THE CARBON 20 FACILITATED EXCHANGE OF EXPERIENCE ON GREEN GROWTH EXPERIENCE ON GREEN GROWTH

During the Carbon 20 project, it was decided to organise a facilitated exchange of experiences on how municipalities can act as public driver for Green Growth.

The decision to emphasise this as an element of the Carbon 20 project derived from a growing interest in the steering committee lead by the vice-director of Albertslund municipality, Carsten Blume, in finding synergies by using the increased focus and formal responsibilities on supporting a local business sector to also implementing other municipalities agendas – including climate change mitigation.

The recent years debate on public policies for growth and development have re-emphasised the active role of public authorities. The combined crises of respectively climate, economy, shortage of food-supply and scarcity of resources (Nielsen, 2012) has called for the public to take a lead in terms of directing innovation and industrial development towards addressing such grand challenges (e.g. EU 2020 strategy). Popular speaking, the Danish think-tank (Mandag Morgen) has framed this as “picking the problems” in contrast to the traditional conflicting business support approaches of either “picking the winners” versus “levelling the playing field” (Farla, 2012; Møller & Strand, 2011).

Equally concept such as Shared Value and Public Private Partnership represent a change in discourse away from the traditional distinction of either private or public to an increased focus on joint responsibilities and collaborations on shared goals

and new innovative ways to do things (Hodge and Greve, 2009; Porter and Kramer, 2011; Sørensen and Torfin, 2011; Weihe, 2007).

Globally, several international institutions such as OECD and UNEP argue that the climate change agenda calls for a transition towards a green and sustainable growth paradigm – a “Global New Green Deal” – where investments to address environmental challenges can reboot the economy (OECD, 2009; 2011; UNEP, 2009; 2011).

EU similarly argues in its growth and job strategy: “EUROPE 2020 - A strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth” for public and private investments and collaborations to address the grand challenges of the current society (European Commission, 2010a; 2010b; 2010c; 2011).

The Danish government (2011) also sees a green growth strategy as a central contribution to get out of the crisis. Investment in especially energy efficiency, renewable energy, resource and energy efficiency and -reutilisation shall boost an economic recovery as well as job creation. The government calls for the public sector to take a lead in finding innovative ways to collaborate with the private sector in order to achieve these goals e.g. through public-private partnerships (Regeringen, 2011; Regeringen, 2013c).

The government has published several strategies centred on how to reboot the Danish economy under the headline “Denmark back to work”. This includes both overall strategies related to the general policies including public procurement, but also specific strategies within seven prioritised sectors of which several relates to different clean tech solutions and/or green elements (Regeringen 2013d; 2013e;

2013f; 2014).

Equally, the government has enlarged the already existing different support programmes on the green agenda covering especially the three development and demonstration programmes of respectively energy technology, green agricultural technology and environmental technologies (EUDP, GUDP and MUDP), as well as established programmes targeting new green business models (e.g. Cradle2Crandle and product service system), Industrial Symbioses as well as overall green transitions. The government also specifically emphasising Public Private Partnerships and active use of public purchasing as some of the means to apply for steering this green transition (Erhvervsstyrelsen, n.d.-a; Regeringen, 2011).

In line with the government’s recent emphasis on this green growth agenda, several Danish municipalities are increasingly also beginning to take actions towards such.

The municipalities see themselves as central positioned actors for making this transition happen in direct interactions with citizens and the local businesses.

In an administrative reform of the public governance structure in Denmark, the former 14 counties were terminated and replaced by five Regions. The municipalities were contrary enlarged to become bigger units – from 271 municipalities before the reform to 98 municipalities after the reform. The majority of the tasks of the former counties were distributed to the now enlarged municipalities or in some cases the state, whereas the regions primarily focus on the public management of the hospitals and some overall responsibilities in respect to overall regional development (Indenrigs og Sundhedsministeriet, 2005; IRIS Group, 2010; Strukturkommisionen, 2004; Økonomi & Indenrigsministeriet, 2012; see also Bundgaard and Vrangbæk, 2007; Vrangbæk, 2010).

Before the reform, the counties were centrally placed in terms of regional business development and support. After the reform the municipalities have instead got increased responsibilities on the business development as well in respect to – in cooperation with the region – set the direction for the overall regional development including also prioritisation of EU and national funds such as e.g. varies business support programmes (IRIS Group, 2010).

The business support sphere is thus an area, where the regions still have some responsibility, however significantly reduced compared to the former counties as some of the responsibility is distributed to the enlarged municipalities. This has resulted in networked governance structure with shared responsibility between the region and municipalities on the overall regional and business development and with a specific responsibility to also involve various other non-governmental interest organisations. Furthermore, the previous more than 25 business support units anchored in the counties were concentrated into five so-called “Growth houses” in principal under a joint collaboration of the municipalities within the regions rather than the region (IRIS Group, 2010; Sehedsted, 2010; Sehedsted and Lund, 2010; Sehedsted et. al, n.a).

The municipalities have thereby been provided increased responsibilities in respect to business development. This relates to:

1) Collectively together with the region and key stakeholders agree on an overall business development strategy for the region including the implementation and execution of national and EU funding programs 2) The main public actor in respect to providing direct support for

companies. This relates to both (the option of) providing direct general support to e.g. companies that want to start a new company within the municipality, but also as collectively “owner” of the established, specialized business support unit named “Growth houses”

that are to provide a more targeted support.

Following the reform, the Danish economy was (along with the global economy) hit by a downturn, whereas several municipalities experienced decline in employment and in the local business sector. This made several municipalities in the Carbon 20 project to emphasise the need for an active support of local businesses and further argued for having this as a central overall objective in most activities of the municipalities.

As a response to these considerations – the enlarged formal responsibilities, the economic crisis, as well as the increased debate on green growth – the steering Committee decided to reorient a broad task into a more targeted focus on the linkages to business support and green growth in terms of a facilitated exchange of experiences between the participating municipalities.

The objective was to discuss how to use this enlarged responsibility toward business support actively as platform for strategically engaging business to contribute to the municipalities’ agendas of Climate Change and green transition.

While departing in the municipalities’ increased formal responsibilities on the business support, the exchange of experiences covered also how the municipalities could integrate the two perspectives of both business support and Climate Change into other municipal tasks including links to job creation, public procurement and tendering, as well as entering Public Private Partnerships.

During the course of the project, four workshops were organised covering topics of interest. Each workshop included the officers from the municipalities relevant for the specific topics in addition to (or instead of) the officer otherwise involved in the Carbon 20 project.

During the four workshops, six topics – sub-arenas – were addressed with the crosscutting theme of linking the growth agenda (business development, employment, etc.) and the green agenda (improving energy and environmental performance) throughout all the different activities of the municipalities that has interference with local companies.

1. Overall business strategy and policies

2. Direct business support – structure and organisation 3. One stop shop – smooth public service to companies 4. Promotion of green employment

5. Public procurement and tendering, 6. Public Private Partnership and innovation.

These topics were mainly picked out because of political focus and/or judged that there were some relevant experiences to share. As already argued these topics each cut across both several different, but converging, discourses and academic discussions on the public role in business development, innovation and public

private partnership, as well as relates to several different (EU and/or national) regulatory frames.