Climate change is recognized today not just as a pressing and prominent issue on government agend... more Climate change is recognized today not just as a pressing and prominent issue on government agendas but also one that has been increasingly 'securitized' in a variety of national and global settings. We know little, however, if climate change adaptation, as a subset of climate action, has followed a similarly securitized path. This article addresses that question, exploring not only if climate change adaptation has been securitized but also what type of securitizationthreatoriented or risk-orientedhas emerged. Turning our empirical focus to three national settings of Norway, Sweden, and The Netherlands, we look for signs of securitization as well as whether securitization has been facilitated, shaped, or even blocked by existing governance features in each setting. We use this study to link the securitization literature with environmental governance approaches by building a novel analytical framework. Our findings show some intriguing and unexpected patterns, including evidence of risk-oriented securitization couched nevertheless as 'business as usual'. We contribute to the growing debate on securitization in environmental governance while also casting new light on national climate change adaptation processes.
According to many policy makers and scientists, citizen-led initiatives such as community renewab... more According to many policy makers and scientists, citizen-led initiatives such as community renewable energy initiatives, have the potential to contribute to the transformation towards a sustainable and carbon neutral society. Citizens can co-produce public services together, such as clean energy provision for themselves and their communities. Despite this proclaimed potential, actual citizen engagement in climate action is still low. Moreover, there is a limited holistic and systematic understanding of what drives citizens to jointly co-produce a climate service, as relevant insights are scattered over different bodies of literature. This article contributes to filling this knowledge gap by proposing a novel, comprehensive framework with which the individual conditions under which citizens are willing, able and feel responsible to coproduce a climate service can be systematically explored. This so-called motivationcapacity-ownership (MCO) framework integrates eight relevant conditions under three dimensions: Motivational, capacity-related, and ownership-related conditions. Based on a literature review, the eight conditions are elaborated upon for community renewable energy initiatives. It is argued that all eight conditions matter, but that their weight may vary depending on the different policy and institutional contexts, and that therefore different combinations of the eight conditions may determine whether a citizen participates in an initiative. Researchers are invited to test the validity of the framework for different types of community renewable energy initiatives in different institutional and geographical contexts, for which a research approach is proposed. In light of the rise of citizen initiatives for all kinds of sustainability issues, the framework could also be tested for enhancing its validity and refinement for citizen-led sustainability initiatives more broadly.
Arguments for so-called citizen responsibilisation, the transfer of responsibilities for public s... more Arguments for so-called citizen responsibilisation, the transfer of responsibilities for public services to citizens, are increasingly put forward in several Western-European countries. An important domain in which citizen responsibilisation is advocated is that of urban climate change adaptation. However, in practice, the advocated shift is
Science-policy interactions can both facilitate and hamper professional normative judgement, i.e.... more Science-policy interactions can both facilitate and hamper professional normative judgement, i.e. a value judgement about the desirability of a certain situation. Anthropogenic land subsidence, contributing to relative sea-level rise in the economically important Western peatland areas in the Netherlands is a case in point. The implementation of mitigation, adaptation and compensation measures is lagging, partly due to science-policy interaction problems potentially leading to conflicts between stakeholders, including agrarians, climate scientists and inhabitants. We find that professional normative judgement is enhanced when researchers and societal stakeholders reflect more critically on their role and engage in more inclusive science-policy interactions.
... Page 3. Climate Greening London, Rotterdam and Toronto Heleen Mees 3 Acknowledgements ... It ... more ... Page 3. Climate Greening London, Rotterdam and Toronto Heleen Mees 3 Acknowledgements ... It has been an exciting 10 months journey with field trips to three beautiful cities in the world, interesting interviews, lots of reading and finally lots of writing behind my laptop. ...
Dit onderzoek is uitgevoerd in opdracht van Hotspot Regio Rotterdam, en omvatte een internationaa... more Dit onderzoek is uitgevoerd in opdracht van Hotspot Regio Rotterdam, en omvatte een internationaal vergelijkende studie naar bestuurlijke arrangementen ter bevordering van groene daken als innovatieve maatregel voor waterberging in dichtstedelijk gebied. Er zijn in totaal 5 steden onderzocht: Basel, Chicago, London, Rotterdam en Stuttgart, die alle koplopers zijn op het gebied van groene daken, maar verschillende bestuurlijke arrangementen hebben om het groene daken beleid vorm te geven. Per stad is een analyse gemaakt van de belangrijkste relevante beleidsdocumenten. Daarnaast hebben semigestructureerde interviews plaatsgevonden met stakeholders van de publieke en private sector, in totaal 54 interviews. Het onderzoek is uitgevoerd gedurende maart tot en met september 2011.
