K.J. Nieukoop (Karel) MSc

Karel Nieukoop is a PhD candidate and lecturer at the Department of Public Administration at Radboud University. His area of interest is local governance, with a specific focus on the energy transition at the local and regional level.

His PhD research focusses on the development of local and regional district heat companies in The Netherlands. In The Netherlands, sustainable district heat networks are seen as an integral part of the transition away from the currently omnipresent gas-powered individual heating systems. Karel studies the ways in which these networks are being developed in collaboration between governments, (semi-)private parties, and civil society. In this context he is interested in questions regarding the roles that these actors can take in district heat companies, the resulting organizational forms and ways of engaging citizens/end-users.

His work closely aligns with the development of the Dutch Collective Heating Law (Wet collectieve warmte – Wcw). This new legislation influences the positions that actors can take and are willing to take in the development of heat networks. Karel investigates how actors shape this new framework and how this influences the development of sustainable district heat networks.