Innovative renewable energy policies are ideally developed in cooperation with the local administration, political leaders and stakeholders. Widening the pool of those involved also widens the ownership of renewable energy policies, and this increases the probability of success.  Therefore, it's vital that numerous groups are involved:

• coordinators of the implementation of the policy (city administration)
• users of energy and those who will be affected by a change in energy policy (the public and local stakeholders)
• those with decision-making power (politicians)
• those who have relevant expertise (scientific community, energy companies)
• disseminators of information (the media)

It is important that targets are specific enough to avoid ambiguity.  Targets should always be realistic, and they can be either ambitious or easy to achieve. Targets can be short-term, operational goals or long-term, strategic goals.  A base year against which future amounts are measured must be agreed upon.  

Once targets for renewable energy adoption are formally adopted, an action plan can be designed.  

Next: Action planning