Arguments for so‐called citizen responsibilisation, the transfer of responsibilities for public s... more Arguments for so‐called citizen responsibilisation, the transfer of responsibilities for public services to citizens, are increasingly put forward in several Western‐European countries. An important domain in which citizen responsibilisation is advocated is that of urban climate change adaptation. However, in practice, the advocated shift is taking place only to a limited extent. This study aims to help explain this by researching Dutch local governments' perceptions on citizens' capabilities as well as these governments' preferences regarding the tasks they want to delegate to citizens in the different stages of adaptation planning. Findings from three workshops with policy practitioners from local governments show that these practitioners have moderate trust in citizens' capabilities, but a low willingness to transfer responsibilities. Concerns of local governments include how to: (i) ensure an equal division of resources between different citizen groups/neighbourh...
According to many policy makers and scientists, citizen-led initiatives such as community renewab... more According to many policy makers and scientists, citizen-led initiatives such as community renewable energy initiatives, have the potential to contribute to the transformation towards a sustainable and carbon neutral society. Citizens can co-produce public services together, such as clean energy provision for themselves and their communities. Despite this proclaimed potential, actual citizen engagement in climate action is still low. Moreover, there is a limited holistic and systematic understanding of what drives citizens to jointly co-produce a climate service, as relevant insights are scattered over different bodies of literature. This article contributes to filling this knowledge gap by proposing a novel, comprehensive framework with which the individual conditions under which citizens are willing, able and feel responsible to coproduce a climate service can be systematically explored. This so-called motivationcapacity-ownership (MCO) framework integrates eight relevant conditions under three dimensions: Motivational, capacity-related, and ownership-related conditions. Based on a literature review, the eight conditions are elaborated upon for community renewable energy initiatives. It is argued that all eight conditions matter, but that their weight may vary depending on the different policy and institutional contexts, and that therefore different combinations of the eight conditions may determine whether a citizen participates in an initiative. Researchers are invited to test the validity of the framework for different types of community renewable energy initiatives in different institutional and geographical contexts, for which a research approach is proposed. In light of the rise of citizen initiatives for all kinds of sustainability issues, the framework could also be tested for enhancing its validity and refinement for citizen-led sustainability initiatives more broadly.
The importance of stakeholder engagement in asset management is widely accepted and emphasised. N... more The importance of stakeholder engagement in asset management is widely accepted and emphasised. Nonetheless, in asset management practice, stakeholder engagement is still often applied in an unsystematised and ad hoc manner. By proposing a framework of considerations for the deliberate design of stakeholder engagement, this study aims to contribute to the realisation of integrated asset management by offering a means to explicate the often implicit considerations regarding stakeholder engagement. By providing a conceptual exploration, as well as an analysis of three asset management cases in the Netherlands, this article provides building blocks for deliberate stakeholder engagement, guided by consideration of the mission, local context, and available time. Taking the daily reality of asset managers as a reference, this study develops a synthesis between literature on stakeholder engagement and asset management, hereby showing that both material and relational considerations should be made deliberately in all phases of an asset management project.
