WP3

The case study research conducted in WP3 on Austria (WP3a), Germany (WP3b) and Switzerland (WP3c)marks the core of CLIP-IN because case studies are exceptionally good in scrutinising good practices and building novel theories (Eisenhardt 1989: 532ff). By drawing on Eisenhardt’s (1989) and Yin’s (2003) methodological work, the case study research design employed here can be described as follows. Case selection
The case studies resemble “case research with a purpose”. That is, we enter the case study process with specific research questions and a careful case study design, where the selection of cases was based on a deliberate decision (Harrison & Freeman 1999, 482). In the research proposed here we have taken two case selection decisions. First, since CLIP-IN will advance climate policy making in Austria, the focus was narrowed down to federal states in Europe. By picking Austria, Germany and Switzerland as case studies, all European federal states were included. The exception to this was Belgium because the ongoing tensions between the Dutch-speaking region of Flanders in the north and the French-speaking region of Wallonia in the south make a comparison with climate policy integration in other countries difficult. Within each case study, two regional cases were further selected for further scrutiny of domestic coordination and integration dynamics. Second, since CLIP-IN will advance the adaptation to climate change, and currently Austria and many other countries have high hopes in effectively facilitating adaptation across levels of government with adaptation strategies, climate policy integration is approached through thematically related climate mitigation strategies and laws. Within this thematiclocus, we focus upon the area of building and small-scale heating policy, which is central to achieve mitigation goals. Research steps and research questions
The research design employed here aims at identifying good practices and challenges in the implementation of integrated strategies on climate change mitigation; and improve the implementation of adaptation strategies by drawing lessons from the experiences with climate change mitigation strategies. For all three country studies, WP3 will:

• Finalise the analytical framework based on feedback from Austrian policy makers,

• Look at climate change mitigation strategies and laws through desk research, interviews and within-case analysis

• Perform cross-case analyses for each country

The following two key questions will guide the case study research through all consecutive steps:

• How successful are strategies and laws in integrating climate policies horizontally across sectors? What are the key barriers and success factors in the governance of horizontal integration?

•  How do the strategies and laws integrate climate policies vertically across different levels of government? What are the key barriers and success factors in the governance of vertical integration?

The following two key questions will also guide the cross-case analysis:

• How well does environmental policy integration work within the environmental domain? Is the implementation of the integrated strategies linked sufficiently? How could the horizontal linkages between the strategies be strengthened?

• How can the implementation of integrated strategies be improved? What can we learn from the implementation of ‘older’ integrated strategies, in particular for climate change adaptation strategies?

Data collection methods and documentation:
By drawing on different sources of information in the case studies, a “chain of evidence” enhances the construct validity of the research (Yin 2003: 97-106). The case studies combine

• Desk research covering internet sources, policy documents and academic literature;

• Qualitative semi-structured interviews with government officials and stakeholders involved in the integrated strategy in question.

CLIP-IN will be based on at least 15 interviews per country, and 45 interviews in total. They will be transcribed selectively and interpreted qualitatively. The interview guides will be developed based on the analytical framework drafted in WP1 and refined at the beginning of WP3 (based on the findings of WP2 and feedback from Austrian policy makers).