A governance approach to regional energy transition: Meaning, conceptualization and practice

Energy transition requires action from different levels of government. While the national and local level have received ample scholarly attention, thus far little attention has been paid to the regional level. This is remarkable because policy makers across Europe are wondering what governance of regional transition actually is and how to...

Beyond instrumentalism: Broadening the understanding of social innovation in socio-technical energy systems

Social innovation is an important dimension of current transformations in energy systems. It can refer to alternative business models, novel policy instruments, financing schemes, participatory governance approaches to energy questions, or new discourses. Its significance for energy systems is often considered in narrow instrumentalist terms,...

Innovation in the European energy sector and regulatory responses to it: Guest editorial note

The European energy sector is an important economic sector that is also traditionally highly regulated. With the increasing tempo in which innovations in technology and markets occur, catalysed inter alia by the energy transition and accompanied by new formats of innovation (disruptive and bottom-up), the question arises whether existing...

Presenting a framework to analyze local climate policy and action in small and medium-sized cities

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...