About Our Project

Going Dutch? will assess current governance approaches to heat decarbonisation in the UK and the Netherlands, investigate how these approaches has been shaped by the two different national institutional contexts, and ascertain what, if any useful lessons from the Netherlands, especially for the governance of heat transitions at a local level, may have value for the UK.

The UK and the Netherlands are the most dependent on natural gas for heating homes amongst European and OECD countries. They are embarking on a transition away from natural gas from a similar starting point; domestic gas production is declining in both countries, both have liberalised gas and electricity markets and both are looking to the same range of low-carbon technologies to solve the problem. They also both have strong climate policy frameworks. However, there are also differences in how the two countries are embarking on the transition, especially in areas such as the degree of planning and the role of local government.

For more information about the project’s rationale, objectives, analytical approach, methodology and expected outputs, please see the Project Description document.