Another hugely successful fully funded international Spring School was hosted by the Netherlands Open University in Heerlen, on the 5-8th March this year. This is the second of two spring schools on polycentric climate governance organised by members of the INOGOV Action. This year 22 students and early career researchers (from 11 countries) completed the course, which uses a flipped classroom model, with leading international scholars teaching the course content.

Participants prepared for the spring school by completing the INOGOV MOOC on polycentric climate governance. and the spring school then provided further knowledge and teaching through interactive keynote lectures, Q&As with the authors of the MOOC, and workshops.

The spring school informed students and researchers about the notion and practical expression of polycentric governance in the specific context of climate change. The concept of governance innovation was introduced and the contribution to transitions and transformations assessed. During the school, a number of conceptual frameworks surrounding the notion of governance inventions, their diffusion and evaluation from a diversity of theoretical traditions ranging from new institutionalism to poststructuralism were explored. On governance inventions, students were shown concepts like policy entrepreneurs, experiments, proof of principle and instrument constituencies. In the field of the diffusion of governance inventions students’ studied amongst others internal and external drivers, barriers and post adoption adaptations. On evaluation, students’ learnt how to study outputs and outcomes. To move from theory to empirical research, a range of methods for studying innovations in climate governance were also covered. The role of political power and knowledge in climate governance was highlighted throughout.