Municipalities carry responsibility for implementing the heating transition, but progress differs even under the same national rules and funding structures. The study examines why collaboration between Buurkracht and four municipalities Boxtel en Sint-Michielsgestel, Leeuwarden, Rotterdam and Zaanstad develops in different ways and how these differences affect neighborhood level work. These municipalities are all part of the BZK12 project with Buurkracht. Buurkracht is an intermediary NGO, who works on facilitating a social heating transition. The focus of this study is the collaboration between these four municipalities and Buurkracht.
The complication is that formal agreements describe roles and tasks, yet daily cooperation depends on informal routines, the municipal context and the ability of organizations to adjust to each other. These dynamics are not visible in policy documents and explain much of the variation seen in practice.
The study uses a qualitative comparative case design. Document analysis and paired interviews provide data on rules in use, working patterns and contextual factors. The interviews formed the bases, interviewing both Buurkracht and the municipality per case. Subsequently followed by a document analysis to check interview findings.
Using these methods, the analysis identifies two important concepts. First, absorptive collaboration capacity, meaning how well municipalities and Buurkracht can take in each other’s working styles and translate them into their routines. Second, institutional fit, meaning how well informal expectations and everyday practices align across organizations. When both are strong, collaboration is stable and contextual factors can be worked on together. When either is weak, coordination problems accumulate and implementation slows.
The study concludes that the heating transition depends less on formal design and more on how quickly partners align informal institutions and adapt their routines to local conditions. This points to a need for support that focuses on collaboration capacity and early alignment rather than only technical or procedural guidance.