永續發展(sustainable development)在過去二十年來已成為環境治理的焦點，未來社會經濟的發展如何不抵觸環境生態的保護是永續發展政策的優先思維。以前環境管制政策與經濟發展總是相互衝突的，一九六○、一九七○年代的環境管制政策雖然成功使空氣汚染降低、河流清澈、掩埋垃圾不再滲透有毒物質，但是這樣的強制性管制措施產生了經濟與政治上的問題。企業界抱怨順從政策的成本減低競爭力，從而引起政治爭論，到底何種形態的環境保護能夠避免來自四面八方的質疑？管制性政策實在難以解決這些問題。 傳統環境政策的策略是直接連結汚染來源與影響標的，鼓勵企業投資降低汚染的技術，例如發展新的引擎設計減低空氣汚染，或是發展下水道處理技術減低水汚染。但是幾乎無所不在的非重點(nonpoint)的汚染源，例如農場與牧場的汚染、家户草坪的殺蟲劑、無國界的地球暖化，這種集合行動的汚染則難以採用命令與控制的管制，需要跨越環境次級政策領域、跨越地理邊界、跨越社會經濟團體的創新途徑加以解決。 里約環境與發展宣言即指出環境議題需要良好治理，才能防止地球資源耗竭、生態破壞，確保人類生活的幸福。永續發展不等同環境保護政策，永續發展的治理必須有創新的制度才能兼顧環境保護與經濟發展。本研究的目的就是在溝通永續發展的目標與環境治理的形式，採取新制度的多元層級治理途徑，以及個案研究的例證，來探索成功的永續政策執行的必要變革。期望藉由歐盟制度改革的研完，來了解促進永績發展的社會規則與制度安排的變革。

Sustainable development has become focus of environmental governance already over the last 20 years. That social development and economic growth not to conflict ecological protection should have priority of future thinking. Environment control and economic development policy conflicted with each other in the past 1960s and 1970s. Although environment control made air pollution reduce, succeed in river limpid, and burying rubbish permeates the noxious substance no longer, but such a mandatory control measure has produced the economic and political question. Enterprises complain costs of which submit to the policy lower the competitiveness, thus cause politics to dispute. Which kind of environmental protection can avoid the queries from all directions? The controlling policy is really difficult to solve these problems. The traditional environmental policy tactics are to link the pollution source and the target directly, encourage the enterprise investment technology and equipment to reduce the pollution, for example, develop the new engine and design to low air pollution, or develop treatment technology of the sewer and lower the water pollution. But nearly an omnipresent pollution of nonpoint polluter, such as farm and pasture pollution, the insecticide of the lawn, and borderless earth melt warmly; it is difficult to adopt the order and control of traditional environmental policy. Need to cross over the environmental policy field, cross over the geographical border, innovative way to cross over the social economic group to solve. This research aims at communicating the goal of sustainable development and form of governance. Adopt multilevel governance approach and the illustration case of European Union, to explore the necessity of institutional innovation for successful sustainable development. It is expected to understand what change of social rule and institutional arrange can promote sustainable development.