Integrative Approaches to Interconnected Environmental Challenges: How Institutional Factors Influence Cross-Sector Integration in Dutch Rural Areas

Environmental challenges are increasingly often interconnected. Yet, they are commonly addressed separately, which might result in inefficiencies and missed opportunities. While it is widely acknowledged that integrative solutions can bring co-benefits and synergetic outcomes for different sectors, empirical studies that systematically explore cross-sector integration at the operational level are rare. Drawing from two case studies with a high potential for reducing the environmental impacts of energy production and agriculture while restoring nature in the Dutch rural context, this exploratory study aims to provide an improved understanding of the institutional factors that influence the fulfillment of integrative potential in rural areas. To understand how institutional factors influence integrative outcomes, we use the operational level rules that guide actions and interactions among the actors of the Institutional Analysis and Development (IAD) framework. Our analysis shows that the potential of integrative solutions is not fully recognized and realized in Dutch rural areas. Key institutional factors that hamper integration are diverging perceptions of desired outcomes (scope rule), exclusion of important actors from decision-making (position rule), and imbalances in the sharing of costs and benefits (payoff rule). We conclude that agreement on the rules of actions and interactions between the actors is necessary for fulfillment of integrative potential.