Samen met beleidsmakers, bewoners en onderzoekers is nagedacht over toekomstvisies en plannen voo... more Samen met beleidsmakers, bewoners en onderzoekers is nagedacht over toekomstvisies en plannen voor de Vogelbuurt in Dordrecht, in de context van een ‘veerkrachtige Vogelbuurt in een toekomstig klimaat’. Twee visies en tijdslijnen werden ontwikkeld: ‘Hechte eilandgemeenschap’ en ‘Innovatieve verbindingen’. Ook werd nagedacht over ‘kritieke momenten’, waarop de plannen de mist in zouden kunnen gaan of juist beter kunnen uitpakken, en over informatiebehoeften. Uit de discussie over ‘Hechte eilandgemeenschap’ in de toekomst komt idealiter een vorm van wijkenergie, wijkgroen en wijksamenwerking naar voren. Dordtenaren houden namelijk graag zaken zelf in de hand. Veel maatregelen vereisen op korte termijn inzet van de gemeente (o.a. samenstelling buurt behouden, vergroenen, opknapwerkzaamheden, voorlichting geven) die vervolgens kan afzwakken door gemeentelijke potjes te ontschotten, taken te decentraliseren en meer zelfstandigheid aan de buurt te geven. De kritieke momenten in de verhaallijnen kunnen voor bepaalde crises zorgen die bewerkstelligen dat de buurt hechter wordt. Uit de discussie over ‘Innovatieve verbindingen’ komt naar voren dat er op veel terreinen integrale plannen voor de stad en de wijk gemaakt kunnen worden, maar dat die sterk afhangen van ontwikkelingen in EU en Nederlandse wetgeving. Voorbereid zijn op verrassingen en kapitaliseren op ‘kleine rampen’ (verstoringen, incidenten, etc.) is belangrijk omdat dit de soms stroperige ontwikkelingen in een versnelling kan brengen. Verder is het bevorderen van samenwerking in de wijk en tussen wijk en Gemeente belangrijk. Data en (slimme) technologie kunnen gebruikt worden om meer inzicht te geven in wat er speelt in de wijk, koppelingen tussen problemen/oplossingen te laten zien en sneller te reageren. Dit is wel afhankelijk van het debat over technologie en privacy. De workshop leverde tal van ideeen op en de uitwisseling tussen beleid, wijk en wetenschap werd gewaardeerd. Het werken met soms abstracte zaken als visies, scenario’s, kritieke momenten en innovatieve verbindingen in de groepen ging prima. Wel vonden deelnemers het nuttig om een dergelijke sessie in ‘flitsvorm’ (bijv. 1 uur) te herhalen met een grotere groep bewoners.
Facing the challenges of climate change, this project aims to analyse and to evaluate the multipl... more Facing the challenges of climate change, this project aims to analyse and to evaluate the multiple use of flood alleviation schemes with respect to social transformation in communities exposed to flood hazards in Europe. The overall goals are: (1) the identification of indicators and parameters necessary for strategies to increase societal resilience, (2) an analysis of the institutional settings needed for societal transformation, and (3) perspectives of changing divisions of responsibilities between public and private actors necessary to arrive at more resilient societies. This proposal assesses societal transformations from the perspective of changing divisions of responsibilities between public and private actors necessary to arrive at more resilient societies. Yet each risk mitigation measure is built on a narrative of exchanges and relations between people and therefore may condition the outputs. As such, governance is done by people interacting and defining risk mitigation me...
The importance of stakeholder engagement in asset management is widely accepted and emphasised. N... more The importance of stakeholder engagement in asset management is widely accepted and emphasised. Nonetheless, in asset management practice, stakeholder engagement is still often applied in an unsystematised and ad hoc manner. By proposing a framework of considerations for the deliberate design of stakeholder engagement, this study aims to contribute to the realisation of integrated asset management by offering a means to explicate the often implicit considerations regarding stakeholder engagement. By providing a conceptual exploration, as well as an analysis of three asset management cases in the Netherlands, this article provides building blocks for deliberate stakeholder engagement, guided by consideration of the mission, local context, and available time. Taking the daily reality of asset managers as a reference, this study develops a synthesis between literature on stakeholder engagement and asset management, hereby showing that both material and relational considerations should be made deliberately in all phases of an asset management project.
Over the last 2 decades, it has become increasingly evident that incremental adaptation to global... more Over the last 2 decades, it has become increasingly evident that incremental adaptation to global environmental challenges—particularly climate change—no longer suffices. To make matters worse, systemic problems such as social inequity and unsustainable use of resources prove to be persistent. These challenges call for, such is the rationale, significant and radical systemic changes that challenge incumbent structures. Remarkably, scholarship on sustainability transformations has only engaged with the role of power dynamics and shifts in a limited fashion. This paper responds to a need for methods that support the creation of imaginative transformation pathways while attending to the roles that power shifts play in transformations. To do this, we extended the “Seeds of Good Anthropocenes” approach, incorporating questions derived from scholarship on power into the methodology. Our ‘Disruptive Seeds’ approach focuses on niche practices that actively challenge unsustainable incumbent ...
