Beyond “The business case”: The emerging role of entrepreneurs in the multilevel governance of urban decarbonization in Canada

Abstract

In 2015, at the 21st Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), global leaders agreed that urgent, collaborative action on climate change is not only an environmental and social imperative but also represents a significant economic opportunity. The transition to a decarbonized global economy presents a challenge of unprecedented scale, yet a growing body of research identifies local level energy transition processes as an effective locus for action and change. There is an identified lack of systematic learning about transitions at the municipal level and this presents an ideal opportunity to address it through collaborative cross-sectoral research. This paper analyzes the case of Waterloo, Canada, through the lens of socio-technical transitions to assess potentially innovative pathways to a more sustainable (low carbon) future. In particular, we examine a new participatory process called Decarbonize Waterloo Region, a forum within which local stakeholders, scholars, and practitioners can envision low carbon futures and negotiate paths toward them. Participation in the forum as embedded scholars and the administration of post-forum surveys delivered insights into the effectiveness of this process, the partnerships, and policies at various levels of government that might be required to accelerate this sustainability transition, and the roles that entrepreneurs can play in driving innovation. Waterloo Region presents an interesting case as a municipality with a history as a hub of technological innovation, in which local entrepreneurs have played a significant part. The analysis of the Decarbonize Waterloo Region process will investigate how entrepreneurs can now be engaged to articulate and implement a vision to create a local hub of transition innovation. New actors and participatory processes are of particular interest. Our investigation probes the role of entrepreneurs in experimentation, a crucial part of sustainability transition processes. Innovative low-carbon energy solutions require testing before they can be scaled up, and local entrepreneurs have the potential to play a key role in the development, roll out and evaluation of those early experiments. Ultimately, we find that a clear picture of local energy systems and distinct set of challenges (as daunting and complex as they are) provided local stakeholders with places to start and arenas for ongoing innovation. The forum process also strengthened bonds among an expanding network of stakeholders who can now move forward with a collective desire to take on those challenges and transform their local energy picture.