Christian Zuidema

Bridging gaps: governing conflicts between transport and environmental policies

Developing new road infrastructure can be problematic in the face of environmental quality ambitions. These conflicts can even undermine the development of such new infrastructure, as occurred, for example, in the Netherlands in the mid-2000s as a result of European Union air quality standards. To govern the conflict between transport policies and air quality regulations, a National Cooperation Programme on Air Quality (NSL) was developed in The Netherlands. This programme relies on a collaborative governance approach between various government agencies on national, regional, and local levels. As such, it involves a relative shift away from central government coordination towards a reliance on more decentralized governance networks. Within these networks, coordination is expected to result from bottom-up self-governance processes by interacting actors that emerge from either competition and market processes or active actor participation. Theory shows two important risks of such a shift: (i) actors might behave opportunistically, and (ii) in case of problems, assigning problem ownership and responsibility to specific actors may be difficult. This paper aims to gain insight into the NSLs response to these risks. We monitored the NSL from 2009 to 2012, mainly through a series of interviews and expert workshops. Our research shows that the NSL contains the kind of ‘checks and balances’ that allows it to respond to the first risk. However, we will show that these mechanisms are merely expressions of intent. Furthermore, the NSL proves to be prone to the second identified risk, in that it is unclear who is responsible for the follow-up on these intentions, while rewards or sanctions are nonexistent. As it is, the NSL teaches us that, in order for more collaborative and decentralized forms of governance to function, involved actors on both central and lower levels of government paradoxically require coordinative instruments to enable coordination, to hold each other accountable for their performance, and to establish rules and sanctions.

Towards Liveable Cities: Progress in the European Union Urban Environmental Agenda

The 2006 “Thematic Strategy on the Urban Environment” is the first piece of official European Union (EU) policy solely focused on the urban environment. It follows a process of several years in which the EU has tried to promote an integrated approach to urban management. During the 2005–2007 “Liveable Cities” project, reflection was given to the “Thematic Strategy”. This resulted in important critiques on the EUs approach to the urban environment. Explaining how the initial top-down approach chosen by the EU contributed to the perceived “failure” of the “Thematic Strategy”, suggestions are made for alternative approaches to the creation of liveable cities in Europe.

Making Sense of Decentralization: Coping with the Complexities of the Urban Environment

During most of the twentieth century, the exercise of governance was left largely to the discretion of formal governments, most notably the central state. Especially since the 1980s, however, we are seeing some important ‘shifts in governance’. Among the dominant modes of renewing governance is the process of decentralization, supported by idea that local authorities are in a better position to engage in bargaining or collaborative processes with local stakeholders and civil organizations. In addition, familiarity with local circumstances and interests gives local parties benefits in developing more integrated policies that are tailored to the local situation. Decentralization is, however, often pursued without a keen understanding of its possible or likely consequences, which is not without risks. These risks are especially prompt in the realm of environmental policies, as these relate to the protection of ecosystems, human health and future environmental qualities. In this chapter we will therefore reflect on the increasing role of the local level in environmental policy. We will do so based on both a theoretical exploration of theories on decentralization and empirical findings regarding the experiences in the Netherlands where decentralization in environmental policy is relatively well pronounced. We will explain that although decentralization has some important benefits to offer, also in the realm of environmental policies, central policies and regulations remain to play a key role in supporting, enabling and stimulating local good practices.

New interaction paths in the energy landscape: the role of local energy initiatives

Abstract Energy transition is an encompassing process which not only involves the energy system but also the landscape in which the energy system is embedded. Renewable energy is triggering new interactions with local landscapes in physical, socio-economic and institutional senses. We capture these interactions using the energy landscape concept, which expresses the interdependence of the energy system with the landscape. We aim to understand whether and how local energy initiatives facilitate this interdependency so as to see if local energy initiatives can be considered focal points in energy transition. We analyse how emerging local energy initiatives link different interests, land uses and activities within their energy practices and show how these facilitate interactions between various physical and social systems across multiple spatial scales. The paper concludes with several suggestions on how spatial planners and policy-makers can use the insights from the findings to support energy transition.

A methodological approach for holistic energy planning using the living lab concept: the case of the prefecture of Karditsa

The development of urban and rural landscapes has entered a pioneering era with novel combinations of energy production andconsumption and related changes in the urban and rural fabric including associated socioeconomic issues. Accompanying this change isa realization that newly developing energy initiatives are more viable for development and upscaling and are less vulnerable to failure andresistance from society if they are well integrated into their local and regional contexts. However, institutional questions remain regardingthe required mechanisms and levels of integration, while simultaneously sustainable energy planning requires that the stakeholders withdiverse and conflicting objectives come to some degree of consensus. Inspired by these findings, a methodological approach for holisticenergy planning on a regional/local level was developed within the framework of the INTENSSS-PA project that is funded by HORIZON2020. The approach provides a holistic energy plan, which goes beyond a blueprint for allocating renewable technologies and is basedon the involvement of the wider community. Hence, this approach includes aspects such as the development of spatial concepts, newco-creating strategies, business cases, societal alliances and institutional changes and formats. To implement this approach, the LivingLab (LL) concept is applied. The case of Karditsa, in Greece, will be presented as evidence of the effectiveness of the proposed planningapproach.