Collaborative and inclusive governance: key to prioritizing sustainable and smart growth challenges in Polish municipalities

Purpose: The purpose of the article is to gain deeper insight into the process of transformative governance in Polish municipalities. Design/methodology/approach: The article presents the results of a survey conducted using an online survey technique in 2018 among mayors from 1236 municipalities in Poland. We employ regression analysis to examine whether the mayors' attitude towards collaboration moderates the relationship between the municipalities’ engagement in cooperation and the mayors' prioritization of challenges associated with sustainable and smart growth. Findings: Based on the results of survey conducted in 1236 municipalities in Poland, we confirmed the existence of a relationship between municipal involvement in cooperation with diverse stakeholders and the prioritization of sustainable, smart growth challenges, as well as between mayor’s attitude toward cooperation and the prioritization of sustainable, smart growth challenges. Greater capacity for collaborative governance fosters mayors' more comprehensive perceptions of sustainability challenges. We further demonstrate that attitude toward collaboration moderate the relationship between municipal engagement in collaboration and the prioritization of sustainable, smart growth. Research limitations/implications: The limitations of the research include not taking into account other factors that may determine local policy priorities, such as the ability to obtain funding for sustainable development and smart community development projects. Second, our research is limited to an analysis of priorities and does not consider completed sustainable and smart community projects. Practical implications: We recommend expanding municipal cooperation to include partnerships with supra-local expert actors who possess broader resources, skills, knowledge, and visions. Social implications: The survey results highlight the need to educate residents about the challenges of sustainable and smart development and to influence the topics of debate during the municipal election campaign period. Originality/value: What is new is the clarification of the importance of the interplay between the individual and organizational aspects of collaborative governance for the priorities of local development declared by mayors.