The 2030 Agenda is a framework that aims to achieve 17 Sustainable Development Goals that are faced with grand challenges. Local governments are strongly involved in the definition and implementation of sustainable development policies. This article investigates how the institutional dimension of the 2030 Agenda is localized by municipalities in the Metropolitan City of Florence, introducing the notion of administrative sustainability as a set of public administration capacities to implement sustainable policies. As a source of data, the study encompasses the content analysis of planning documents and semi-structured interviews with local policymakers. The article concludes by highlighting the importance of localizing the definition of institutional sustainability through practical implementation at the local level and emphasizes the need for adaptive, context-sensitive governance to address the wicked nature of sustainability issues, while a mismatch exists between institutional goals and actual administrative capacities.
Points for practitioners
The 2030 Agenda strongly emphasizes the importance of localizing all Sustainable Development Goals to enable effective action. The institutional dimension is no exception, as both local politicians and public administrators play crucial roles in addressing sustainability challenges. Drawing on a local context, this research focuses on the localization of Sustainable Development Goals 16 and 17 and on administrative sustainability, defined as the ability of local governments to implement these goals. The study introduces the concept of administrative sustainability to evaluate the alignment between policy goals and the operational capacities and obstacles faced by local administrations.
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