Exploring the “how” of a just climate transition at the local level: eco-social innovations and governance

This article seeks to contribute to understanding the practical “how” of a just climate transition as a systemic change with a focus on the local level. With the backdrop of the central role of municipalities in terms of governance in achieving climate transition while also fulfilling societal functions, it explores cases of eco-social innovations (ESI) of circular practices, with a specific interest in their transformative potential from a climate-justice perspective. We applied a qualitative and exploratory methodology in the context of a Swedish city operationalizing a climate-transition program while drawing upon (trans)national networks. The exploration suggests that the ESIs contribute in terms of relating to six intertwined systemic conditions, exposing the scaffolding of the current unsustainable system. The ESIs also reveal alternative modes of dwelling that acknowledge constructive relationality and can potentially transform human desires and lifestyles. We conclude that the role of a municipality and the use of governance mechanisms vary depending on the systemic conditions at stake and the power resources at play. As places and innovative areas, municipalities can aspire to be Foucauldian eco-social heterotopias, real utopias that critically reflect unsustainable, habituated dwellings and serve as spaces for reversal and transformation.