Biodiversity loss, climate change and natural resource depletion are major concerns at local, state-wide and global scales. In the European context, addressing these challenges depends largely on the implementation of European Union (EU) environmental policy. This Special Issue sheds light on the making of environmental Europe in localized action and practice, from the perspective of non-linearity of policy implementation processes and trajectories. The different articles address three analytical challenges examining policy implementation of (i) highlighting the ties between the macro and the micro scales of implementation; (ii) taking into account the materiality of ecosystems as well as the diversity of forms of knowledge, representations and values associated with nature; (iii) characterizing the new relational configurations emerging between public and private actors involved in hybrid forms of governance. Through examination of the implementation of EU environmental and sustainable development policies primarily in the French context, the Special Issue contributes to a renewed understanding of policy implementation as institutional change. Further, the articles highlight the values underlying the implementation of environmental Europe and the specific role of science in shaping the representations, instruments and strategies at stake.