This thesis critically investigates the role of BoerenNatuur, as a network of environmental cooperatives in the Netherlands, in contributing to wider-EU sustainability targets and examining the pathways through which its role could be further institutionalised within collective agri-environmental governance. The study is situated within the broader discourse on decentralised and participatory governance models, revealing a persistent gap between rhetorical support and institutional practice. By employing a qualitative case study approach, drawing on thirteen semi-structured interviews and extensive literature review, this study explores how BoerenNatuur translates policy goals into territorially embedded action. Furthermore, the study develops an analytical framework, that is used to guide the research process and facilitates five major analytical categories: 1) challenges, 2) success factors, 3) environmental and socio-economic contributions, 4) enabling conditions, and 5) pathways for institutional development. The results demonstrate that while BoerenNatuur successfully facilitates collective ecological management, its role remains institutionally underleveraged. Furthermore, respondents express divergent views on the prospects of further institutionalisation, highlighting a core tension between the need for more institutionalised support and the preservation of autonomy, informality and trust-based governance. A key finding is that BoerenNatuur’s value lies not in full regime integration, but in its hybrid and adaptive positioning across governance levels. Overall, this study’s findings contribute to a more pluralistic understanding of institutional change in environmental governance, underscoring the importance of hybrid and locally grounded governance models in navigating contested sustainability transitions.