Integrating Health in All Policies at the Local Level: Using Network Governance to Create ‘Virtual Reorganization by Design’

The thesis of this chapter is that the Health in All Policy innovation process is only complete when national intentions have linked up with, and made a change to, ‘practice’ at the local level. Much is known about the way bureaucratic hierarchies attempt, but often fail, to make this happen, but much less so in relation to networks. For the latter, evidence is presented showing their superiority when policies are complex, requiring cross organizational action, and when the potential effort directed to their achievement is fragmented.