Enrico Guarini

Purpose: This article investigates how Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) can be integrated into the strategic planning and management processes of local governments (LGs). It draws from the classic strategic planning and control framework developed in management studies and elaborates some propositions for adapting, implementing and monitoring the SDGs at the city level.Design/methodology/approach: As a first step in the assessment of the ways the principles of sustainable development can be integrated into LG management, this research scrutinizes the incorporation of sustainability goals in the strategic plans of all medium-to-large capital cities of provinces in Italy, a context in which there has been a National Strategy for Sustainable Development (NSSD) since 2016.Findings: The focus on SDGs at the LG level in Italy is in its initial stage, and few capital cities have started to integrate sustainable development concerns into their comprehensive strategic plans. SDGs are used mainly as a reference framework in the strategic plans to demonstrate the contribution of LG strategies to global concerns on sustainable development.Practical implications: The paper offers insights for political leaders and public managers to rethink their strategic management systems, including the continuous process of evaluating and updating of strategic plans, in accordance with the multidimensional perspective of sustainability. To this end, the study has identified possible patterns of actions that public managers elsewhere will find useful.Originality/value: The managerial approach behind the proposed conceptual framework might contribute to effectively localize the SDGs in multilevel government settings and to integrate the concept of sustainability as a guiding principle into organizational routines.

This article proposes and discusses a managerial framework to provide guidance on implementing and monitoring the 17 sustainable development goals (SDGs) at the local government level. The integration of SDGs into city strategic plans will help city leaders and local politicians strengthen their planning and management processes and improve the communication of strategic goals.

Purpose: Studies on how accounting is involved in financial crises and austerity are limited. The context of austerity provides an interesting opportunity to explore the role of accounting in shaping governmental financial resilience, i.e. the capacity of governments to cope with shocks affecting their financial conditions.Design/methodology/approach: Based on a multiple case analysis of eight Italian municipalities, this paper explores how accounting contributes to the government capacities which are used to anticipate and respond to shocks affecting public finances.Findings: Municipalities cope with financial shocks differently; accounting can support self–regulation and can affect internally-led or externally-led adaptation. Different combinations of anticipatory and coping capacities lead to different responses to shocks.Practical implications: The findings can be useful for public managers, policymakers and oversight bodies for strengthening governmental financial resilience in the face of crises and austerity.Originality/value: The results provide evidence of the conditions, contexts, processes under which accounting becomes a medium which can support both anticipation of and coping with financial shocks, supporting cuts in some cases and resistance in the short run or driving long-term changes intended to maintain public services as much intact as possible. This highlights the existence of different patterns of governmental financial resilience and thus indicates ways of best preserving the service of the public interest.

The Asili di Carità was a non-profit educational institution established for very young children by the Catholic Church in 1836 in the City of Milan. This study shows how the First World War, changes in political ideology and economic developments in northern Italy directly impacted upon the, sometimes precarious, financial position of the Asili. Within the context of such change, the Board of the Asili enacted accountability through the maintenance and presentation of accounting records and meetings with stakeholders. This study draws from both public and private archives to examine the decisions made by the Board in response to change. The study focuses on the Asili’s relations with its most economically powerful stakeholders in the period from 1913 to 1926 as it transitioned from a privately funded organisation to one that was funded predominantly by the Municipality of Milan, before reverting to private hands.

Drawing on the results of a systematic literature review of empirical studies, this paper sheds light on six broad factors that facilitate the initiation and implementation of co-production in public services. The factors are classified into two overarching categories: organizational factors, including organizational arrangements, professional roles, and managerial tools; and procedural factors, including participant recruitment, participant preparation, and process design. For each set of factors, the paper provides a series of management implications. It concludes with additional observations for practice. Unfortunately, ‘one-size-fits-all’ does not apply to co-production. Policy-makers and public managers need use their knowledge, skills, and judgment to design, activate, and implement co-production activities. The paper presents three organizational factors (organizational arrangements, professional roles, and managerial tools) and three procedural factors (participant recruitment, participant preparation, and process design) that facilitate the initiation and implementation of co-production. Moreover, for each set of factors, the paper provides an important series of management implications that offer guidance to those who are using, or who wish to use, co-production in their organizations. Thus, this paper provides evidence-driven advice that can assist public managers and policy makers looking for ways to improve co-production in public services.