A Collaborative Transformation beyond Coal and Cars? Co-Creation and Corporatism in the German Energy and Mobility Transitions

Abstract

In this article, we critically discuss the role of collaboration in Germany’s path towards a post-carbon economy. We consider civic movements and novel forms of collaboration as a potentially transformative challenger to the predominant approach of corporatist collaboration in the mobility and energy sectors. However, while trade unions and employer organizations provide a permanent and active arena for policy-oriented collaboration, civil society groups cannot rely on an equivalently institutionalized corridor to secure policy impact and public resonance. In that sense, conventional forms of collaboration tend to hinder the transformation towards a post-carbon economy. Collaboration in the German corporatist setting is thus, from a sustainability perspective, simultaneously a problem and a solution. We argue for more institutionalized corridors between civil society and state institutions. Co-creation, as we would like to call this methodical approach to collaborating, can be anchored within the environmental and industrial policy arenas.

The Power of Co-Creation in the Energy Transition—DART Model in Citizen Energy Communities Projects

“…This term covers randomly selected samples of citizens who then participate in decision-making processes. The study underlines that mini-publics increase and accelerate the legitimacy of public decision [5]. In each case, these have led to the establishment of new social configurations: The iterative process of government and civil society working together to generate material responses to the interest constellations rooted in civil society.…”

“…Successful co-creation requires a multi-level process and the adoption of the 'by and for the citizens' way of thinking and working. The need for deeper participation of society, citizens and inhabitants has been observed in many urban energy projects [4,5].…”

Die Politische Ökonomie des Strukturwandels: Konzeptualisierung einer „Just transition“ im Rheinischen Braunkohlerevier

“…Die Analyse der Verteilungsungerechtigkeit ist die wissenschaftliche Auseinandersetzung im Rahmen der politischen Ökonomie, welche die Gesetze der gesellschaftlichen Produktion und die Verteilung der Güter zum Inhalt hat (Akademie der Wissenschaften der UdSSR -Institut für Ökonomie 1955). Vor diesem Hintergrund können zunehmend institutionelle Kämpfe zwischen Gewerkschaften, Umwelt-NGOs, Unternehmen sowie nationalen und supranationalen Organisationen beobachtet werden (Herberg et al 2020). Nicht zuletzt das weltumspannende Engagement der Fridays-for-Future-Bewegung hat verdeutlicht, dass es eine erhebliche Ungerechtigkeit hinsichtlich der Verteilung von Lasten und Nutzen der Ausbeutung fossiler Energien gibt, weil die Lasten des Klimawandels vor allem spätere Generationen treffen wird, wohingegen der Nutzen jetzt verausgabt wird.…”

University collaboration for co-designing sustainable urban areas

“…Universities work with various social actors to trigger and drive sustainable change in specific regions, cities and communities with various social actors. Many prestigious universities around the world cross campus boundaries to form ambitious partnerships with industry, government and civil society organizations [8,9]. Universities seek to achieve sustainability in this role of co-creation by working with society to create it.…”