Meta-governance and soft projects: A hypothetical model for regional policy integration

- A hypothetical model for regional policy integration is identified.
- The model reflects on the concepts of meta-governance and soft projects.
- The model involves three core assumptions.
- The model is tested on regional parks in the North West region of England.
- Case study findings support the model, feeding in guidance for future studies.

Reflecting on the concepts of meta-governance and soft projects, this study involves testing a hypothetical model for regional policy integration which incorporates three core assumptions: (a) collaborative regional institutions are likely to step out of their comfort zone and engage in project discussions where there are managerial regional institutions which have the potential to incorporate such projects and take them forward; (b) soft projects, like regional parks, unleash such potential since they can involve a wide range of objectives and activities and thus provide an opportunity for managerial regional institutions to procure legitimacy by wider inputs at low cost; and (c) collaborative regional institutions tend to overcome their initial internal differences about such projects in order to develop network power in relation to managerial regional institutions. This hypothetical model is supported by case study findings in the North West region of England, feeding in a discussion about some priorities for future research.