An assessment on the role of regional development agencies in environmental governance in Türkiye: A case study on Thrace Region

Over past decades, policies shaped solely for the purpose of development have failed to address the level of environmental problems reached and the scope they impact. These problems, seen on each and every scale and affecting every dimension of life, have raised the need for governance that can produce multi-level and multi-dimensional response. Environmental governance, which centers on multi-actor, multi-level and sustainability-focused approaches, has emerged as key response to these accelerating environmental challenges. This framework that is increasingly finding its mark on the global agenda, has also begun to acquire greater importance in Türkiye. Through the accession process to the EU, Regional Development Agencies (RDAs) were established to ensure balanced, participatory, and sustainable development at regional level was introduced in 2006 in Türkiye. In this context, this thesis examines the extent to which environmental governance perspectives are integrated into the RDA model in Türkiye, a country that has a long-lasting centralized decision-making and economic-growth focused approach. To present more grounded findings, this study conducts its analyses through the case study of Thrace Development Agency. The study covers the period 2014–2023 in line with the Thrace Regional Plan and uses content analysis and supporting interviews to present findings on issues that pose challenges and limitations in this integration. The study's findings indicate that, although the regional development agency model in Türkiye appears broadly compatible in concept, there are various issues requiring changes and improvements in terms of integrating environmental governance perspectives into practice more effectively.