PhD: Practicing urban climate governance
Jesse Benjamin Schrage defended his thesis PhD thesis on 20.2.2024 at the University of Bergen. The thesis' title is: "Practicing urban climate governance: Organisational work and energy demand reduction in Nordic cities"
Main content
How do urban planners promote ambitious climate actions on the ground?
This doctoral thesis aims to understand the organizational and bureaucratic work required to anchor climate actions locally. By focusing on ten Nordic cities, and with case studies in Bergen, Norway, the thesis analyzes the influence embedded in the work of municipal planners. It promotes an understanding of how planners navigate institutional constraints and current political agendas to organize and promote local climate efforts.
The thesis is article-based and consists of four articles discussing various aspects of climate work: the need to broaden the range of climate actions, the tensions planners face, and their ability to make climate actions more politically feasible.
It demonstrates the agency planners have in municipal climate governance and the complexity of organizational work in municipal agencies working on climate planning. Additionally, it shows that even though planners consciously seek to promote more ambitious local climate policies, this work is limited by existing organizational and political frameworks. Finally, it highlights the deeply political nature of climate work in municipal organizations and the importance of planners' ability to devise politically feasible solutions.
Supervisors are Knut Hidle (UiB) and Håvard Haarstad (UiB).
About the author:
Jesse Schrage is a social scientist focusing on issues of energy demand, environmental policy, and climate governance. He holds a master's degree in sustainable development from Uppsala University, Sweden. Before starting his doctoral studies, Schrage's research focused on developing Paris-compatible emission pathways for Swedish municipalities and regions. His work explores the political feasibility of climate governance as it unfolds locally.
