Trans-local Action

Trans-local Action and Local Innovations in Climate Change.

A Comparative Analysis of Major German Cities

This project aims at analyzing innovative solutions of municipalities dealing with climate change. How do learning processes evolve? Under which circumstances are innovative approaches to local climate policy developed? We are evaluating innovations in climate change policy as programmatic, institutional and policy modifications. It is presumed that specifically trans-local action strongly contributes to learning processes and innovations in climate change policy.

This project adds to preliminary work that was done in the context of the German Research Foundation (DFG) research group “Local Generation of Knowledge Relevant for Action – The Case of Local Strategies and Measures Dealing with Climate Change,” which executed comparative case studies of the cities of Frankfurt, Munich and Stuttgart (see subproject “Local Generation of Knowledge in the Context of the European Union”, subproject “Cities and climate change: city competition, municipal networks and policy learning”). This project expands the case studies of the re-search group. By increasing the number of cases the subsequent results concerning the circumstances of local innovations can be verified and generalized.

- Corcaci, Andreas and Kemmerzell, Jörg (2023): Trans‐local action and local climate policy. Configurations of success for climate innovations in the European multilevel system; Review of Policy Research: online first, https://doi.org/10.1111/ropr.12536.

- Benz, Arthur, “Governing under the Condition of Complexity”, in: Nathalie Behnke, Jörg Broschek, Jared Sonnicksen (Hrsg.), Multilevel Governance, Configurations, Dynamics, Consequences, New York: Palgrave Macmillan (2019).

- Kemmerzell, Jörg, “Bridging the Gap Between the Local and the Global Scale. Taming the Wicked Problem of Climate Change through Trans-local Governance?”, in: Nathalie Behnke, Jörg Broschek, Jared Sonnicksen (Hrsg.), Multilevel Governance, Configurations, Dynamics, Consequences, New York: Palgrave Macmillan 2019.

- Jörg Kemmerzell, Innovations in European Climate Governance and Their Impact on Local Climate Policy: An Analysis of German Major Cities. In: Hughes, Sara, Chu, Eric K., Mason, Susan G. (eds.): Climate Change in Cities. Innovations in Multi-Level Governance, Cham: Springer, 2018, S. 39-57.

- Kemmerzell, Jörg, “Überlokales Handeln in der lokalen Klimapolitik. Eine Brücke zwischen globalem Anspruch und lokaler Implementation“, in: Marlon Barbehön, Sybille Münch (Hrsg.), Variationen des Städtischen – Variationen lokaler Politik, Wiesbaden: Springer VS, 2016. S. 245-271.

- Kemmerzell, Jörg, Hofmeister, Anne, „Innovationen in der Klimaschutzpolitik deutscher Großstädte. Der Einfluss überlokalen Handelns im Vergleich“, Politische Vierteljahresschrift 60 (1) 2019.

Funding institution: German Research Foundation (DFG)

Funding period: 01.04.2015 – 30.06.2018

  Name Working area(s) Contact
Emeriti / Retired
Prof. Dr. Arthur Benz
Retired Professor
Comparative Politics and German Government
Academic staff
Dr. Jörg Kemmerzell
Research Associate
Comparative Politics and European Integration, Institut for Political Science
+49 6151 16-57422
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Past employees
Picture: Icons8
Andreas Corcaci
Research Associate
Comparative Politics and German Government