Experimental governance for low-carbon buildings and cities: Value and limits of local action networks

Heijden, Jeroen van der

doi:10.1016/j.cities.2015.12.008

Cited by 88 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 14 publications

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“…These actors need to be willing to transfer the experiment, perceiving it as an opportunity and fitting it to the particular 'requirements' and challenges in their contexts (Crowe, Foley, & Collier 2016;Tsvetkova 2015). To become effective through translation, experiments require becoming visible and exemplary at sectoral debates (Van der Heijden, 2016;Williams, 2017).…”

Section: Theorymentioning

confidence: 99%

Impacts of urban living labs on sustainability transitions: mechanisms and strategies for systemic change through experimentation

Wirth

Fuenfschilling

Frantzeskaki

et al. 2018

European Planning Studies

284

138

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Urban Living Labs (ULL) are considered spaces to facilitate experimentation about sustainability solutions. ULL represent sites that allow different urban actors to design, test and learn from socio-technical innovations. However, despite their recent proliferation in the European policy sphere, the underlying processes through which ULL might be able to generate and diffuse new socio-technical configurations beyond their immediate boundaries have been largely disregarded and it remains to be examined how they contribute to urban sustainability transitions. With this study, we contribute to a better understanding of the diffusion mechanisms and strategies through which ULL (seek to) create a wider impact using the conceptual lens of transition studies. The mechanisms of diffusion are investigated in four distinct ULL in Rotterdam, the Netherlands and Malmö, Sweden. The empirical results indicate six specific strategies that aim to support the diffusion of innovations and know-how developed within ULL to a broader context: transformative place-making, activating network partners, replication of lab structure, education and training, stimulating entrepreneurial growth and narratives of impact.

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Section: Theorymentioning

confidence: 99%

Impacts of urban living labs on sustainability transitions: mechanisms and strategies for systemic change through experimentation

Wirth

Fuenfschilling

Frantzeskaki

et al. 2018

European Planning Studies

284

138

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Secondly, urban climate governance innovations appear to draw on an extended set of policy instruments that mirror the particular interests, coalitions and mobilization strategies at play. This often implies a move beyond incentives, requirements and enforced compliance to include also different types of informational, deliberative and/or collaborative formats and techniques -yet, frequently targeting acceptance for incremental and engineered solutions, rather than social innovation (Bulkeley, 2010;Castán Broto and Bulkeley, 2013;van der Heijden, 2014van der Heijden, , 2017aKnieling, 2016) Thirdly, a proliferation of urban climate governance experiments has been acknowledged, tracing especially their design characteristics and partly also politics (Bai et al, 2010;Boyd and Ghosh, 2013;Chu, 2016;Cloutier et al, 2015;Karvonen and van Heur, 2014;McGuirk et al, 2015;Smedby, 2015;van der Heijden, 2016). New stakeholder interactions, instruments and institutional arrangements have been conceived to test and assess practical performance for a limited time period, at least initially, and to draw lessons regarding wider replication and/or upscaling (Castán Broto and Bulkeley, 2013;Evans et al, 2016;Kivimaa et al, 2017).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Learning in urban climate governance: concepts, key issues and challenges

Wolfram

Heijden

Juhola

et al. 2018

Journal of Environmental Policy & Planning

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“…In this regard, a vast body of literature has suggested that innovation in governance is necessary to allow for extended civic/end-user involvement in the administrative environment, in energy systems, and to spur socially innovative and self-organizing initiatives e.g., [20,40,71,72,89,102,[117][118][119]. Furthermore, in light of the challenge to escape carbon lock-in [25], scholars increasingly argue for a governing approach that fosters innovation and experimentation in governing activities for climate change mitigation at different levels and scales [27][28][29][30]109,[120][121][122][123]. According to Bulkeley and Castán Broto, 'climate change experiments' signify "purposive interventions in which there is a more or less explicit attempt to innovate, learn or gain experience" [29] (p. 363) "in order to reconfigure one or more socio-technical system for specific ends and where the purpose is to reduce greenhouse gases or adapt to climate change" [29] (p. 368).…”

Section: The Need For Experimental Meta-governancementioning

confidence: 99%

Modes of Governing and Policy of Local and Regional Governments Supporting Local Low-Carbon Energy Initiatives; Exploring the Cases of the Dutch Regions of Overijssel and Fryslân

Warbroek

Hoppe

2017

Sustainability

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Recent scholarly attention shows increasing involvement of local low-carbon energy initiatives (LLCEIs) in governance and policy, in particular in relation to innovations regarding low-carbon energy and energy efficiency. The future perspective of active citizenship in the production of locally generated low-carbon energy is largely dependent on the existing institutional and policy frameworks and settings. Subnational governments, in particular, can have a prominent role in this process by engaging in institutional adaptation and policy innovation. The central research question of this paper is: In what ways do local and regional governments innovate in governing to respond to the emergence of LLCEIs? The research question is answered by comparing two case studies: the Dutch regions of Overijssel and Fryslân. We have conceptualized a meta-governing approach of experimentation, characterizing the innovations in governing that emerge when governments respond to the emergence of LLCEIs. We specifically focus on two capacities that subnational governments can use to enhance their governing capacity vis-à-vis LLCEIs and which substantiate the experimental meta-governance mode: institutional adaptation and policy innovation. We then formulated hypotheses that specify the expected policy innovations and institutional adaptations employed vis-à-vis LLCEIs. Data collection involved in-depth interviews and use of secondary data. The results show that a balancing process of authoritative and enabling modes of governing particularly characterized the type of policy innovations that were developed and the institutional adaptations that took place. Both provinces govern LLCEIs at arm's length and issue significant capacity-building strategies that vary in terms of their conditions. Municipalities, however, incline towards impromptu and opportunistic responses, some of them having lasting effects by patching up existing institutional settings, others having more of an episodic character. The results will further the understanding of subnational low-carbon policy and governance innovation processes vis-à-vis the role of LLCEIs.

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Experimental governance for low-carbon buildings and cities: Value and limits of local action networks

Cited by 88 publications

References 14 publications

Impacts of urban living labs on sustainability transitions: mechanisms and strategies for systemic change through experimentation

Impacts of urban living labs on sustainability transitions: mechanisms and strategies for systemic change through experimentation

Learning in urban climate governance: concepts, key issues and challenges

Modes of Governing and Policy of Local and Regional Governments Supporting Local Low-Carbon Energy Initiatives; Exploring the Cases of the Dutch Regions of Overijssel and Fryslân

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