From Guest Blogger Anica Oaks: Green Government–Four Ways Public Policy Plays a Massive Role in Green Projects

Public policy plays a huge role in shaping what we do and how we do it as a community. It’s also a good indicator of the values and concerns of society or a specific community. Here are four ways public policy plays a role in the green projects you care about.

1. Find the Experts

The first step to enacting a successful policy is to find the experts to develop the policies. In most cases, that starts with hiring people with the education to successfully implement green project. Because many of these concepts are new and rely on cutting edge technology, non-specialized experience doesn’t cut it.

As one example, an online master’s in public administration degree allows the students to not only learn about things like city management and urban planning, but focus on specific real world issues and how to address them. To create true sustainable change, public administrators and green scientists must work together to affect substantial legislation.

2. Define the Scope

Environmental policies can be a large and murky pool to jump in. The laws impacting quality standards are based on changing science and limited technology. This makes defining the scope that much more important. Public policies that overreach the regulations and the capabilities of the available technology are sure to fail, furthering the voices of green skeptics.

3. Working Together

Many green projects fall short due to a lack of inter-agency cooperation and an uncertainty about who is responsible for what. Some cities have begun creating permanent teams, or cabinets, to address environmentally specific projects. Public administrators are able to work through many of the struggles typically plagued by temporary committees, and see projects through to completion without the distractions of daily operations.

4. Rethink Accountability

Policy makers get caught up in the politics game and special interest groups. So much so that green projects often fall to the wayside. By changing the way they are held accountable, public administers become more likely to follow through on these environmental projects.

One suggestion from the Stanford Social Innovation Review, which is a publication from the Stanford Center on Philanthropy and Civil Society, states that a change to “Pay for Success” would provide motivation for successful project completions. The idea is to align funding with the groups and committees that have successfully completed projects that have a positive community impact.

A community’s ability to initiate a green project relies heavily on public policy. The ability of public administrators to complete those projects rely on creative answers and solutions in the face of policy limitations.