Cities as Leaders in EU Multilevel Governance: Embedded Upscaling of Local Experiments in Europe

The successof local climategovernance in Europedependsnot only onleading cities but also on the dynamics between leaders, followers, and laggards. Upscaling local experiments helps to close the gap between these actors. This processisdrivenbytheincreasingembeddednessofcitiesandtheirnetworksin EU multilevel governance. Embedded upscaling combines horizontal upscaling between leading cities with vertical upscaling between leaders and followers thatismediatedbyhigherlevelsofgovernment,andhierarchicalupscalingthat even reaches the laggards. Various types of upscaling, their combinations, and their impacts are analyzed. Networks have become denser and networking has intensified. City networks and their member cities have become embedded in national and EU governance, lost authority and depend more and more on regional, national, and European authorities.