Abstract for: Energy Transition Dynamics; Understanding Policy Resistance in the Dutch Energy System

Various countries seek to establish an energy transition, a structural change towards a more sustainable energy system. Countries implement a combination of energy policies aimed at establishing an energy transition, but these policies frequently result in unintended negative consequences. This study provides an attempt to unravel the complexity of the Dutch energy transition. We present a model of the Dutch energy transition, showing its various components and their interrelations. The model is based on eight group model building workshops in which a total of 96 stakeholders in the Dutch energy transition participated. In each workshop, a variety of stakeholders engaged in the collaborative construction of a model that explains the current progress of the energy transition. In this paper, we aggregate these eight models into one overarching model, which we lay out step by step. The model shows how technological, ecological, social, economic, and political aspects of the energy transition influence each other either directly or indirectly. We discuss several policy implications, with a focus on reducing unintended negative consequences.