Coordinating Multi-Level Environmental Governance in Global South: A Communication Architecture Perspective
Keywords:
Communication Architecture, Coordination, Environmental governance, Multi-level governance, Organisational communication
Abstract
Environmental governance increasingly depends on coordination across multiple institutional levels; however, such coordination remains difficult to sustain in practice. Existing explanations emphasise institutional design and actor interactions but pay limited attention to how coordination is organised through communication. This study examines how coordination is enacted within a multi-level environmental governance system by analysing communication processes among 60 institutional actors in Indonesia. Using a qualitative approach, the analysis identifies three interrelated dynamics: communicative translation across governance levels, negotiated authority and legitimacy, and the interplay between formal and informal coordination practices. The findings show that coordination is not produced by institutional structures alone but emerges through patterned communication that aligns actors across different levels and sectors. By conceptualising communication as architecture, this study explains how coordination is sustained, stabilised, and adapted within complex and fragmented governance systems.
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Biermann, Frank, Michele M. Betsill, Joyeeta Gupta, Norichika Kanie, Louis Lebel, Diana Liverman, Heike Schroeder, and Bernd Siebenhüner. 2009. Earth System Governance: People, Places and the Planet—Science and Implementation Plan of the Earth System Governance Project. Bonn: International Human Dimensions Programme on Global Environmental Change.
Biermann, Frank, and Philipp Pattberg. 2008. “Global Environmental Governance: Taking Stock, Moving Forward.” Annual Review of Environment and Resources 33: 277–294. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.environ.33.050707.085733.
Bierschenk, Thomas, and Jean-Pierre Olivier de Sardan, eds. 2014. States at Work: Dynamics of African Bureaucracies. Leiden: Brill. https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004264960.
Cash, David W., W. Neil Adger, Fikret Berkes, Po Garden, Louis Lebel, Per Olsson, Lowell Pritchard, and Oran R. Young. 2006. “Scale and Cross-Scale Dynamics: Governance and Information in a Multilevel World.” Ecology and Society 11 (2): 8. https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-01759-110208.
Castañer, Xavier, and Nuno Oliveira. 2020. “Collaboration, Coordination, and Cooperation among Organizations: Establishing the Distinctive Meanings of These Terms through a Systematic Literature Review.” Journal of Management 46 (6): 965–1001. https://doi.org/10.1177/0149206320901565.
Castelló, Itziar, Michael Etter, and Finn Årup Nielsen. 2016. “Strategies of Legitimacy through Social Media: The Networked Strategy.” Journal of Management Studies 53 (3): 402–432. https://doi.org/10.1111/joms.12145.
Cleaver, Frances. 2012. Development through Bricolage: Rethinking Institutions for Natural Resource Management. London: Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315094915.
Cornelissen, Joep P. 2007. “Corporate Communications: Theory and Practice.” Strategic Direction 23 (8). https://doi.org/10.1108/sd.2007.05623hae.001.
Creswell, John W., and Cheryl N. Poth. 2018. Qualitative Inquiry and Research Design: Choosing among Five Approaches. 4th ed. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.
Emerson, Kirk, Tina Nabatchi, and Stephen Balogh. 2012. “An Integrative Framework for Collaborative Governance.” Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory 22 (1): 1–29. https://doi.org/10.1093/jopart/mur011.
Folke, Carl, Thomas Hahn, Per Olsson, and Jon Norberg. 2005. “Adaptive Governance of Social-Ecological Systems.” Annual Review of Environment and Resources 30: 441–473. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.energy.30.050504.144511.
Gartlinger, Inès, and Enrico Gualini. 2025. “Climate Governance Experiments: Current Practices and Their Meta-Governance Embedding in Berlin’s Solar Energy Transition.” European Planning Studies 33 (5): 680–698. https://doi.org/10.1080/09654313.2025.2475155.
Jordan, Andrew, and Andrea Lenschow. 2010. “Environmental Policy Integration: A State of the Art Review.” Environmental Policy and Governance 20 (3): 147–158. https://doi.org/10.1002/eet.539.
Klijn, Erik-Hans, and Joop Koppenjan. 2015. Governance Networks in the Public Sector. London: Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315887098.
Kvale, Steinar, and Svend Brinkmann. 2015. InterViews: Learning the Craft of Qualitative Research Interviewing. 3rd ed. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.
Lincoln, Yvonna S., and Egon G. Guba. 1985. Naturalistic Inquiry. Beverly Hills, CA: SAGE.
