What are the criteria for an action plan?

A good action plan for a programme describes:

• the urgency of changes
• the social challenge
• the guiding principles for the system innovation (the conditions the desired innovation will meet)
• the connection between the programme and long-term trends that can help to legitimise the programme or accelerate system innovation
• targets for solutions
• separate visions for any competing routes/strategies for achieving the long-term goals - the transition paths - with specific final objectives and milestones (if it is an implementing agenda and not a more abstract social agenda)
• also for an implementing agenda: general descriptions of innovative projects that will contribute to achieving the milestones and final objectives. These may be new transition projects, but also experimental projects that are already underway and can now be incorporated in the programme
• A description of the changes that have to be made in the regime, which are already underway or will have to be achieved by the programme
• Activities and projects relating to monitoring and evaluation, learning, communication and/or lobbying aimed at changing the regime
• Basic requirements in terms of time, money, resources, organisation, information.

An action plan must be flexible, because it may be necessary to revise it with a view to the ambitions for system innovation because of developments that occur and new insights that are generated in the course of the programme. On this point, see also the clusters 'Societal Anchoring' and 'Monitoring and Evaluation'.