Policy entrepreneurs in green building transitions: The role of interurban coalitions

This research examines the composition and operation of a multi-scalar, inter-urban coalition in Israel's unfolding green building transition. Using the Multi-level perspective as an analytical framework, this research draws on concepts from policy entrepreneurship to flesh out the role of the city and city networks in transition activity. It examines how an entrepreneurial coalition of cities – the Forum 15 – that sits both within and without the sociotechnical building regime facilitated the agency of regime members to engender a transition. We use chiefly qualitative research methods, specifically, semi-structured interviews and policy document analysis, to examine the critical function of an inter-urban coalition of 15 fiscally independent municipalities in leveraging its independence and resources to induce a national green building regime transformation. We suggest that combining the multi-level perspective with insights from entrepreneurial governance lends insight into the potential role of the city and its multi-scalar linkages in engendering a transition.