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AbstractSub‐national governments are a crucial non‐state actor for mitigating climate change. This importance has recently strengthened as increasing numbers of municipalities declare net‐zero carbon emission goals to support the Paris Agreement, often well ahead of national governments. In Japan, net‐zero declarations have also diffused widely, with nearly 800 declarations appearing in domino‐like fashion over 2019–2022. To elucidate the factors that propelled this rapid diffusion, we used an event‐history analysis based on data from a survey to develop an integrated statistical model. We then deepen understanding of diffusion mechanisms through seven brief case studies informed by interviews and document analysis. We find that the drivers of policy diffusion varied over time. During the early stage, internal factors drove the spread of declarations; namely participation in transnational city networks, endowed human and financial resources, and political leadership. But in later stages, diffusion was mostly propelled by external factors; namely declarations by neighboring cities and the affiliated prefectural government. Through these findings, we contribute to scholarship through two novel perspectives. First, we reveal the factors driving policy diffusion across both early adopters and the ordinary majority. Second, we show how the influence of well‐known factors can vary during different stages of policy diffusion.

Carbon lock-in hampers the realisation of sustainable energy systems. It occurs when carbon-intensive technologies, markets and institutions co-evolve and become wedded to historical trajectories despite environmentally superior technologies being available. Multiple material and non-material causes are discussed in literature on socio-technical or energy transitions and carbon lock-in. However, these are yet to be synthesised into a comprehensive framework to guide the empirical identification of lock-in factors. Also, empirical understanding into how various causes of lock-in can interact is limited. To deepen understanding into the various types of socio-technical lock-in affecting energy transitions, we develop an encompassing analytical framework accounting for material, human, non-material and exogenous factors. In addition to carbon lock-in and path dependency, we synthesise diverse literature encompassing sustainability transitions, energy policy, innovation and firm management, economics and political economy. The resultant framework provides a finer-grained and more comprehensive understanding of lock-in than previous studies. Using Japan as a case study, we then apply this framework with two questions in mind: (i) What factors are contributing to the perpetuation of coal power in Japan? and ii) What opportunities emerge to overcome these? The empirical analysis is informed by triangulated data involving 46 semi-structured interviews and diverse documents. Our findings reveal a wide array of interacting factors that contribute to the perpetuation of coal-power in Japan and several emerging opportunities to tackle these. They also demonstrate our framework's utility as a heuristic that scholars could apply to other cases to increase empirical understanding into the multiple causes of socio-technical lock-in.

Universities are playing an increasingly central role in advancing sustainability at the local, regional and national scale through cross-sector collaborations. Accompanying the launch of Future Earth, interest is mounting in the co-design and co-production of knowledge and solutions for advancing global sustainability, particularly in urban areas. Place-based university partnerships appear as particularly significant vehicles for enacting co-design and co-production in the context of urban sustainability. However, the nature and role of these partnerships are not well understood, in part due to the absence of systematic analyses across multiple cases. To fill this gap, the objectives of this paper were to conduct a large-scale international survey focusing on university partnerships for urban sustainability in industrialised Europe, Asia and North America to (1) determine defining features such as focus areas, geographical scales, mechanisms, actors and motivations, and (2) identify commonly encountered drivers, barriers and potential impacts. Results indicate that partnerships most typically target energy, buildings, governance and social systems, unfold at local or city-scales, and involve collaborations with local or regional government. Our analysis shows that potential outcomes of university initiatives to co-design and co-produce urban sustainability are not limited to knowledge and policy. They also encompass the creation of new technological prototypes, businesses and new socio-technical systems, in addition to transformations of the built and natural environment. Findings also suggest that individual partnerships are making strong social, environmental and sustainability impacts, with less evidence of economic contributions. Strategies are required to enhance project management and ensure that projects address contrasting priorities and time horizons in academia and local government. Implications for policy include findings that targeted funding programmes can play a key role in fostering partnerships. Measures are also required to challenge academic norms and incentive structures that, in some cases, hinder university efforts to engage in place-based initiatives to co-design and co-produce urban sustainability.

