Making it experimental in several ways: The work of intermediaries in raising the ambition level in local climate initiatives

Local climate experimentation is a topical issue as cities and rural municipalities are increasingly engaging in various local energy experiments in order to act against climate change. There are high expectations toward experimentation among the policy makers, funders and local actors. Intermediary organisations have an important role as facilitators, brokers, instigators and network builders in low-energy and low-carbon experiments. However, there is still limited understanding of exactly what is the work of an innovation intermediary in contributing to local experiments. Our paper focuses on how intermediaries aggregate lessons and transfer knowledge across experiments. We study how the intermediary activities also help in going beyond existing practice and make a difference beyond the experimental context. Our analysis is based on three empirical case studies in Finland: Smart Kalasatama in Helsinki, Skaftkärr in Porvoo and HINKU with a focus on joint purchase of solar panels. Our research shows how intermediaries balance diverse demands, such as immediate benefits vs. radical change or societal learning, in order to render local climate initiatives more experimental.