Scott’s participatory action research project will engage the multiple local stakeholders driving the DeCarbonize Waterloo Region initiative in systematic learning about that unfolding local transition process. Communities around the world are taking on the complex but imperative challenge of making the transition toward low carbon energy systems, but there is a gap in understanding how to make local transition processes successful from the start. This research project will help to shape local action, provide lessons for other Canadian municipalities and contribute to the international body of knowledge on locally-driven low carbon transition processes.