A methodology for facilitating the feedback between mental models and institutional change in industrial ecosystem governance: A waste management case-study from northern Finland

Deliberative environmental policy links the formal institutional setting within which environmental policy takes place and the informal ways of thinking and doing by those whose daily work the policy influences. Despite an extensive theoretically oriented literature on policy deliberation, little methodological advice exists relating deliberation to the two domains it aims to link, i.e., the formal and informal institutions. In this paper, we develop a methodology for environmental policy deliberation that is grounded in institutional theory and theories explaining the cognitive practices of individuals in action situations. The methodology has three stages. First, we outline the problem setting on the basis of the stakeholders' mental model analysis. Second, more specific research problems and proposed solutions are formulated collaboratively with researchers from different fields. Third, the hypotheses are tested and challenged in a workshop with the interviewed stakeholders and re-formulated into final institutional recommendations. We illustrate the success of the procedure with a case study on a regional industrial complex located in the Bothnian Arc of northern Finland.

► Methodological advice for relating policy deliberation and institutional analysis is needed. ► We develop a methodology for studying feedback between the formal and informal institutions. ► Methodology describes dynamics between stakeholders' mental models and the changing institutional setting. ► By means of a methodology, we propose solutions to policy problems experienced by stakeholder groups. ► We illustrate the success of the methodology with a regional case study of industrial recycling.