The scale of transition: an integrated study of the performance of CHP biomass plants in the Netherlands

Combined heat and power (CHP) plants using biomass are considered important to substantially increase the share of renewables in the total energy supply and meet ambitious climate targets. The analysis focuses on the links between the size of bio-fuelled CHP plants and their techno-economic and environmental performance, as well as social acceptance. In an exploratory way, this paper compares the performance of six bioenergy plants in the Netherlands in these three key areas, thereby focusing on the link between the size of biomass plants and overall performance in an integrated multi-dimensional manner. The findings show that economic and environmental performance does not necessarily improve with scale and, in effect, several large-scale biomass plants score low in several environmental indicators. In addition, we find that there is often limited data availability on economic, environmental and social characteristics of biomass plants in the Netherlands, despite the fact that their operations are largely supported by public funds

Handvatten voor het concretiseren van de informatiebehoefte : rapport voor Meetstrategie 2000+

Wie de taak krijgt om de informatiebehoefte over een watersysteem te concretiseren moet er rekening mee houden dat beleidsmakers en waterbeheerders niet altijd precies kunnen zeggen wat ze willen weten. Hoewel er de afgelopen jaren diverse stappen zijn gezet om de informatievoorziening binnen Rijkswaterstaat (RWS) soepeler te laten verlopen, is dit een punt dat extra aandacht kan vergen. Daarom wordt in dit rapport een aantal praktische hulpmiddelen beschreven die meer inzicht in de informatiebehoefte kunnen geven. Het rapport is gebaseerd op (1) psychologische kennis over denk- en beslissingsprocessen, (2) politicologische kennis over de wisselwerking tussen personen die een verschillend belang hebben (of menen te hebben), en (3) ervaringen die in een aantal RWS-projecten zijn opgedaan. De beschreven hulpmiddelen sluiten aan bij de methodiek van Meetstrategie 2000+ die is gericht op de innovatie van de natte meetsector. Hierbij wordt niet alleen gekeken naar de nieuwe technieken om informatie in te winnen, maar ook naar manieren om te bepalen welke informatie nu feitelijk noodzakelijk is en hoe die zo efficiënt mogelijk kan worden ingewonnen. Dit heeft geleid tot een analyse van de beoogde schakels tussen informatievragers (beleidsmakers, beheerders en projectleiders) en informatieleveranciers (meetvoorbereiders en gegevensverwerkers van meetdiensten)

Transition without conflict? Renewable energy initiatives in the dutch energy transition

In the context of the slowly progressing energy transition, a number of renewable energy initiatives have been emerging in the Netherlands. These initiatives represent alternatives to the dominant functioning of the energy system, and as such, may come into conflict with it. Transitions involve system destabilisation and conflict between the incumbent regime and the initiatives originating in niches. In order to assess the transformative potential of such initiatives, this paper addresses the question: what kind of conflicts and tensions arise from renewable energy initiatives, and what strategies do they develop to overcome or avoid them? Combined with a business model perspective, transition thinking enabled a better understanding of how the initiatives organise themselves, and where the points of friction with their institutional context emerge. We suggest that the instances of conflict may function as an indication for the state of the energy transition and the transformative potential impact of such initiatives. The instances discussed in this contribution relate to existing support schemes, technology choices, and the overall organisational networks of the emerging sector

De praktijk van duurzame landbouw : een overzicht van initiatieven en een analyse van lessen uit de praktijk

Bij de aanvang van het project zijn twee relevante vragen geformuleerd die in deze studie zijn onderzocht: Hoe kan op dit moment de stand van zaken rond de transitie naar een duurzame landbouw worden gekarakteriseerd? Welke lessen kunnen worden geleerd van de wijze waarop de planvorming en uitvoering van systeeminnovatieve praktijkprojecten verlopen? De inventarisatie van projecten heeft een gevarieerd overzicht van in totaal 117 projecten opgeleverd. De projecten zijn gespreid over verschillende schaalniveaus, diverse thema’s en er zijn diverse actoren bij de projecten betrokke

Leading from the Niche: Insights from a strategic dialogue of renewable energy cooperatives in the Netherlands