Lindlof, Thomas R., and Bryan C. Taylor. 2019. Qualitative Communication Research Methods. 4th ed. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.
Morrison, Tiffany H., Jon Barnett, Georgina G. Gurney, Jacqueline Lau, Michele L. Barnes, Joshua E. Cinner, Missaka Hettiarachchi, and Pip Cohen. 2024. “Overcoming Lock-In of Science-Policy Responses to Reef Heating.” Marine Policy 170: 106380. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpol.2024.106380.
Ostrom, Elinor. 2010. “Polycentric Systems for Coping with Collective Action and Global Environmental Change.” Global Environmental Change 20 (4): 550–557. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2010.07.004.
Patton, Michael Quinn. 2015. Qualitative Research and Evaluation Methods: Integrating Theory and Practice. 4th ed. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.
Perobelli, Eleonora, Giulia Cappellaro, and Raffaella Saporito. 2025. “Public–Private Hybrid Organisations in the Public Sector: Evidence and Future Directions from a Systematic Literature Review.” Public Management Review 27 (11): 2615–2642. https://doi.org/10.1080/14719037.2024.2365244.
Poteete, Amy R., Marco A. Janssen, and Elinor Ostrom. 2010. Working Together: Collective Action, the Commons, and Multiple Methods in Practice. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
Provan, Keith G., and Patrick Kenis. 2008. “Modes of Network Governance: Structure, Management, and Effectiveness.” Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory 18 (2): 229–252. https://doi.org/10.1093/jopart/mum015.
Putnam, Linda L., and Kathleen J. Krone, eds. 2007. Organizational Communication. London: SAGE. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781446262757.
Saldaña, Johnny. 2021. The Coding Manual for Qualitative Researchers. 4th ed. London: SAGE.
Schoeneborn, Dennis, Timothy R. Kuhn, and Dan Kärreman. 2019. “The Communicative Constitution of Organization, Organizing, and Organizationality.” Organization Studies 40 (4): 475–496. https://doi.org/10.1177/0170840618782284.
Sidique, Ubaid. 2026. “Governance Challenges and Pathways to Sustainable Urbanization in Non-Metropolitan India.” Discover Cities 3: 26. https://doi.org/10.1007/s44327-026-00209-z.
Sørensen, Eva, and Jacob Torfing. 2005. “The Democratic Anchorage of Governance Networks.” Scandinavian Political Studies 28 (3): 195–218. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9477.2005.00129.x.
Tedesco, Anazélia M., Sofía López-Cubillos, Robin Chazdon, Jonathan R. Rhodes, Carla L. Archibald, Katharina-Victoria Pérez-Hämmerle, Pedro H. S. Brancalion, et al. 2023. “Beyond Ecology: Ecosystem Restoration as a Process for Social-Ecological Transformation.” Trends in Ecology and Evolution 38 (7): 643–653. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tree.2023.02.007.
Torfing, Jacob, Eva Sørensen, and Asbjørn Røiseland. 2016. “Transforming the Public Sector into an Arena for Co-Creation: Barriers, Drivers, Benefits, and Ways Forward.” Administration and Society. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1177/0095399716680057.
Tracy, Sarah J. 2010. “Qualitative Quality: Eight ‘Big-Tent’ Criteria for Excellent Qualitative Research.” Qualitative Inquiry 16 (10): 837–851. https://doi.org/10.1177/1077800410383121.
Vásquez, Consuelo, and Dennis Schoeneborn. 2018. “Communication as Constitutive of Organization (CCO).” In The International Encyclopedia of Strategic Communication, edited by Robert L. Heath and Winni Johansen. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781119010722.iesc0024.
Wang, Huanming, and Bing Ran. 2023. “Network Governance and Collaborative Governance: A Thematic Analysis on Their Similarities, Differences, and Entanglements.” Public Management Review 25 (6): 1187–1211. https://doi.org/10.1080/14719037.2021.2011389.
Young, Oran R. 2017. Governing Complex Systems: Social Capital for the Anthropocene. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Published
2026-07-24
How to Cite
Hidayati, R. K., Kamal, Wijaya, T. N. A., & Nugraeni, D. T. (2026). Coordinating Multi-Level Environmental Governance in Global South: A Communication Architecture Perspective . DAWUH : Islamic Communication Journal, 7(2), 453-473. https://doi.org/10.62159/dawuh.v7i2.2706
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Copyright (c) 2026 Ratih Hidayati, Kamal, Tirta Nata Adi Wijaya, Dunola Tri Nugraeni
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