The document discusses challenges facing public sector management and sustainable development. It explores how sustainable development provides a holistic approach that considers environmental, social, and economic dimensions at both global and local levels. Some primary challenges for management are resource constraints, cultural transition to adopt a holistic integrated approach, and embedding an effective sustainable development agenda. The document references works by the author on competencies for sustainable development in the British public sector and promoting sustainable communities in Devon and Cornwall.

1. Gregory Borne

2. 1. Contextualising my approach
2. Primary challenges facing management the
public sector
3. Addressing Public Sector Challenges
research in action

3. Schools Fire service
Hospitals
Inland Revenue
Prisons
Local Councils Health Centres
Universities
Social Security
Public Parks
THE PUBLIC SECTOR
& SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT:
EXPLORING THE LINKS

4. John Kay
Kay argues:
 “The most complex systems come into being, and function,
without anyone having knowledge of the whole” and “While it
seems to make sense to plan everything before you start,
mostly, you can‟t: objectives are not clearly enough defined,
the nature of the problem keeps shifting, it is too complex,
and you lack sufficient information. The direct approach is
simply impossible.”
 (J Kay, „Obliquity: why our goals are best achieved indirectly‟,
Profile, 2010)

5. Sustainable Development
provides a way of
accommodating complexity
 About holistic approach
 About making connections
 About considering
environmental, social and
economic dimensions
 About the Global and the
Local

6. Why is this time scale significant?
Financial Bottom Line
– Government spending round – budget deficit of 11% = cuts of 81 billion pounds by
2014
– Uncertainty over the depth and extent of the global recessions
Political Imperative
Lead up to the general election May 7 2015
Legislative Transition
– Consequences of Localism Act
– Changes in Planning regulations and the presumption towards sustainable
development
Ideological Shift
– Big Society - A full system shift
– Increasing importance of sustainability and the sustainable development agenda
Delivery Mechanisms
– Public/ Private cooperation

7. •Constrained Resources
•Changing nature of Risk
•Complexity
•Uncertainty
•Reflexivity

8.  1. Exploring Competencies in the British Public Sector
◦ Borne, G., ( forthcoming 2012)Competencies for Sustainable
Development in the British Public Sector (Forthcoming 2012), The
Innovation Journal
◦ Borne, G. (2009) Widening Participation in the British Public
Sector, Responding to the Sustainable Development
Agenda, Widening Participation and Lifelong Learning 11(12):43-
46
2. Promoting Sustainable Communities in Devon and Cornwall
 Borne, G., ( forthcoming 2012) Sustainable Development at the Local
Level in the Global Context: Governance in Transition, Edwin Mellen
Press

9. Primary Challenges for Management
 Resource constraints
 Cultural transition
 A need to adopt a holistic and integrated
approach to public sector management
 Embedding an effective sustainable
development agenda

10.  Choice – Increased choice
 Decentralisation – Power should be
decentralised to the lowest appropriate
level
 Diversity – Public services should be open to
a range of providers
 Fairness – Fair access to public services
 Accountability – Public services should be
accountable to users and taxpayers.