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The water-energy-food (WEF) nexus is increasingly recognised as a conceptual framework able to support the efficient implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Despite growing attention paid to the WEF nexus, the role that renewable energies can play in addressing trade-offs and realising synergies has received limited attention. Until now, the focus of WEF nexus discussions and applications has mainly been on national or global levels, macro-level drivers, material flows and large infrastructure developments. This overlooks the fact that major nexus challenges are faced at local level. Aiming to address these knowledge gaps, the authors conduct a systematic analysis of the linkages between small-scale energy projects in developing countries and the food and water aspects of development. The analysis is based on empirical data from continuous process and impact evaluations complemented by secondary data and relevant literature. The study provides initial insights into how to identify interconnections and the potential benefits of integrating the nexus pillars into local level projects in the global south. The study identifies the complex links which exist between sustainable energy projects and the food and water sectors and highlights that these needs are currently not systematically integrated into project design or project evaluation. A more systematic approach, integrating the water and food pillars into energy planning at local level in the global south, is recommended to avoid trade-offs and enhance the development outcomes and impacts of energy projects.

This dialogue session series aims to advance evaluation efforts in sustainability transitions. The sessions focus on sustainability transition experiments that develop and test solutions that foster transformational change towards sustainability. The key objective is to facilitate learning from a variety of different transition experiments. Thus, gaining insights about their resources, conducted activities, generated results and accomplished sustainability progress will be at the heart of the session. The dialogue sessions bring together empirical research that adopts, rigorously applies and critically reflects the tentative evaluative scheme to appraise the performance of sustainability transition experiments (Luederitz et al. submitted). The follow up aim of the sessions is to jointly publish session outcomes and learning experiences. Reflections on evaluating Challenge Lab by applying a proposed scheme for Sustainability Transition Experiments. David Andersson, JohnHolmberg, Johan Larsson, Daniella Mendoza, Örjan Söderberg The Challenge Lab (CLab) is a neutral arena for triple helix stakeholders and an educational platform for master students to addresses complex challenges and system lockins. By the end of its third year, the CLab will have hosted nearly 100 students, producing 23 master thesis projects and 13 course projects. We present an evaluative case using the scheme proposed by Luederitz et al. (2016) for sustainability transition experiments which includes four main questions and a set of indicators for each question. We end with some general reflections on the evaluation method. A Transdisciplinary Project Course on Repair and Reuse in the Light of the Tentative Evaluation Scheme. Richard Beecroft, Kaidi Tamm, Oliver Parodi, Colette WaitzThe project we intend to evaluate with the "Tentative Evaluation Scheme" (TES) was a project course in winter term 2015 at Karlsruhe Institute of Technology under the title "Repair, Reuse, RecycleTransdisciplinary Project Course". It was a cooperation between the Karlsruhe School of Sustainability, and the "District Future -Urban Lab" ("Quartier Zukunft") -all KIT -with the repaircafe initiative Karlsruhe (RCIK).1 Its triple aim was to a) support the RCIK in its crucial stabilisation phase, b) to generate valuable transdisciplinary learning outcomes for the students (and other people involved) and c) to produce new insights into the potential for sustainability transitions regarding the repaircafe approach. Evaluating the transformative potential of sustainability entrepreneurship: the dynamics of small business participation in urban experiments. Sarah BurchThe alluring yet nebulous concept of transformative change is increasingly gaining traction in conversations about pathways to more sustainable futures and responses to climate change. This shift in focus from incremental change to potentially radical experiments in sustainability at multiple levels of government suggests that new conceptual tools are needed to illuminate new types of actors, interests, and cap...

In many developing countries large parts of the population are negatively affected by the lack of access to clean and affordable energy. Providing sustainable energy services to these people has been acknowledged as a key component to reduce poverty. One form of development assistance to address the needs of the energy-poor at the local level are smallscale renewable energy projects. Like all development interventions, these energy projects are not intended to produce short-term outputs, but to create long-term impacts. Thus, it has become increasingly important to evaluate and accurately assess their sustainability. But despite the widely recognized need to identify successes factors and explain failure only few studies exist that address the sustainability of small-scale of energy development efforts post implementation. Against this background the paper presents the results of a post-evaluation of 23 projects supported via the Sustainable Energy Project Support (SEPS) scheme of the WISIONS initiative run by the Wuppertal Institute. The analysis provides insights on the influence that socio-economic, environmental, geographic and gender factors can have on the sustainability of small-scale renewable energy projects in developing countries.

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Accelerating the diffusion of domestic biogas is considered to be a promising option for reaching the goal of universal access to energy by 2030, particularly for the provision of cooking energy for rural populations in developing countries. The aim of this study is to develop a systematic account of the factors that influence the diffusion of domestic biogas technologies. To achieve this objective, a three step analysis approach is applied. In the first step, a conceptual model is built based on insights from scholars that have been studying the diffusion of energy innovations in rural contexts. In the next step, a qualitative content analysis of scientific literature is undertaken to test and refine the categories proposed by the conceptual model and to systematically organise the empirical evidence of the factors that influence the diffusion of domestic biogas in developing and emerging countries. The systemised evidence is used to identify the components and interactions between the household configurations and socio--economic context that determine both the adoption process at household level and the overall technology diffusion. Finally, in the last step, we reflect on the implications of the resultant systematic conceptualisation regarding the purpose and design of programmes promoting the dissemination of domestic biogas technologies. 1 Some examples of early designs and applications include the patented design and its commercialisation by Mr Lo Guo--Rui in the 1930s in China [2], first installations of early designs under real conditions in Indian rural households during the 1950s [3] and the demonstration of the technology at a school in 1955 in Kathmandu, Nepal [4].

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Sustainable energy technologies are widely sought-after as essential elements in facing global challenges such as energy security, global warming and poverty reduction. However, in spite of their promising advantages, sustainable energy technologies make only a marginal contribution to meeting energy related needs in both industrialised and developing countries, in comparison to the widespread use of unsustainable technologies. One of the most significant constraints to their adoption and broad diffusion is the socio-economic context in which sustainable energy technologies are supposed to operate. The same holds true for community-based energy projects in developing countries supported by the WISIONS initiative. Practical strategies dealing with these socio-economic challenges are crucial elements for project design and, particularly, for the implementation of project activities. In this paper experiences from implementing community-based projects are reviewed in order to identify the practical elements that are relevant to overcome socio-economic challenges. In order to systematise the findings, an analytical framework is proposed, which combines analytical tools from the socio-technical transition framework and insights from participative approaches to development. OPEN ACCESSSustainability 2012, 4 342