This thesis assesses institutional-learning by the European Union (EU) in Afghanistan. The assessment is carried out by delineating the developments and changes in relevant EU policies through the years 1993-2010 using process tracing. The analysis is based on an extensive review of EU documents, regulations, statements, publications and interviews together with third party evaluations and a survey of the relevant academic literature. The research question which the thesis addresses is to assess whether a policy change in EU state-building efforts is discernible and whether this change can be attributed to institutional-learning or to other causes. It also provides evidence that the state-building efforts by the EU form part of an institutional process of development by the EU to establish itself as a global actor. The assessment therefore focusses around four components: the EU, institutional-learning, state-building and Afghanistan. The aim of the thesis is to analyse the nexus between the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) and EU-led state-building in fragile and/or post-conflict countries outside of the Union's enlargement sphere while taking into account the change in actorness on the part of the EU. This analysis is grounded on two interlocking frameworks. By using data and developments in the Afghanistan country study, elements of the state-building Framework are scrutinised for evidence of the different categories of institutional-learning and adaptation derived from the institutional-learning Framework. By pinpointing the learning processes within the EU as an organisation and in its state-building policies, and by analysing the limitations of its approach to these, the thesis concludes with a recommendation of how to make EU-led post-conflict state-building in forthcoming cases of fragile states more effective.

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Strategic environmental assessment (SEA) and sustainability are inextricably linked. SEA can be used to assess the sustainability impacts of plan, program and policy (PPP) initiatives, inform decision-making with regard to sustainability issues and promote the trickle down of sustainability principles to project level assessment, among others. However, in terms of energy sector practice in particular, SEA application is neither well applied nor understood, there has been insufficient evidence of the operationalization of sustainability in SEA and little research showing how SEA might provide a systematic framework for the integration of sustainability principles. As a result, this thesis examines the relationship between SEA and sustainability, with the goal of understanding how sustainability principles and criteria can be integrated and operationalized in the development of energy futures. The thesis chapters are manuscript based. The first manuscript presents a literature review of ten years of academic research examining how SEA facilitates the integration of sustainability in PPP development decision making, while the second and third manuscripts focus on a ‘state of practice’ examination of SEA application and sustainability integration in international electricity sector case practice. The fourth manuscript applies a structured SEA framework that operationalizes sustainability principles using an expert-based assessment of alternative future scenarios for electricity development in Saskatchewan, along with an examination of implications for both electricity sector practice and SEA methodology. Finally, the conclusion discusses the major findings from the four manuscripts and identifies challenges for the operationalization of sustainability, the adoption of good-practice SEA elements in practice and makes recommendations for future SEA guidance and academic research. Overall, the lack of operationalization of sustainability in energy sector SEA suggests the need for improved SEA methodology and guidance that describes the scope of and approaches to sustainability in SEA and outlines how to effectively incorporate sustainability in SEA practice. In order for SEA to deliver on its sustainability mandate, impact assessment methodologies that allow for clarification of both the concept of sustainability and the uncertainty surrounding higher level policy, plan and program (PPP) decision-making need to be developed and more widely adopted. Lessons learned from practice that describe the appropriate use of both quantitative and qualitative methodologies also need to be better disseminated and shared amongst the SEA research and practitioner community. However, results from this research also illustrate that there is still inconsistent application of SEA processes, which likely stems from uncertainty and confusion on behalf of practitioners and decision-makers as to what the role and purpose of SEA is in PPP development. More case-practice evidence of SEA application is needed that demonstrates the purpose and benefits of SEA for sustainability in a variety of decision-making contexts. Evidence from this research also shows that tiering, both upward to higher PPP levels and downward to the project level, is occurring in some electricity sector SEAs. That SEA outcomes are potentially tiering upward to influence the development of legislation is a finding that counters the often-cited notion that tiering in SEA is idealistic. This research indicates the need for additional focus on institutional arrangements that allow for SEA application to effectively inform and influence PPP decision-making in support of sustainability. The need for SEA as a higher order assessment process to capture regional and strategic impacts is becoming increasingly important in light of current federal legislation that eliminates environmental impact assessment requirements for many small-scale projects. However, although SEA emerged, in part, to inform and direct decisions made at the project level, the link between SEA, sustainability and operational decisions still remains elusive in practice.

本文考察了自20世紀70年代末台灣的高新技術產業化的過程中，由工業技術研究院（工研院）經歷了轉變。本文提出了一個框架，與經濟和政治變化的環境中所發生的高科技產業整合工研院的互動。使用機構學習模型，本文標識的組織學習能力。在本質上這些學習能力突出I工研院的相互作用調整的變化的機制。歷史分析表明三個階段，其中的研究院通過主要組織變革發生的背景。階段之間的過渡是不同的，嵌入在特定的經濟和政治背景。 / This thesis examines the transformations undergone by the Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) during the course of Taiwan’s high-tech industrialization since the late 1970s. This study proposes a framework that integrates ITRI’s approaches in interacting with high-tech industries on the one hand, with the broad economic and political changes happening in its environment on the other. Using an institutional learning model, the thesis identifies the organizational learning capabilities, which in essence underlines the mechanisms of ITRI’s interaction adjustment to the changes. The historical analysis suggests three stages, in the contexts of which the institute undergoes through major organizational transformations. The transitions between the stages are different and embedded in the particular economic and political contexts.

