerous partnerships have been created that exchange innovative environmental policies to address local environmental issues.
The project’s objective is to contribute to and facilitate the harvesting of international lessons learned in best practices and innovation by state, regional, and local officials on both sides of the Atlantic. To this aim, the project looks among other things into:
- Circumstances leading to the establishment of the partnership;
- Financing of the partnerships;
- Methods used for exchange;
- Issues areas covered in the parternships;
- Impacts of the partnerships; and
- Opportunities and threats for subnational cooperation.
The research was financed by the John J. McCloy Fellowship Program of the American Council on Germany, which provides young American and German professionals with the opportunity to travel to the others’ country to conduct on-site research on a chosen topic.
The final report is available for download [pdf, 166 KB, English]. A shorter article summarizes the final report [pdf, 103 KB, English].
Further Links:
- Ecologic Publication: International Best Practices and Innovation – Strategically Harvesting lessons from Abroad
- Ecologic Transatlantic Program
- American Council on Germany / John J. McCloy Foundation
- EPA’s Gateway to International Best Practices & Innovations
