This research examines to what extent policy arrangements of the local energy transition in two urban vulnerable neighbourhoods in the Netherlands are just. Even though national climate ambitions have been established, implementation of measures largely depends on municipalities and local actors. Using the Policy Arrangement Approach, this study analyses discourses, actors, rules of the game, and resources in two case studies: Venserpolder (Amsterdam) and BospolderTussendijken (Rotterdam). The policy arrangements in both neighbourhoods were analysed through the lens of distributional, procedural, and recognition justice to assess the justness of the local energy transitions. The findings show that both municipalities follow a top-down approach but differ in their governance practices. In Venserpolder, limited resident engagement, dependence on large-scale institutional actors, and communication that is mainly focussed on homeowners’ associations (VvEs) constrain just and successful outcomes of the local energy transition. In Bospolder-Tussendijken, the energy transition is integrated with a broader resilience agenda and is grounded in an Asset-Based Community Development discourse which fosters stronger procedural and recognition justice. Nevertheless, challenges remain for the inclusion of vulnerable groups. Overall, this study highlights the need for more inclusive governance practices and the combination of strong institutional coordination with community participation, just resource distribution, and recognition of diverse social contexts in order for national climate ambitions to be achieved in a just way.

A transition is needed within the current agricultural sector. The intensive food production emits a significant amount of greenhouse gases, but also generates a nitrogen surplus. Consequently, biodiversity and soil quality have been decreasing dramatically in recent decades. One way of achieving a more sustainable food system is through regenerative agriculture, which is a nature-based practice where ecosystem services and soil health are central. This research aims to understand how the decentralisation of farming practices can aid a transition to regenerative agriculture in a socially just way. Through research by design, the concepts of decentralisation, regenerative agriculture and social justice were studied separately and layered on the project areas of different scales: Northwest Europe, South-Holland (NL) and Biesbosch National Park. The objective of this research is to develop a vision and strategy for these areas to achieve a socially just transition to regenerative agricultural practices. Based on literature, we propose a set of regenerative agriculture land-use typologies for Northwest Europe (i.e. nature buffer, food-forest, polyculture crop, polyculture crop-livestock mix, urban food parks). Next, we show how we can transition to these new land-uses, employing methods of spatial and systemic (administrative, fiscal, economic) decentralisation. Each transition is qualitatively assessed by its implications for social justice in local communities and its potential to improve soil quality of the region. On a local scale, for the Biesbosch area in the province of South-Holland, a strategy is proposed that is based on our vision for Northwest Europe. Through local strategic interventions and the empowerment of existing initiatives and cooperatives, we show that the proposed land-use patterns and decentralised food chain can mitigate biodiversity loss and foster local agri-food networks that provide food security in a sustainable way.