Performing Collaborative Governance through Platforms: A Study on the Mediterranean Blue Economy Community

Platforms are becoming increasingly crucial in managing and governing multiple stakeholders addressing economic, environmental, and social issues. To align stakeholders handling interdisciplinary topics of local or global society, some modern platforms seem appropriate for serving the public sector (i.e., government and public agencies). This paper offers a detailed overview exploring the link between collaboration platforms and governance. It specifically describes how collaborative platforms enable and enrich governance while also contributing to scaling up collaboration over time without compromising democratic and participatory processes. We investigated the MedBESP platform as an illustrative case study of blue economy governance. The results reveal that collaboration platforms unlock modern ways to govern a network of stakeholders with a modular and integrated architecture. Moreover, results allow for a discussion on coordination strategies that ensure cooperation among stakeholders. In this sense, among different strategies, choreography appears to be suitable for governing a wide network. JEL Code: L3.