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the changes in the political culture within the economic globalization arena which impact and promote institutional transformations. These changes affect the design of new institutional arrangements by the learning of new  surrounding  demands. Departing from the view that the theories of political culture change seek to explainthe institutional change, 1conclude that the institutional culturallearning is a rational solution to the difflculties in predicting the future effects of the institutional arrangements of the institutional reform. Therefore, the study of the culture change and  the congruence with the institutional transformations suggests that the institutional culture can be created and transformed to adapt it to the new conditions of the economic globalization processes. / Este trabajo se propone analizar los cambios en la cultura política, en el escenario dela globalización económica, que impactan y promueven transformaciones en las ins­ tituciones y organizaciones. Estos cambios y transformaciones inciden  en el diseño de nuevos arreglos institucionales mediante un aprendizaje institucional para adap­ tarse a las nuevas demandas del entorno.A partir del supuesto de que las teorías del cambio de cultura política tratan de explicar el cambio institucional, se avanza como conclusión que el aprendizaje cultu­ ral institucional es una solución racional ante la dificultad para predecir los efectos futuros de los arreglos institucionales en la reforma institucional. Por lo tanto, el estudio del cambio cultural y su congruencia con las transformaciones institucional y organizacional implica el análisis que sugiere que la cultura institucional puede crearse y transformarse para adaptarse a las nuevas condiciones de los procesos de globalización económica.

This study investigates the institutional learning from attempts at securing affordable housing inclusion within Transit-Oriented Developments (TOD) through institutional change in Reykjavík, Iceland. As Reykjavík embarks on the ambitious City Line project, a bus-rapid transit network aimed at sustainably shaping urban growth, ensuring affordable housing near transit stations has become critical. Past attempts to achieve housing affordability have fallen short since Reykjavík still, to this day, experiences a great lack of affordable housing. Thus, this research employs an institutional learning framework to explore the barriers to and opportunities for ensuring affordable housing in TODs. Through expert interviews and document analysis, the study’s findings highlight the institutional challenges hindering the realisation of affordable housing goals within TODs. These include the vagueness of upper-level policies and terminology, the influence of land ownership, and implementation gaps in planning. Additionally, the research identifies opportunities for institutional change, such as strengthening standardisation from state-level policies, including principles of transit-accessible development in the extensions and re-evaluation of the City Line network, and addressing issues of timescale alignment between the implementation of TODs and the City Line. The study contributes to the limited Icelandic literature on institutional analysis in urban planning and offers ideas for enhancing social inclusivity and housing accessibility for Reykjavík’s future transit communities.

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / Parting from Schumpeter s determinants of investment, an Evolutionary Theory is developed and with a base on the gene, identifying elements that encode routines and develop skills, establishing control, copying and imitation. Scientific technological knowledge, thus generated, can be created or replicated locally, creating what is called a "cluster of knowledge", leading to a dynamic Local Base of Innovation. A Federal Institution (FI) has two complementary roles: training human resources and accumulating techno-scientific knowledge to contribute to the implementation of a local socio-economy. These functions require a pattern of financing, which on the internal side, are derived by the application of "models of partition of OCC (Other Expenses and Capital)" by MEC / SESu determined by the Student-Equivalent Model, that is insufficient to take account the expansion plans of IFES. On the other hand, IFES seek external support to complement funding limitations via Projects, Programs, Parliamentary Amendments, among others, as was the case with UFS. To give consistency to our analysis, the case of the UFS was investigated, by historically analyzing results of approximately 10 years based on critical variables and parameters that make up the Student-Equivalent Model. We detected, despite the rapid growth of these variables, that elements of external and extra-budgetary partnerships were essential, illustrated by the examples of the NUPEG-SE and REUNI. The patterns of internal funding, allied by external partnerships, helped pave the way to consolidate UFS in its role as the Base of Local Innovation. / A partir dos determinantes Schumpeterianos do Investimento, desenvolvemos a Teoria Evolucionária e, com base no gene, apontamos os elementos que codificam a rotina e desenvolvem habilidades, estabelecendo o controle, a cópia e a imitação. O conhecimento científico-tecnológico, assim gerado, pode ser criado ou replicado localmente, originando o chamado cluster de conhecimento , dinamizando uma Base Local de Inovação. Uma Instituição Federal de Esnsino Superior (IFES) cumpre dois papéis complementares: formar recursos humanos e aportar conhecimentos tecnicocientíficos para a implementação de uma socioeconomia local. Essas funções exigem um padrão de financiamento que, pelo lado interno, resultam na aplicação de modelos de partição de OCC (Outros Custeios e Capital) pelo MEC/ SESu, sendo determinante o Aluno Equivalente ao se mostrar insuficiente para dar conta das pretensões de expansão das IFES . Por outro lado, as IFES buscam apoio externo e complementares para as suas carências de financiamento, mediante projetos, programas, emendas parlamentares, entre outras, como foi o caso da UFS. Para dar consistência à nossa análise aprofundamos o caso da UFS, recuperando historicamente, numa trajetória aproximada de 10 anos, as variáveis críticas e os parâmetros que compõem o Modelo Aluno-Equivalente. Detectamos, apesar do vigor de crescimento, que foram essenciais os elementos de parcerias externas e extra-orçamentárias, como o NUPEG-SE e o REUNI. Os padrões de financiamento interno, aliado às parcerias permitiram pavimentar o papel da UFS, para consolidação da Base Local de Inovação.