In order to implement the goals of the Paris Agreement, Dutch administrations presented a novel governance instrument: the Regional Energy Strategy (RES). The RES is based upon regional renewable energy (RE) goals and is geared towards spatially allocating the future energy mix for each region. The RES provides a procedural basis for the spatial implementation of RE, but lacks the essential societal and participatory features. We know from previous case-study research on implementation of RE projects that participation -in its broadest sense- is crucial in successful and efficient implementation. However, studies of local RE projects are predominantly case-study based and lack monitoring and evaluation programmes.
Following a novel approach using experimentalist governance, we provide these local social innovation cases with 1) a framework that enables systematic evaluation of participation models, 2) enables cross-sectoral learning through a regional governance platform. Next to this, we use the outcomes for 3) a participatory modelling in which what-if scenarios are built to understand the role of participation on the regional energy transition, and 4) disseminate these lessons for the role of governments in the governance of the energy transitions in the form of a simulation model, which will be used in other RES-regions as well. The scientific results include novel insights into the performance of participation and governance models, the potential role of participatory modelling in regional energy transitions and in real-life experiments.
