Exploring climate leadership features of public officials through narratives: evidence from Turkish municipalities

Abstract

This article explores the narratives of local public officials involved in leading efforts to develop climate change policies in innovative Turkish municipalities. The objective of the article is to offer insights into the leadership roles of these public officials, aiming to uncover distinct leadership features while crafting climate change policies within Turkish municipalities and to propose distinctive types of leadership they exhibited. To elucidate the dimensions of public officials’ leadership, the research employs a narrative research approach. Accordingly, leadership features identified from the literature are utilized as the analytical framework for the narratives. The results demonstrate that the interviewed public officials exhibited common leadership attributes that impact the shaping of climate change policies. This is particularly valuablein cases where the central government may not be sufficiently ambitious in taking steps forward. Additionally, the research indicates that officials’ leadership styles vary, even though they exhibit common leadership features.