Monitoring Multi-Level Governance Learning on Policy Instruments Fostering Innovative PV Integrating Nature Restoration Assessment Through an Adapted Approach of a European Competence Partnership as a Systemic Collaborative Platform

The twin crises of climate change and biodiversity loss represent some of the most pressing challenges of our time. The transition to renewable energy sources (RES) forms a cornerstone of global climate mitigation strategies. However, the acceleration of RES, particularly photovoltaics (PV), introduces tensions with biodiversity conservation and sustainable land use. At the European Union (EU) level, PV is central to decarbonization of the energy system, with a target of 45 GW of new annual capacity by 2030. Yet, these challenges also open pathways for innovative land use synergies, where innovative PV (I-PV) solutions, such as agricultural PV, floating PV, peat PV and installations on recultivated sites are promising drivers. The EU Solar Energy Strategy emphasizes these I-PV multi-functional land uses in alignment with the EU Nature Restoration Law and European Green Deal. These frameworks add complexity to public planning authorities when developing policy instruments when they aim to balance competing land-use priorities, while operating in a complex multi-level governance environment. Multi-level governance promotes collaborative decision-making, inclusiveness, and the effective use of resources and expertise across different levels and sectors of governments and civil society. It has two components: a vertical one – involving different administrative levels; and a horizontal one – involving different sectors of society. In the context of this research, it denotes on the one hand, the different layers of governance involved in the spatial planning of I-PV that range from local to national and EU levels (vertical); – and on the other hand, the process of the interaction that occurs with the different stakeholders involved in the multiple land use next to the planning authorities operating across the different levels (horizontal). The stakeholders involved in the process include other (affected) administrative bodies, businesses, NGOs, community groups, as well as affected citizens. To address potential multiple land use conflicts, legal certainty in public planning is essential. By uncovering and understanding how different levels of governance as well as stakeholders interact to promote policies or instruments that foster innovative PV technology, while integrating nature restoration efforts, this contribution supports planning authorities in comprehending how stakeholder engagement and public participation may influence and possibly support public acceptance of the energy transition in urban and regional settings. Particularly, it helps foster a participatory process that leads to greater public acceptance of PV expansion in light of biodiversity protection and conservation. The analytical framework for the conceptualization and measurement of the policy instruments’ effectiveness is an adaptation of the Systemic Collaborative Platform (Moreno-Serna et al. 2024) which monitors transitions through multi-level governance, including an action-case methodology – with us as researchers being involved in the process. Likewise, an interregional comparison and learning process across different European regions with diverse (administrative) backgrounds is conducted, which is not the case in Moreno-Serna et al. (2024) study which was limited to the Barcelona metropolitan area. Focuses on five EU Member States (Germany, Austria, Poland, Greece, Latvia) and two EU Candidate Countries (Bosnia- Herzegovina, Ukraine).