Guide: How to use the Transformative Governance Tool

This questionnaire helps municipal practitioners analyse their governance arrangements for a specific transformative task they are working on and provides ideas on how to improve them.

  • Based on Bressers et al. 2016, it breaks down the concept of transformative governance into five dimensions.
  • For each dimension, the user answers several questions, mostly by choosing a scoring of 0 to 4.
  • For a few questions, the user is should fill out an open text field, which is not mandatory but helps answer the scoring questions that follow.
  • The questionnaire takes about 30 to 90 minutes, depending on the level of detail the users provide.
  • The first field is for the user to describe the transformative task they are facing as clearly as possible.
    • The scope of the task can vary from general (e.g. “establishing effective heat management for the city until 2030 in face of climate change”) to specific (e.g. “greening a square”, “ensuring the application of the new retrofitting guideline document within a year”).
    • During the assessment, the users can always adjust the scope of the task, as new insights emerge.
  • The questionnaire relies on the self-assessment and knowledge of the users.
  • A corresponding workshop methodology is available to conduct this assessment as a group with relevant stakeholders. Such workshop expands the knowledge base for the assessment and can be a great first step to bolster governance structures for your task.
  • The results of the questionnaire will point the user to the most relevant governance recommendations. The full recommendation list is available here.
  • More information is available here.

 

Note: you can find further information about Transformative Governance Tool on the MOOC How to Build Carbon Neutral, Resilient and Just Cities, within Module 4 "UP-Scaling" --> "3. Tools to Achieve UP-Scaling" --> "Governance Toolkit".

How to use the results?
  • Identify low-scoring areas and prioritise governance improvements.
  • Use the tool's recommendations to develop a governance action plan.
  • Align findings with the 5UP framework for long-term scalability.