Problems of bottom-up collaboration: evolutionary pathways and capacity challenges of NSMD governance certification institutions

Abstract

Arguably no collaborative mode requires more careful attention to identifying capacity deficits, and pathways through which collaborative governance mechanisms must navigate, than the case of multi-stakeholder ‘non-state market driven’ NSMD Certification systems. This is because government and other officials are presented with an additional hurdle than state-based efforts: that is, how to help build, rather than maintain, legitimacy and authority to govern. Traveling such pathways requires undertaking theoretical and conceptual deliberations about a number of possible futures, rather than relying solely on backward-looking evidence that biases analysts to (often poorly conceived) experiments ‘already run.’ This leads us to identify a hierarchical pecking order in which political and policy analytical capacity are required to uncover not one, but four ‘problem solving’ pathways through which certification systems might be nurtured. Managerial capacities while fundamental, must be developed subsequently, since particular skills required will depend on the chosen pathway.