Climate change is recognized today not just as a pressing and prominent issue on government agend... more Climate change is recognized today not just as a pressing and prominent issue on government agendas but also one that has been increasingly 'securitized' in a variety of national and global settings. We know little, however, if climate change adaptation, as a subset of climate action, has followed a similarly securitized path. This article addresses that question, exploring not only if climate change adaptation has been securitized but also what type of securitizationthreatoriented or risk-orientedhas emerged. Turning our empirical focus to three national settings of Norway, Sweden, and The Netherlands, we look for signs of securitization as well as whether securitization has been facilitated, shaped, or even blocked by existing governance features in each setting. We use this study to link the securitization literature with environmental governance approaches by building a novel analytical framework. Our findings show some intriguing and unexpected patterns, including evidence of risk-oriented securitization couched nevertheless as 'business as usual'. We contribute to the growing debate on securitization in environmental governance while also casting new light on national climate change adaptation processes.
According to many policy makers and scientists, citizen-led initiatives such as community renewab... more According to many policy makers and scientists, citizen-led initiatives such as community renewable energy initiatives, have the potential to contribute to the transformation towards a sustainable and carbon neutral society. Citizens can co-produce public services together, such as clean energy provision for themselves and their communities. Despite this proclaimed potential, actual citizen engagement in climate action is still low. Moreover, there is a limited holistic and systematic understanding of what drives citizens to jointly co-produce a climate service, as relevant insights are scattered over different bodies of literature. This article contributes to filling this knowledge gap by proposing a novel, comprehensive framework with which the individual conditions under which citizens are willing, able and feel responsible to coproduce a climate service can be systematically explored. This so-called motivationcapacity-ownership (MCO) framework integrates eight relevant conditions under three dimensions: Motivational, capacity-related, and ownership-related conditions. Based on a literature review, the eight conditions are elaborated upon for community renewable energy initiatives. It is argued that all eight conditions matter, but that their weight may vary depending on the different policy and institutional contexts, and that therefore different combinations of the eight conditions may determine whether a citizen participates in an initiative. Researchers are invited to test the validity of the framework for different types of community renewable energy initiatives in different institutional and geographical contexts, for which a research approach is proposed. In light of the rise of citizen initiatives for all kinds of sustainability issues, the framework could also be tested for enhancing its validity and refinement for citizen-led sustainability initiatives more broadly.
Arguments for so-called citizen responsibilisation, the transfer of responsibilities for public s... more Arguments for so-called citizen responsibilisation, the transfer of responsibilities for public services to citizens, are increasingly put forward in several Western-European countries. An important domain in which citizen responsibilisation is advocated is that of urban climate change adaptation. However, in practice, the advocated shift is
Science-policy interactions can both facilitate and hamper professional normative judgement, i.e.... more Science-policy interactions can both facilitate and hamper professional normative judgement, i.e. a value judgement about the desirability of a certain situation. Anthropogenic land subsidence, contributing to relative sea-level rise in the economically important Western peatland areas in the Netherlands is a case in point. The implementation of mitigation, adaptation and compensation measures is lagging, partly due to science-policy interaction problems potentially leading to conflicts between stakeholders, including agrarians, climate scientists and inhabitants. We find that professional normative judgement is enhanced when researchers and societal stakeholders reflect more critically on their role and engage in more inclusive science-policy interactions.
... Page 3. Climate Greening London, Rotterdam and Toronto Heleen Mees 3 Acknowledgements ... It ... more ... Page 3. Climate Greening London, Rotterdam and Toronto Heleen Mees 3 Acknowledgements ... It has been an exciting 10 months journey with field trips to three beautiful cities in the world, interesting interviews, lots of reading and finally lots of writing behind my laptop. ...
Dit onderzoek is uitgevoerd in opdracht van Hotspot Regio Rotterdam, en omvatte een internationaa... more Dit onderzoek is uitgevoerd in opdracht van Hotspot Regio Rotterdam, en omvatte een internationaal vergelijkende studie naar bestuurlijke arrangementen ter bevordering van groene daken als innovatieve maatregel voor waterberging in dichtstedelijk gebied. Er zijn in totaal 5 steden onderzocht: Basel, Chicago, London, Rotterdam en Stuttgart, die alle koplopers zijn op het gebied van groene daken, maar verschillende bestuurlijke arrangementen hebben om het groene daken beleid vorm te geven. Per stad is een analyse gemaakt van de belangrijkste relevante beleidsdocumenten. Daarnaast hebben semigestructureerde interviews plaatsgevonden met stakeholders van de publieke en private sector, in totaal 54 interviews. Het onderzoek is uitgevoerd gedurende maart tot en met september 2011.
