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Short abstract:

The concept of long-term governance (LTG) is promising to better understand and prepare the necessary political actions to shape and govern such challenges in the long run. We therefore aim at elaborating a framework concept for a better LTG understanding.

Long abstract:

Climate change, energy transition, nuclear disposal or certain key technologies are examples of societal grand challenges with great scope and long-term impact. The concept of long-term governance (LTG) is promising to better understand and prepare the necessary political actions to shape and govern such challenges in the long run. Hence, a long-term governance approach to cope with grand challenges is necessary. We therefore aim at elaborating a framework concept for a better LTG understanding. We interpret and define LTG as the most foresighted and adequate political handling of far-reaching change processes that have the potential to influence our society positively as well as negatively. In order to master these major challenges, overarching integrated and long-term efforts are needed that combine technical with organizational, social and economic dimensions. Policymakers face the task of making socially and politically robust decisions coping with grand challenges that reach far beyond usual planning horizons. The LTG framework elaborates on several building-blocks, namely the LTG generic approach, LTG obstacles, the roles of science, ethics and technologies, and LTG principles and strategies. The LTG approach essentially focusses on a problem, solution, and connecting pathway perspective. Key LTG principles and strategies that we identified are located in the areas of multi-level integration of a long-term perspective (e.g. learning environment, participation, institutional embedment), problem definition and agenda setting (e.g. science policy interface, problem identification), pathway and policy formulation (e.g. target specification and goal setting, solution options), decision-making and implementation (e.g. time management), and monitoring and reformulation.