A Boundary Organization and its Changing Environment: The Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency, the MNP

Udo Pesch, Dave Huitema and Matthijs Hisschemöller
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Udo Pesch: Technology Dynamics and Sustainable Development, Faculty of Technology, Policy and Management, Delft University of Technology, PO Box 5015, 2600 GA Delft, The Netherlands

Environment and Planning C, 2012, vol. 30, issue 3, 487-503

Abstract: In this paper we address the way boundary organizations can accommodate tensions in the science – politics interface. Literature on boundary organizations suggests that this type of organization can provide stability in science – politics interaction, but how these organizations function over a longer period of time is not a point of theoretical or empirical attention. We study a boundary organization, the Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency (MNP), by analyzing the ideas that guided the foundation of the MNP and by analyzing two cases in which the MNP advised Dutch policy makers. In both cases the MNP had to adjust its boundary orientation because of changes in its institutional context. These findings show that the dynamics involved in boundary organizations should be included in academic research. We conclude by discussing two conceptual frameworks that may help to capture these dynamics: the notion of ‘learning organizations’ and a typology of roles of experts in politics.

Keywords: science–politics; boundary organizations; contextual dynamics; Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency (MNP) (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2012
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:envirc:v:30:y:2012:i:3:p:487-503

DOI: 10.1068/c10150j

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