1. Greening the Realm – cities and regions as laboratories of innovation and sustainable development Kevin Morgan School of City and Regional Planning Cardiff University GIN2008 Conference, Leeuwarden, The Netherlands 26-28 June, 2008

2. Overview  Governance and the multi-level polity  Models of Innovation  Cities & regions as experimental spaces  Green procurement: the power of purchase  Good practice is a bad traveller

3. The multi-level polity  The EU is the world’s most complex multi-level polity - supra-national, national and sub-national realms  A big political disconnect here between: policy design (supra-national/national) and policy delivery (sub-national)  The sub-national realm has little status, but manages and implements some 80% of all EU programmes  Subsidiarity is important for more effective governance (not just for more accountable governance)

4. The multi-level polity  Barriers to subsidiarity operate at the top and the bottom of the multi-level polity: Control – the upper levels are reluctant to devolve power Competence – the lower levels lack knowledge and skills Conflict – upper and lower levels in conflict  These problems not confined to the EU: The US – the green battles between the Feds and the States (eg clean air standards in California) China - the centre cannot get local states to implement its environmental laws

5. Models of Innovation  The models of innovation that have dominated the literature in the past 20 years include: the linear model, interactive model and open model  We are now witnessing the advent of a radically different kind of innovation model – the Sustainable Innovation Paradigm  Unlike earlier models, the SIP involves a new mix of economy, civil society and the multi-level polity  Key sectors of a low carbon society - energy, transport, building materials, food, waste - require the active cooperation of consumers and citizens to effect behavioural change

6. Cities and regions as experimental spaces  Firms may drive innovation but they do so in the context of their milieux (territorial and relational)  Today’s experimental spaces include: Austin, Texas – new solar energy cluster New Haven, West Virginia – carbon capture and storage trial California – clean technology across the board Marburg, Germany – renewable energy London, England – congestion charge Belo Horizonte, Brazil – urban food security Henan Province, China – peasant-owned joint stock companies Dongtan, China – eco-city design Rome – sustainable school food system Helsinki – green procurement of buses

7. Green procurement: the power of purchase  The procurement paradox – enormous power that is largely untapped by national and sub-national public bodies  Public procurement spending in the EU: 1500 billion euro 16% of GDP 65% managed by sub-national public bodies  Barriers to green procurement include: Cost – perception of increased cost Knowledge – lack of know-how Risk aversion – cultivated by the legal profession Legal issues – ambiguity about EU regulations Leadership – conspicuous by its absence

8. Green procurement: the case of food  Public procurement of food - can deliver a triple dividend of health, environmental and economic gains  Uniform EU regulations, but big national differences Italy – local food procurement in all but name UK – believed local food procurement was impossible Explanation – culture and politics = different interpretations  Key issues for greening procurement: Whole life costing Creative procurement skills Political leadership City-region strategies for sustainable food chains

9. Good practice is a bad traveller  Innovations do not diffuse as quickly/easily between firms as conventional economic theory would suggest  Public sector innovations are even more sluggish to diffuse  New networks of innovation diffusion are urgently needed: Territorially – within & between cities and regions Professionally – within & between professional associations Corporately – within and between supply chains  Cities and regions have a major role to play in animating and diffusing the SIP to create a post-carbon society  But all levels of the multi-level polity need to be mobilised to make good practice the norm not the exception