Implementation synergies that exploit situational knowledge strategically

This paper illustrates how strategic and situated forms of knowledge may increase capacity to implement energy strategies in local urban development projects. Through analysis of front runner implementation projects, we show that the involved planners utilize situational learning processes strategically to develop more viable implementation trajectories. These findings resonate well with relational and network orienteered research in contemporary planning theory. In the selected case studies, we can see that planners deliberately seek to extend traditional planning approaches, like e.g. regulation, with broader context‐specific learning processes. In doing so, we argue that – what we call – an implementation synergy is established by interlacing different forms of situational knowledge with strategic knowledge about how to reach a desired energy target. In conclusion, the paper identifies different domains of knowledge that can be exploited strategically in order to create an implementation synergy in local development projects.