This paper studies twenty countries plus the European Union to identify good practice examples of governance structures for national sustainable development strategies (NSDS) and to study their effectiveness. Six aspects of governance were considered including: the nature of strategy co-ordination; placement of overall responsibility for the NSDS; legislative underpinning; integration with existing planning and budgeting processes; stakeholder involvement; and linkages with local sustainable development action. Criteria of effectiveness were identified at the outset based on review of an array of existing NSDS guidelines and recent multi-country studies.