Provincial governments as policy entrepreneurs: an analysis of policy entrepreneurship strategies and challenges for policy implementation

Abstract

In order to achieve climate mitigation goals, governments formulate strategic policies to facilitate the energy transition. In the Dutch planning context, local governments ultimately have planning authority as they set the legally binding land-use plan. Therefore, it is a challenge for strategic energy transition policies to result in local change. Using a windows approach for local institutional change, this thesis investigates the role of regional governments as policy entrepreneurs in their endeavours to get strategic policies implemented. Their strategies and the challenges in translating those strategies to the local level are analysed. The clean energy hubs program is used as a case study: a strategic policy led by the province of Gelderland to roll-out a network of alternative fuels infrastructure. The findings describe the unique role of Gelderland as a regional government actor and simultaneously as a policy entrepreneur. By using a combination of formal and informal strategies, they try to open windows of opportunity on the local level. However, this is limited by contextual constraints like a shortage in building land and conflicting land uses.