Renewable energy cooperatives envision and manifest an alternative way of organising within the energy system (and beyond). Yet, despite their growth, it is uncertain whether such initiatives are able to increase and deepen their impact, leading the transition to an environmentally sustainable and socially just energy system. This paper presents insights from a strategic dialogue co-organised with the Dutch national interest group of renewable energy cooperatives "ODE Decentraal". We used transition management as action research methodology to organise the dialogue to understand and support the transformative potential of the cooperative energy movement. The dialogue helped to clarify the challenges and possibilities for scaling energy cooperatives beyond the niche, supporting at the same time the participants to reflect, strategize and develop a shared transition agenda. This contribution presents and analyses our intervention and its impact, also specifically evaluating the potential of transition management to facilitate social learning processes, reflexivity and the development of strategic actions. Our intervention confirmed the hypothesis that actors in the niche often focus too much on the competition with the regime for individual goals, thereby failing to collectively strategize and engage with incumbent regimes in a systematic way

Where There Is No History: How to Create Trust and Connection in Learning for Transformation in Water Governance

Trust is often seen as an important element in settings of knowledge sharing and the co-creation of knowledge for dealing with transformations in water governance. However, seemingly similar conversations during a co-creation workshop in Uppsala resulted in both trust and distrust, and thereby influenced consequent possibilities for the co-creation of knowledge. Therefore, this article focuses on how trust influences knowledge sharing and how knowledge sharing influences trust. We use a case study approach to analyze the Uppsala co-creation workshop — part of the Climate Change Adaptation and Water Governance (CADWAGO) project — by comparing 25 conversations, making use of theories on swift trust and trust dynamics. We found four different conversation patterns (1) sending; (2) defending; (3) misunderstanding; and (4) connecting. The first three patterns influenced trust negatively and did not lead to knowledge sharing, whereas pattern four showed trust development and co-creation of knowledge. From our comparative analyses, we conclude that trust starts to emerge when there is mutual openness and empathy visible in turn-taking patterns. More specifically, trust emerges when communication styles allow for recognition and exploring underlying needs and wishes, resulting in a more dynamic dialogue, further trust development, and connection between actors. Our list of conversation patterns is provisional but we argue that understanding how different kinds of interactions can lead to trust or distrust is crucial to understanding why and how learning takes place—insights that are essential for fostering learning and transformations in water governance

Conflicting perspectives on urban landscape quality in six urban regions in Europe and their implications for urban transitions

The European Landscape Convention urges countries to involve stakeholders including citizens in the governance of ordinary (urban) landscapes. This paper studies conflicting stakeholder perspectives on urban landscape quality in the context of urban sustainability transitions in six European urban regions in the Netherlands, Italy, France, Croatia, Belarus and the Russian Federation. Repertory grid technique helped to identify the dimensions through which persons evaluate urban landscape quality. Ninety-three (93) interviewees elicited 1400 bipolar constructs, such as "Edible green - Concrete" or "Community, group - Loneliness". They then selected two constructs they consider most relevant in the context of urban sustainability transitions, and ranked all pictures on a 10-points scale. The rankings were analyzed using Multiple Correspondence Analysis. We find that, in spite of the many social and cultural differences between the regions, stakeholders largely agree on the preferred direction of urban transitions; more green and blue spots where people can meet and undertake joint (leisure) activities. The main conflict is between, on the one hand, a preference for organized development and beautification and, on the other hand, naturalness (permeability of soil) and organic development. The paper considers several challenges for transition governance

Adaptation to extreme weather: identifying different societal perspectives in the Netherlands

The intensity and occurrence of extreme weather events are expected to change with climate change. This change necessitates adaptive responses to extreme events, which need to take into account different societal perspectives, in order to be robust. In this paper, we explore the perspectives of different social actors in the Netherlands with respect to extreme weather events and ways to adapt to these events. The paper reports on a set of 41 interviews, using the repertory grid technique. The results were analyzed, to identify (a) the perspectives that stakeholders hold as most important for adaptation to extreme weather events; (b) the determinants of differences in perspectives. We find six different perspectives, all of which prioritize different adaptive actions. Producing robust adaptive responses which include different perspectives is therefore not a straightforward matter and is likely to result in win–lose situations. Further, differences in perspectives were not closely related to different sectors the interviewees belonged to. Thus, the traditional approach of involving different sectors to discuss and produce adaptation measures may be too limiting and needs to be supplemented to involving actors with different perspectives. The level of concern and level of information influenced the ways interviewees perceive adaptation priorities for extreme weather events. Participation in information events does not always result in perceived need to prepare for extreme events, something that adaptation communication needs to take into account