A wild problem:
Green transition
The climate crisis is one of today's biggest challenges. It has a global impact and makes the future of the world uncertain. The climate crisis is characterized by enormous complexity and disagreement about where to start first. Perhaps this is because the climate crisis affects people in different ways depending on where they are in the world. For some communities the threat is rising sea levels, for others it could be drought, extreme weather, rising temperatures or forest fires. The list of challenges is endless.
It is precisely the large differences at local level that can be used in the fight to solve climate challenges. In 2022, a group of researchers started the GOGREEN research project. The project aims to identify successful attempts to co-create the green transition and to create a database that can be used worldwide to improve the green transition.
GOGREEN has found that by working with co-creation in local communities across public administration, citizens and businesses, it is possible to develop climate solutions that can last and have a strong local anchoring. Two good examples of successful co-creation can be found in Denmark in the Avedøre Energy Community, and in Indonesia in Teluk Pang Pang, where they have uniquely succeeded in preserving a particularly effective CO2-storing forest species.
A Gordian knot:
Complex, cross-sector challenges
The complexity of today's climate crisis is undeniable. The enormous local differences around the world suggest using the power and knowledge of local communities in the fight against climate change.
Networking and partnerships bring together a range of actors - both public and private - who, when working together, can solve problems that none of them could solve on their own. This is what the climate crisis needs. If you can ensure local anchoring and momentum behind climate action, you will go a long way towards maintaining the green transition and helping the planet move in the right direction.
Through co-creation and governance, you can use the knowledge and experience that local citizens, businesses, interest organizations and public administrations already possess. By bringing them together, systematically guiding them and supporting their work with institutional frameworks, a unique and creative collaboration can be facilitated.
Tools:
Co-creation
Co-creation is a process in which two or more public and private actors work together as equals to define common problems and formulate and implement new and innovative solutions. It is collaborative governance, where the goal is to bring together a lot of forces and knowledge to solve large and complex challenges. It works because, among other things, the different players have different perspectives, which pushes everyone's habitual thinking and existing practices.
GoGreen has developed seven governance factors that are important in co-creation. The drivers do not necessarily mean success, but if the drivers are present, it creates good conditions for creating solutions for the green transition.
The seven governance factors are about:
There must be national and international legislation, programs and formal goals that legitimize co-creation
Public governance paradigms need to be relatively open to the outside world so that frontline employees are encouraged to engage with the local community
Climate change must be perceived as important, threatening and alarming by the public and politicians
There must be a good institutional framework that facilitates cross-sector collaboration
Inclusion and empowerment of relevant and affected stakeholders so that all relevant participants have the opportunity to contribute with their perspectives
The interdependencies between the stakeholders in relation to the common problem and vision must be clear, so that the co-creation process can be better sustained when headwinds arise
There needs to be facilitative leadership to help keep the framework in place and ensure that stakeholders' skills and resources are used to achieve the desired results
In Denmark, all seven governance factors were present during the creation of Energy Community Avedøre, and in Teluk Pang Pang Pang, all factors, except 7) on facilitative leadership, were found to be active. In Teluk Pang Pang, the lack of leadership resulted in a slower process with more ad hoc work and longer breaks between efforts. However, in the long run, good results were still achieved without the facilitative leadership.
The policy contractors
Co-creation goes across citizens, interest organizations, public administration and companies, etc. GOGREEN puts the spotlight on the fact that interdisciplinary collaboration is at the heart of the green transition.
In Denmark, local citizens in Avedøre Village, Hvidovre Gymnasium og HF, Filmbyen, Avedøre District Heating and Hvidovre Municipality collaborated to start Energifællesskab Avedøre, with leadership facilitated by the company EBO Consult. Energifællesskab Avedøre provides renewable energy to the local community and works for energy savings. It is a combination of local energy system and private self-generation that acts as a supplement to the established system.
In Teluk Pang Pang, NGOs, the Fisheries Department and the people of local villages worked together to preserve the so-called mangrove forests. A forest that is threatened, but which is extremely good at storing CO2. Through various initiatives, interest groups have worked to show local people a sustainable way to use the environment around the forest, and both higher and local authorities have worked to pave the way for the institutional framework that strengthened the work and raised funds. None of the actors could have done it alone, but today, Indonesia is the only country that has succeeded in getting more mangrove forest - instead of less.
You can read more about the GOGREEN research project here.