Evaluating sustainability in local public projects: Performance indicators, transparency, and the risk of greenwashing

Purpose: This paper aims to analyze how sustainability is measured and verified in local territorial projects funded by European, national, and regional resources. Although the supranational and national levels promote the integration of sustainability principles, their actual verifiability at the local level often relies on indicators that are poorly structured or entirely absent. Methodology: The study adopts a qualitative approach based on a multiple case study design, conducted exclusively through desk analysis of the 2021,2027 European programming period. The Amministrazione Trasparente section or OpenBilanci are both sources of data, as well as project-level data extracted from OpenCoesione and strategic planning documents released by individual municipalities. Three municipalities from the Lazio Region (C1, C2, and C3) are included in the sample, which is categorized by demographic size according to ISTAT data and picked based on transparency, data availability, and project traceability. The analysis develops in three stages: classification of projects according to the three dimensions of sustainability; mapping and evaluation of performance indicators (KPIs) reported in public documentation; and identification of potential greenwashing risks through the linkage between identified KPIs (or their absence) and funded projects. Results: The findings highlight significant difficulties in verifying sustainability within funded projects and the risk that sustainability remains merely formal, thereby increasing exposure to greenwashing. Relevance and Implications for Research and Practice: The originality of the study lies in treating the absence of sustainability measurability indicators not as a methodological shortcoming but as an empirical result in itself, capable of linking the lack of KPIs with greenwashing risk. The framework that is developed allows for a joint assessment of KPI presence and greenwashing risk, making it a comparative tool to assess the reliability of sustainability claims at the local level.