Dr. Lars Holstenkamp
21335
Lüneburg,
Universitätsallee 1, C11.206
Fon +49.4131.677-1307 (Sekr.), lars.holstenkamp@leuphana.de
Fon +49.4131.677-1307 (Sekr.), lars.holstenkamp@leuphana.de
Vita
Scientific Experience
- Since October 2020 Co-Lead of social-ecological junior research group "SteuerBoard Energie" at the Institute for Sustainability Governance (INSUGO)
- Since January 2020 senior research fellow and head of the Lüneburg office of ECOLOG Institute for Social-Ecological Research and Education (non-profit), member of the managing board
- August 2015 - October 2020 senior research fellow at the Chair of Finance and Financial Institutions at Leuphana University of Lüneburg in different extramurally funded research projects
- February 2012 - July 2015 senior research fellow & coordinator of the project "EnERgioN" within the EU project Innovation Incubator Lüneburg
- June 2006 - January 2012 junior research fellow at the Chair of Finance and Financial Institutions at Leuphana University of Lüneburg in different extramurally funded research projects
Membership
- since 2016 vice-chair and treasurer of the German African Studies Association, 2006-2016 member of the steering committee
- founder member and since 2017 member of the coordinating team of the Research Network on Cooperatives in the Energy Transition
- member of the European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI) and of the EMES International Research Network
Education
- 2019 PhD at Leuphana University of Lüneburg (Dr. rer. pol.)
- April 2003 - March 2006 studies of economics, specializing in international relations/develoing countries at the University of Trier [development economics, international financial management, cultural anthropology; elective subject: political science]; diploma 2006
- April 2001 - March 2003 studies of economics and African languages at the University of Hamburg
- Scholarship by Evangelisches Studienwerk e.V. Villigst
Research Interests
Financing and Governance of Renewable Energies, currently focusing on Community Energy, Energy Cooperatives, and Municipal Utility Companies
Social Investment, Financing Sustainable Land Management (fund models/urban development funds, Public Private Partnership), Development Finance (esp. Climate Finance, here: energy projects)
further research interests: Development Theory (regional focus: Eastern Africa), Institutional Analysis, Economic Ethics, History of Economic Ideas, Environmental Economics
Projects
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Governance Mechanisms in the Future Polycentric Energy System - Sub-Project: Institutional Analysis of Polycentric Governance
Najam Memon (Project staff) , Lars Holstenkamp (Project manager, academic)
→Project: Research
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PROSumers for the Energy Union: mainstreaming active participation of citizens in the energy transition
Heinrich Degenhart (Project manager, academic) , Moritz Ehrtmann (Project staff) , Lars Holstenkamp (Project manager, academic)
→Project: Research
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Next Generation (BIOGAS) - einen Schritt weiter gedacht. Regionalspezifische ganzheitliche Analysevon Folgekonzepten zur Bewertung des Finanzierungsbedarfs erhaltenswerter Bestandsanlagen; Teilvorhaben 2: Deckung des Differenzbetrages, finanzwirtschaftliche und organisatorische Implikation
Heinrich Degenhart (Project manager, academic) , Katharina Scherzinger (Project staff) , Lars Holstenkamp (Project manager, academic)
→Project: Research
-
ActNow - Action for Energy Efficiency in Baltic Cities
Heinrich Degenhart (Project manager, academic) , Moritz Ehrtmann (Project staff) , Lars Holstenkamp (Project staff)
→Project: Research
-
Development and Implementation of a Monitoring System to Analyse the Structure of Actors in the large PV and Wind Energy Sectors
Heinrich Degenhart (Project manager, academic) , Laura Welle (Project staff) , Moritz Ehrtmann (Project staff) , Lars Holstenkamp (Coordination)
→Project: Research
Publications
Journal contributions
- From consumers to pioneers: insights from thermal energy communities in Denmark, Germany and the Netherlands
Sara Herreras Martínez (Author) , Justus Mesman (Author) , Daniel Møller Sneum (Author) , Robert Harmsen (Author) , Marijke Menkveld (Author) , Sanne Akerboom (Author) , André Faaij (Author) , Lars Holstenkamp (Author) , 01.12.2025 , in: Energy, Sustainability and Society, 15, 1 , 31 p.Research output: Journal contributions › Journal articles › Research › peer-review
- Conceptualizing community in energy systems: A systematic review of 183 definitions
Thomas Bauwens (Author) , Daan Schraven (Author) , Emily Drewing (Author) , Jörg Radtke (Author) , Boris Gotchev (Author) , Özgür Yildiz (Author) , Lars Holstenkamp (Author) , 01.03.2022 , in: Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 156 , 16 p.Research output: Journal contributions › Journal articles › Research › peer-review
- Collective Renewable Energy Prosumers and the Promises of the Energy Union: Taking Stock
Lanka Horstink (Author) , Julia M. Wittmeyer (Author) , Kiat Ng (Author) , Guilherme Pontes Luz (Author) , Esther Marín-González (Author) , Swantje Gährs (Author) , Inês Campos (Author) , Sem Oxenaar (Author) , Donal Brown (Author) , Lars Holstenkamp (Author) , 15.01.2020 , in: Energies, 13, 2 , 30 p.Research output: Journal contributions › Journal articles › Research › peer-review
- What drives the development of community energy in Europe?: The case of wind power cooperatives
Thomas Bauwens (Author) , Boris Gotchev (Author) , Lars Holstenkamp (Author) , 01.03.2016 , in: Energy Research and Social Science, 13 , p. 136-147 , 12 p.Research output: Journal contributions › Journal articles › Research › peer-review
- Renewable energy cooperatives as gatekeepers or facilitators?: Recent developments in Germany and a multidisciplinary research agenda
Ö. Yildiz (Author) , Jens Rommel (Author) , Sarah Debor (Author) , Franziska Mey (Author) , Jakob R. Müller (Author) , Jörg Radtke (Author) , Judith Rognli (Author) , Lars Holstenkamp (Author) , 01.03.2015 , in: Energy Research and Social Science, 6 , p. 59-73 , 15 p.Research output: Journal contributions › Scientific review articles › Research
