Institutional adaptation in Dutch land use and transportation programs
In the Netherlands, programs are frequently used to address planning issues. Within programs, organizations can coordinate their decision making to create integrated solutions. In practice, however, programs are often perceived as complex, and effective coordination is challenging to achieve due to the entanglement of institutions including multiple rules, norms, and strategies.
This thesis therefore studies how and why institutions in programs are adapted. From a polycentric perspective, programs are positioned as multilayered governance systems consisting of actors and forums. Based on comparative and in-depth case studies of various programs in the Netherlands this study shows that the adaptation strategy is dependent on the level at which it takes place. At the program level, actors shift, shop, and link forums. At the forum level, actors tinker with the rules of the game. Individual actors can shape adaptation by engaging in processes of sense making, decision making and project work.
The research also shows that institutional adaptations do not solely arise in the interest of the program, but also in the interest of individual actors and in response to decisions outside the program. Policy officers and elected officials that work in programs are advised to maintain an overview of clews of forums, involve their parent organization, have various adaptation strategies ready, and use them at the right moments. For organizations, it is advisable to engage politicians, invest research budget and personnel in programs, train policy officers and elected officials for working in programs, and give them the room to experiment.