ABSTRACT
The vision for greening operations through behaviour change is that the government will lead by example, whereby its departments will ultimately 'compete' to 'out-green' one another and are rewarded and recognised for their environmental achievements. The 2009 Nobel Prize Joint Winner for Economic Governance challenges the assumption that without regulation or the involvement of private enterprise no progress to change individual behaviour can be made. In contrast, Ostrom finds that governmentally imposed restrictions are often counterproductive because central authorities lack local knowledge and have insufficient legitimacy. Ostrom cites examples of good practice that benefit all from commonly managed resources: for instance, communal tenure in high mountain meadows in Switzerland. The RainScapes Rewards Program, for instance, is an incentive scheme that has encouraged residents and businesses to install stormwater management controls on their property. Returning to the climate change example once more, this may, for example, involve making schools and council buildings more energy-efficient or reducing business miles.
