Public Policy and Sustainable Development: Regional Perspectives

Dear Colleagues,

While global frameworks such as the United Nations 2030 Agenda articulate shared goals and principles, their realisation depends on how public policy is shaped, governed, and implemented across regional contexts. Regions function as critical spaces where global ambitions intersect with political priorities, institutional capacity, social relations, and environmental conditions, shaping the pathways of sustainable and human development. 

In this Special Issue, regions are understood broadly to include subnational territories, cross-border spaces, and multi-country groupings. This perspective provides a focused analytical lens for examining how public policy is adapted to place-specific conditions, how community development is supported or constrained, and how development outcomes vary across communities and population groups. Regional analysis foregrounds context, implementation, and the uneven effects of policy choices. 

Sustainable development outcomes are shaped not only by technical solutions or financial resources, but by governance and participation, political economy dynamics, and the distribution of power and opportunity. Regional policy environments influence whose interests are prioritised, how trade-offs are negotiated, and whether development pathways advance equity, inclusion, and long-term sustainability. These dynamics are especially visible in regions facing the intersecting challenges of climate vulnerability, social inequality, and institutional constraint, disproportionately affecting much of the Global South. 

This Special Issue, “Public Policy and Sustainable Development: Regional Perspectives”, invites original research articles, reviews, and policy-oriented contributions that examine sustainable development through lenses of public policy, governance, participation, equity, and social justice. Contributions should examine how policies operate in practice, the role of state and civil society actors and whose interests they serve, and which governance arrangements enable or constrain equitable and sustainable outcomes. 

Areas of interest include, but are not limited to, the following topics: 

• Equity and social justice in sustainable development policy, including distributional impacts across gender, disability, ethnicity, class, and geography.      
• Climate policy, climate justice, and community resilience, including regionally grounded approaches to adaptation, mitigation, disaster risk reduction, and just transitions.      
• Governance and institutional capacity, including accountability, coordination, and state capability in advancing sustainable development through public policy.     
• Gender equality, disability, and social inclusion (GEDSI) in policy design and implementation, including intersectional and rights-based approaches.   
• Policy implementation of development agendas, including how international commitments are interpreted, adapted, and enacted within regional policy settings.     
• Multi-level and cross-sectoral policy coordination, including alignment across governmental, non-governmental, and international actors.
• Participatory and community-led policy approaches, including mechanisms for community voice, co-production, and inclusive decision-making. 

This Special Issue welcomes empirical, conceptual, methodological, and review articles using qualitative, quantitative, mixed-methods, or participatory research designs. Contributions focused on Southeast Asia and other regions of the Global South are particularly encouraged, alongside comparative and cross-regional analyses that generate transferable policy insights. 

By foregrounding public policy, regional perspectives, and human and community development, this Special Issue aims to advance scholarly and practical debates on how sustainable development can be pursued in ways that are equitable, inclusive, and responsive to diverse regional realities. 

I look forward to receiving your contributions.  

Dr. Lien Pham
Guest Editor

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• public policy
• sustainable development
• regional perspectives
• governance and participation
• social justice
• equity and inclusion
• human development
• community development
• political economy
• global south