The Wuppertal Institute was commissioned by the German Council for Sustainable Development to analyse examples of successful transformations with regard to their success factors in order to derive federal policy measures for the promotion and scaling of such sustainability activities. To this end, 14 examples from six transformation areas were analysed using a specially developed analysis pattern and presented in concise factsheets. As a small sample of the diverse commitment in the field of sustainability, the selected examples show how favourable framework conditions create an enabling culture that facilitates the diffusion of successful practices. At the federal level, this means a shift from a controlling to an enabling state, which expands local room for manoeuvre and at the same time ensures coordination and consistency of direction as well as the horizontal and vertical coherence of the instruments.
Despite project-specific and sometimes high barriers, key success factors can be identified: Connectivity to proven measures, ensuring long-term financial viability, active participation of local actors and a low probability of conflict during implementation. Measures that have been realised with the involvement and networking of various social actors also enjoy a particularly high level of acceptance. In view of the immense financial challenges in creating and maintaining sustainable living environments, many municipalities are faced with an almost impossible task, especially as far-reaching changes are required that extend into peoples everyday routines. A consistent and reliable mix of various steering instruments and a high level of acceptance is therefore essential. The examples of transformation examined provide a first introduction to the necessary in-depth analyses of the effectiveness of potential and consistent policy packages and their interactions with other instruments in the multi-level system.
Bettina Bahn-Walkowiak, Oliver Wagner, Birte Schnurr, Lena Hennes:
Gute Beispiele für eine gelingende Transformation – Impulse für nachhaltige Lebenswelten
Wuppertal, 2025
(Wuppertal Report no. 28)