Local Governments Supporting Local Energy Initiatives: Lessons from the Best Practices of Saerbeck (Germany)  and Lochem (The Netherlands)

Hoppe, Thomas; Graf, Antonia; Warbroek, Beau; Lammers, Imke; Lepping, Isabella

doi:10.3390/su7021900

Cited by 175 publications

(176 citation statements)

References 62 publications

(113 reference statements)

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“…First of all, a sound policy plan, having ambitious but realistic goals and a clear goals-means action plan, is assumed of imminent importance of municipal climate action. Municipalities having sound climate policy plans were found to have more progressive climate actions than their peers without (e.g., [12]). However, plans only become policies once political support and approval is present.…”

Section: Throughputmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…civil servants or public officials who have the power, authority, experience and personal skills to intervene and influence decision-making at a given moment [53] or who make sure to protect or maintain the interest of climate change on local political and policy agendas [48,[50][51][52]54]. We argue that next to being motivated and committed this person also has above average skills in networking, process managing, niche managing and playing the role of 'policy entrepreneur' to get climate issues on political and policy agendas (e.g., [12]. As such, the policy entrepreneurs would create the conditions that will in the long term evoke 'windows of opportunity' that 'carpe diem policy entrepreneurs' can seize as opportunities to get climate change issues on the agenda once they arrive [55].…”

Section: Throughputmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Many scholars have acknowledged the importance of inter-governmental support schemes, especially the ones enabling local governments to learn from best practices and being provided the finance to build capacity and establish local climate policies of their own [11,59,64]. In addition, sometimes support schemes in particular areas of climate change (mitigation) are issued, such as renewable energy support policy or competitions organized to stimulate local communities to become low carbon communities (e.g., the 'Klimakomune Saerbeck' case in the state of Nordrhein Westfalen, Germany; [12]). …”

Section: Cluster V: Influence Exercised By Higher Levels Of Governmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Cities can do this in several ways: as 'champion' [8], as initiator of actions, as first mover to adopt clean tech innovations [8], as seedbed of innovation [10], as policy implementing organization [11], as regulator, as facilitator, network manager, as process-or project manager (cf. [12]). …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Presenting a Framework to Analyze Local Climate Policy and Action in Small and Medium-Sized Cities

2016

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Academic attention to local climate policy usually focuses on large-sized cities. Given the climate challenges ahead this seems unjustified. Small and medium-sized cities (SMCs) deserve scholarly attention as well. The main question is: What factors influence climate change policy and local climate actions in SMCs? In this article we present an analytical framework to analyze climate change policy and local climate actions of SMCs. The framework addresses different aspects: policy-input, -throughput, -output, -outcome, characteristics of the local environment, local action arenas, influence by higher government levels, and interaction with climate change issue networks.The framework is used to analyze and compare four case studies of SMCs in the Dutch region of Twente (two urban and two rural municipalities, and addresses both adaptation and mitigation). Results show that both 'localist', 'multi-level' and issue network membership factors influence local climate policy action. Governance modes discerned concern mostly 'governing by authority' and 'self-governing'. When reflecting on the role of SMCs in climate action the study revealed the importance of local capacity building schemes issued by provincial government, inter-municipal network collaboration, and the potential for local governments to mobilize and organize citizen action.

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Section: Throughputmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Throughputmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Cluster V: Influence Exercised By Higher Levels Of Governmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Presenting a Framework to Analyze Local Climate Policy and Action in Small and Medium-Sized Cities

2016

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“…Regarding the requirements for governance, the Experimentation Decree applies to projects operated by associations, meaning owners' associations and energy associations [36,37]. These associations must be entirely controlled by their members, which means that DSOs and energy suppliers are not allowed to exercise any control (Decree Article 7(1)j [20]), but members decide on the organisation, progress and distribution of costs of a project (Decree Article 7(1) [20]).…”

Section: Experimentation Decree For Decentralized Renewable Electricimentioning

confidence: 99%

Experimenting with Law and Governance for Decentralized Electricity Systems: Adjusting Regulation to Reality?

Lammers

Diestelmeier

2017

Sustainability

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Moving towards a low-carbon society calls not only for technological innovation, but also for new modes of governance. However, the current legal framework of the electricity sector, and the modes of governance that it establishes, impede innovation in the sector. To overcome this obstacle, in 2015 the Dutch government adopted a Crown decree for experiments with decentralized renewable electricity generation (Experimentation Decree) with the aim to generate insights on how to adjust the legal framework. The question remains whether regulation is being adopted to real-life settings, i.e., which lessons can be learned from experimentally acquired results regarding new modes of governance for decentralized electricity systems? To answer this question we apply an interdisciplinary approach: we investigate which modes of governance are established in the Experimentation Decree (legal research) and which ones are implemented in nine projects (governance research). Under the Decree, associations have to carry out all tasks in the electricity supply chain and can engage in collective generation, peer-to-peer supply and system operation. Other modes of governance, new actors for emerging activities and consumer involvement are limited. We conclude that the Experimentation Decree is too restricted regarding new modes of governance for a decentralized electricity system in real-life settings.

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The rising stars of social innovations: How do local governments facilitate citizen initiatives to thrive? The case of waste management in Brussels and Hong Kong

Chin

Mees

2021

Env Pol Gov

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Waste management is an important issue in cities. The achievement of a zero-waste future relies on the collective actions of individual households. Indeed, citizens are initiating social innovations in waste management in their communities. However, citizen initiatives (CIs) encounter strategic and operational barriers in the process of social innovation. They often seek support from local governments to overcome these barriers. These initiatives need a "facilitative" local government that is responsive and enables the initiatives to thrive without too much interference from them. Yet, there is a lack of conceptual and empirical understanding of such a new facilitative role of local governments. Furthermore, we do not know whether and how this facilitative role differs between different types of CIs and between different policy contexts. Based on 24 in-depth interviews with CIs and government officials, this study explores the various facilitative practices offered by the Brussels and Hong Kong local governments, explains patterns of facilitative practices between different types of CIs, and clarifies how divergence in policy contexts influences what, why, and how much the local government can facilitate CIs. This study finds that common facilitative practices include financial and administrative assistance, but certain barriers requiring actions from the government and other actors remain unresolved. Local governments need to review their facilitative role to provide more effective support to CIs as new agents of sustainable urban development at the community level.

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Local Governments Supporting Local Energy Initiatives: Lessons from the Best Practices of Saerbeck (Germany) and Lochem (The Netherlands)

Cited by 175 publications

References 62 publications

Presenting a Framework to Analyze Local Climate Policy and Action in Small and Medium-Sized Cities

Presenting a Framework to Analyze Local Climate Policy and Action in Small and Medium-Sized Cities

Experimenting with Law and Governance for Decentralized Electricity Systems: Adjusting Regulation to Reality?

The rising stars of social innovations: How do local governments facilitate citizen initiatives to thrive? The case of waste management in Brussels and Hong Kong

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