Universities are playing an increasingly central role in advancing sustainability at the local, regional and national scale through cross-sector collaborations. Accompanying the launch of Future Earth, interest is mounting in the co-design and co-production of knowledge and solutions for advancing global sustainability, particularly in urban areas. Place-based university partnerships appear as particularly significant vehicles for enacting co-design and co-production in the context of urban sustainability. However, the nature and role of these partnerships are not well understood, in part due to the absence of systematic analyses across multiple cases. To fill this gap, the objectives of this paper were to conduct a large-scale international survey focusing on university partnerships for urban sustainability in industrialised Europe, Asia and North America to (1) determine defining features such as focus areas, geographical scales, mechanisms, actors and motivations, and (2) identify commonly encountered drivers, barriers and potential impacts. Results indicate that partnerships most typically target energy, buildings, governance and social systems, unfold at local or city-scales, and involve collaborations with local or regional government. Our analysis shows that potential outcomes of university initiatives to co-design and co-produce urban sustainability are not limited to knowledge and policy. They also encompass the creation of new technological prototypes, businesses and new socio-technical systems, in addition to transformations of the built and natural environment. Findings also suggest that individual partnerships are making strong social, environmental and sustainability impacts, with less evidence of economic contributions. Strategies are required to enhance project management and ensure that projects address contrasting priorities and time horizons in academia and local government. Implications for policy include findings that targeted funding programmes can play a key role in fostering partnerships. Measures are also required to challenge academic norms and incentive structures that, in some cases, hinder university efforts to engage in place-based initiatives to co-design and co-produce urban sustainability.

Universities are playing an increasingly central role in advancing sustainability at the local, regional and national scale through cross-sector collaborations. Accompanying the launch of Future Earth, interest is mounting in the co-design and co-production of knowledge and solutions for advancing global sustainability, particularly in urban areas. Place-based university partnerships appear as particularly significant vehicles for enacting co-design and co-production in the context of urban sustainability. However, the nature and role of these partnerships are not well understood, in part due to the absence of systematic analyses across multiple cases. To fill this gap, the objectives of this paper were to conduct a large-scale international survey focusing on university partnerships for urban sustainability in industrialised Europe, Asia and North America to (1) determine defining features such as focus areas, geographical scales, mechanisms, actors and motivations, and (2) identify commonly encountered drivers, barriers and potential impacts. Results indicate that partnerships most typically target energy, buildings, governance and social systems, unfold at local or city-scales, and involve collaborations with local or regional government. Our analysis shows that potential outcomes of university initiatives to co-design and co-produce urban sustainability are not limited to knowledge and policy. They also encompass the creation of new technological prototypes, businesses and new socio-technical systems, in addition to transformations of the built and natural environment. Findings also suggest that individual partnerships are making strong social, environmental and sustainability impacts, with less evidence of economic contributions. Strategies are required to enhance project management and ensure that projects address contrasting priorities and time horizons in academia and local government. Implications for policy include findings that targeted funding programmes can play a key role in fostering partnerships. Measures are also required to challenge academic norms and incentive structures that, in some cases, hinder university efforts to engage in place-based initiatives to co-design and co-produce urban sustainability.

Purpose
There is a widely held belief that sustainable development (SD) policies are essential for universities to successfully engage in matters related to sustainability, and are an indicator of the extent to which they are active in this field. This paper aims to examine the evidence which currently exists to support this assumption. It surveys a sample of universities in Brazil, Germany, Greece, Portugal, South Africa and the UK and the USA to ascertain the extent to which universities that are active in the field of sustainable development have formal policies on sustainable development, and whether such policies are a pre-condition for successful sustainability efforts.


Design/methodology/approach
The study involved 35 universities in seven countries (five universities respectively). A mixed-methods approach has been used, ranging from document analysis, website analysis, questionnaires and interviewing.


Findings
Although only 60 per cent of the sampled universities had a policy that specifically addressed SD, this cannot be regarded as an indicator that the remaining 40 per cent are not engaged with substantial actions that address SD. Indeed, all of the universities in the sample, regardless of the existence of a SD formal policy, demonstrated engagement with environmental sustainability policies or procedures in some form or another. This research has been limited by the availability and ability to procure information from the sampled universities. Despite this, it is one of the largest research efforts of this kind ever performed.


Research limitations/implications
This research has been limited by the availability and ability to procure information from the sampled universities.


Practical implications
The findings provide some valuable insights into the connections between SD policies on the one hand and the practice of sustainable development in higher education institutions on the other.


Social implications
Universities with SD policies can contribute to models of economic growth consistent with sustainable development.


Originality/value
The study is the one of the largest research efforts of this kind ever performed.