Expert thinking and environmental institutions

TLDR: In this article, the authors explore the mental models with which experts understand environmental problems and justify their efforts to fix the problems, as well as the institutional rules that constrain expert actions.

Abstract: The paper explores environmental institutions that facilitate the trial and error search for sustainable development. The argumentation refers to four case studies of environmental management in the US, Europe, and China. To diagnose the institutional constraints of environmental management, the studies focus on the mental models with which experts understand environmental problems and justify their efforts to fix the problems. As such, the mental models also reflect the institutional rules that constrain expert actions. Design principles for novel environmental institutions are developed on the basis of institutional theory and case study findings. In conclusion, implications of the proposed institutional arrangements for the public role of experts are discussed.