Arguments for so‐called citizen responsibilisation, the transfer of responsibilities for public s... more Arguments for so‐called citizen responsibilisation, the transfer of responsibilities for public services to citizens, are increasingly put forward in several Western‐European countries. An important domain in which citizen responsibilisation is advocated is that of urban climate change adaptation. However, in practice, the advocated shift is taking place only to a limited extent. This study aims to help explain this by researching Dutch local governments' perceptions on citizens' capabilities as well as these governments' preferences regarding the tasks they want to delegate to citizens in the different stages of adaptation planning. Findings from three workshops with policy practitioners from local governments show that these practitioners have moderate trust in citizens' capabilities, but a low willingness to transfer responsibilities. Concerns of local governments include how to: (i) ensure an equal division of resources between different citizen groups/neighbourh...
According to many policy makers and scientists, citizen-led initiatives such as community renewab... more According to many policy makers and scientists, citizen-led initiatives such as community renewable energy initiatives, have the potential to contribute to the transformation towards a sustainable and carbon neutral society. Citizens can co-produce public services together, such as clean energy provision for themselves and their communities. Despite this proclaimed potential, actual citizen engagement in climate action is still low. Moreover, there is a limited holistic and systematic understanding of what drives citizens to jointly co-produce a climate service, as relevant insights are scattered over different bodies of literature. This article contributes to filling this knowledge gap by proposing a novel, comprehensive framework with which the individual conditions under which citizens are willing, able and feel responsible to coproduce a climate service can be systematically explored. This so-called motivationcapacity-ownership (MCO) framework integrates eight relevant conditions under three dimensions: Motivational, capacity-related, and ownership-related conditions. Based on a literature review, the eight conditions are elaborated upon for community renewable energy initiatives. It is argued that all eight conditions matter, but that their weight may vary depending on the different policy and institutional contexts, and that therefore different combinations of the eight conditions may determine whether a citizen participates in an initiative. Researchers are invited to test the validity of the framework for different types of community renewable energy initiatives in different institutional and geographical contexts, for which a research approach is proposed. In light of the rise of citizen initiatives for all kinds of sustainability issues, the framework could also be tested for enhancing its validity and refinement for citizen-led sustainability initiatives more broadly.
The importance of stakeholder engagement in asset management is widely accepted and emphasised. N... more The importance of stakeholder engagement in asset management is widely accepted and emphasised. Nonetheless, in asset management practice, stakeholder engagement is still often applied in an unsystematised and ad hoc manner. By proposing a framework of considerations for the deliberate design of stakeholder engagement, this study aims to contribute to the realisation of integrated asset management by offering a means to explicate the often implicit considerations regarding stakeholder engagement. By providing a conceptual exploration, as well as an analysis of three asset management cases in the Netherlands, this article provides building blocks for deliberate stakeholder engagement, guided by consideration of the mission, local context, and available time. Taking the daily reality of asset managers as a reference, this study develops a synthesis between literature on stakeholder engagement and asset management, hereby showing that both material and relational considerations should be made deliberately in all phases of an asset management project.