Contributions to collected editions/anthologies
- Consumer (Co-)Ownership in Renewables in Germany
Özgür Yildiz (Author) , Boris Gotchev (Author) , Jakob R. Müller (Author) , Jörg Radtke (Author) , Laura Welle (Author) , Lars Holstenkamp (Author) , 01.01.2019 Cham , p. 271-293 , 23 p.Research output: Contributions to collected editions/anthologies › Contributions to collected editions/anthologies › Research › peer-review
Press / Media
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Bürgerwindparks als genossenschaftliche Kooperationsprojekte
1 Media contributionPress/Media: Press/Media
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Bürgerbeteiligungsmodelle mittels Fotovoltaikgenossenschaften
1 Media contributionPress/Media: Press/Media
Courses
This course provides an introduction to environmental and sustainability governance. It offers basic knowledge on the functioning of governance systems in providing and implementing public policies addressing current environmental and sustainability issues – on local, national and international levels, with a focus on global environmental and sustainability issues and governance. We will address both the structure and process features of governance. Topics covered may include the governance of commons; participatory and collaborative governance; private and hybrid governance; adaptive governance and learning; multi-level governance; international regimes (e.g. climate, biodiversity); telecoupling. Students will learn the general core governance theories and concepts and apply them to emblematic case studies in the realm of environment and sustainable development.
This course provides an introduction to environmental and sustainability governance. It offers basic knowledge on the functioning of governance systems in providing and implementing public policies addressing current environmental and sustainability issues – on local, national and international levels, with a focus on global environmental and sustainability issues and governance. We will address both the structure and process features of governance. Topics covered may include the governance of commons; participatory and collaborative governance; private and hybrid governance; adaptive governance and learning; multi-level governance; international regimes (e.g. climate, biodiversity); telecoupling. Students will learn the general core governance theories and concepts and apply them to emblematic case studies in the realm of environment and sustainable development.
This course provides an introduction to environmental and sustainability governance. It offers basic knowledge on the functioning of governance systems in providing and implementing public policies addressing current environmental and sustainability issues – on local, national and international levels, with a focus on global environmental and sustainability issues and governance. We will address both the structure and process features of governance. Topics covered may include the governance of commons; participatory and collaborative governance; private and hybrid governance; adaptive governance and learning; multi-level governance; international regimes (e.g. climate, biodiversity); telecoupling. Students will learn the general core governance theories and concepts and apply them to emblematic case studies in the realm of environment and sustainable development.
The expansion of renewable energy, particularly large-scale infrastructure projects such as wind and solar farms and hydropower plants, as well as the extraction of minerals critical to the energy transition, is increasingly giving rise to land use conflicts and questions of democratic participation, legitimacy and justice, especially in contexts shaped by customary land rights and the traditional ways of life of indigenous communities. While such initiatives are legitimised at national and global levels as essential contributions to climate action (SDG 13) and energy security (SDG 7), they often conflict with the land rights, cultural practices, and right to self-determination of indigenous peoples (SDG 10, SDG 16). Existing planning and permitting processes frequently fail to protect these rights or enable meaningful participation in decisions that profoundly affect indigenous peoples' homelands and ways of life. At the same time, indigenous communities are increasingly recognized as key actors in sustainable development.
In this course, we examine these tensions through a philosophy of science lens, reflecting on how knowledge is produced, whose knowledge counts and what structural and communicative conditions enable or constrain meaningful indigenous participation. We reflect on what a just transition requires beyond technological solutions and under what epistemological and ethical conditions research in this field can be responsibly conducted. Drawing on cases of both conflicts and indigenous-led and indigenous-partnered renewable energy projects across different regional contexts, we develop and discuss research questions and designs and reflect on the epistemological and ethical implications of engaging with this field and consider what critically aware, justice-oriented research looks like in inter- and transdisciplinary contexts.
In this course, we examine these tensions through a philosophy of science lens, reflecting on how knowledge is produced, whose knowledge counts and what structural and communicative conditions enable or constrain meaningful indigenous participation. We reflect on what a just transition requires beyond technological solutions and under what epistemological and ethical conditions research in this field can be responsibly conducted. Drawing on cases of both conflicts and indigenous-led and indigenous-partnered renewable energy projects across different regional contexts, we develop and discuss research questions and designs and reflect on the epistemological and ethical implications of engaging with this field and consider what critically aware, justice-oriented research looks like in inter- and transdisciplinary contexts.