Between autonomy and embeddedness: project interfaces and institutional change in environmental governance

Abstract

Our analysis addresses innovation processes that shape public policy and the engagement of state and non-state actors in environmental management. Public sector organizations increasingly invest resources in collaborative temporary endeavors–i.e. projects–to explore new ideas and exploit the results. We analyze the environmental project portfolio of the European Commission LIFE program in Estonia for the period 2008-2018 from the viewpoint of interfaces between project teams and permanent organizations. Our analysis of project design, administration, and practices reveals that project interfaces structure opportunities for achieving technical and institutional change through temporary organizations. Adaptive strategies of actors inside projects and in the established organizational fields producse shifts in interfaces across the project life cycle. These shifts enable and constrain knowledge production and application.