ABSTRACT
This chapter describes the energy sector role in the socio-ecological transition of European cities. The energy sector is the foremost leverage to bring forward transitions towards sustainability, since a central aspect of climate change relates to CO2 emissions, energy use, and global warming. The chapter discusses the self-organising capabilities in accordance to the presented theoretical extensions of Ostrom's IAD framework. It focuses on the central argument of the study that self-organisation can be considered as a transition driver and lays out the status of the sustainability transition. The chapter depicts actors, actions, and transition factors that are involved in, undertaken in, and fostering socio-ecological transition in the cities. It describes the processes of norm adoption and emergent changes in local frameworks to assist in transitions. Local decision autonomy as a foundation for self-organising capabilities is assessed in the light of local city transition processes.
