Challenges to local innovation and implementation of low-carbon energy-transition measures: A tale of two Austrian regions

Highlights: • We conduct a comparative, multi-level analysis of barriers for regional innovation. • Transformative capacities of local level are restricted by national institutions. • Policy integration needs to be improved to enable policy learning and adaptation. • Well-connected transition managers can foster innovation in regional sub-systems. This paper contributes to the current debate on implementation gaps in local low-carbon energy transitions. We observe the need for a comprehensive analytical framework to assess the challenges associated with local energy transitions: we thus propose integrating key aspects of Transition Management (TM) and the Multi-Level Perspective (MLP) into the Regional Innovations Systems (RIS) framework. The resulting blended framework enables policy learning through discourse and interaction between governance and implementation levels, a key prerequisite towards creating the necessary framework conditions for local innovation and transformation. The application of this novel blended framework to the case of two municipalities in Austria, one urban and one rural, shows local measures, building on local knowledge, having great potential to foster local low-carbon energy transitions: this is seen in strong social networks and in dedicated local transition change makers, creatively circumventing issues such as the lack of financial resources. Yet, existing regulatory and institutional conditions at the national and state levels often hinder the local implementation. We argue that the limited power of agency of regional policymaking are a major stumbling block to local energy transitions, thus increasing the need for vertical policy integration and learning.