Samen met beleidsmakers, bewoners en onderzoekers is nagedacht over toekomstvisies en plannen voo... more Samen met beleidsmakers, bewoners en onderzoekers is nagedacht over toekomstvisies en plannen voor de Vogelbuurt in Dordrecht, in de context van een ‘veerkrachtige Vogelbuurt in een toekomstig klimaat’. Twee visies en tijdslijnen werden ontwikkeld: ‘Hechte eilandgemeenschap’ en ‘Innovatieve verbindingen’. Ook werd nagedacht over ‘kritieke momenten’, waarop de plannen de mist in zouden kunnen gaan of juist beter kunnen uitpakken, en over informatiebehoeften. Uit de discussie over ‘Hechte eilandgemeenschap’ in de toekomst komt idealiter een vorm van wijkenergie, wijkgroen en wijksamenwerking naar voren. Dordtenaren houden namelijk graag zaken zelf in de hand. Veel maatregelen vereisen op korte termijn inzet van de gemeente (o.a. samenstelling buurt behouden, vergroenen, opknapwerkzaamheden, voorlichting geven) die vervolgens kan afzwakken door gemeentelijke potjes te ontschotten, taken te decentraliseren en meer zelfstandigheid aan de buurt te geven. De kritieke momenten in de verhaallijnen kunnen voor bepaalde crises zorgen die bewerkstelligen dat de buurt hechter wordt. Uit de discussie over ‘Innovatieve verbindingen’ komt naar voren dat er op veel terreinen integrale plannen voor de stad en de wijk gemaakt kunnen worden, maar dat die sterk afhangen van ontwikkelingen in EU en Nederlandse wetgeving. Voorbereid zijn op verrassingen en kapitaliseren op ‘kleine rampen’ (verstoringen, incidenten, etc.) is belangrijk omdat dit de soms stroperige ontwikkelingen in een versnelling kan brengen. Verder is het bevorderen van samenwerking in de wijk en tussen wijk en Gemeente belangrijk. Data en (slimme) technologie kunnen gebruikt worden om meer inzicht te geven in wat er speelt in de wijk, koppelingen tussen problemen/oplossingen te laten zien en sneller te reageren. Dit is wel afhankelijk van het debat over technologie en privacy. De workshop leverde tal van ideeen op en de uitwisseling tussen beleid, wijk en wetenschap werd gewaardeerd. Het werken met soms abstracte zaken als visies, scenario’s, kritieke momenten en innovatieve verbindingen in de groepen ging prima. Wel vonden deelnemers het nuttig om een dergelijke sessie in ‘flitsvorm’ (bijv. 1 uur) te herhalen met een grotere groep bewoners.
Facing the challenges of climate change, this project aims to analyse and to evaluate the multipl... more Facing the challenges of climate change, this project aims to analyse and to evaluate the multiple use of flood alleviation schemes with respect to social transformation in communities exposed to flood hazards in Europe. The overall goals are: (1) the identification of indicators and parameters necessary for strategies to increase societal resilience, (2) an analysis of the institutional settings needed for societal transformation, and (3) perspectives of changing divisions of responsibilities between public and private actors necessary to arrive at more resilient societies. This proposal assesses societal transformations from the perspective of changing divisions of responsibilities between public and private actors necessary to arrive at more resilient societies. Yet each risk mitigation measure is built on a narrative of exchanges and relations between people and therefore may condition the outputs. As such, governance is done by people interacting and defining risk mitigation me...
The importance of stakeholder engagement in asset management is widely accepted and emphasised. N... more The importance of stakeholder engagement in asset management is widely accepted and emphasised. Nonetheless, in asset management practice, stakeholder engagement is still often applied in an unsystematised and ad hoc manner. By proposing a framework of considerations for the deliberate design of stakeholder engagement, this study aims to contribute to the realisation of integrated asset management by offering a means to explicate the often implicit considerations regarding stakeholder engagement. By providing a conceptual exploration, as well as an analysis of three asset management cases in the Netherlands, this article provides building blocks for deliberate stakeholder engagement, guided by consideration of the mission, local context, and available time. Taking the daily reality of asset managers as a reference, this study develops a synthesis between literature on stakeholder engagement and asset management, hereby showing that both material and relational considerations should be made deliberately in all phases of an asset management project.
Over the last 2 decades, it has become increasingly evident that incremental adaptation to global... more Over the last 2 decades, it has become increasingly evident that incremental adaptation to global environmental challenges—particularly climate change—no longer suffices. To make matters worse, systemic problems such as social inequity and unsustainable use of resources prove to be persistent. These challenges call for, such is the rationale, significant and radical systemic changes that challenge incumbent structures. Remarkably, scholarship on sustainability transformations has only engaged with the role of power dynamics and shifts in a limited fashion. This paper responds to a need for methods that support the creation of imaginative transformation pathways while attending to the roles that power shifts play in transformations. To do this, we extended the “Seeds of Good Anthropocenes” approach, incorporating questions derived from scholarship on power into the methodology. Our ‘Disruptive Seeds’ approach focuses on niche practices that actively challenge unsustainable incumbent ...
Uploads
Papers by Heleen Mees