Malta, a small self-governing parliamentary democracy has contiguous biophysical and political boundaries, characterising the notion of a bioregion, where the small-is-beautiful claim is expected to hold true. However, it is unexplainable how the country s development of integrated environmental management (IEM) capacity left specific environmental problems unchecked for decades, and kept the nation lagging behind in environmental policy. Three case studies - land-use, waste management and bird protection focus on policy responses typical of three important dimensions to sustainability (resource-use, social quality of life and ecology). The impact of small scale is investigated by developing a conceptual framework for political institutional capacity levels for IEM. Small scale makes environmental problems more salient, but the political-economic impact of Malta s scale outruns the advantages for IEM associated with a confined ecological-political Maltese domain, despite that this fits the small-is-beautiful idea perfectly. The concepts and analyses provide fresh insight to policy makers involved in environmental management or capacity building in small-scale governance systems.
Hinweis: Dieser Artikel kann nur an eine deutsche Lieferadresse ausgeliefert werden.
Hinweis: Dieser Artikel kann nur an eine deutsche Lieferadresse ausgeliefert werden.