Defensive versus adaptive action: contested path creation in the hydrogen transition in Zeeland

Sustainability Transitions (ST) literature increasingly recognizes the need to better conceptualize agency and power, specifically regarding how actors influence both path dependence and path creation. However, existing perspectives frequently under-theorize how actors actively maintain structural lock-ins or strategically mobilize resources to navigate and disrupt lock-in. To address this theoretical gap, we investigate the mechanisms shaping strategic interactions among stakeholders in the emerging green hydrogen market. We employ Evolutionary Governance Theory (EGT) to map structural dependencies and integrate Path Creation (PC) theory to analyze the strategic agency actors exercise within this constrained environment. Based on 25 semi-structured interviews within the Zeeland industrial cluster in the Netherlands, our analysis reveals a central tension between defensive and adaptive action. Defensive action, predominantly deployed by incumbents, relies on discursive delegitimation—e.g., framing policy goals as unattainable due to infrastructural delays—and substantive investments to secure path-extending trajectories (blue hydrogen). Conversely, adaptive action, primarily driven by new entrants and proactive local governments, combines discursive counter-framing of incumbent narratives with substantive institutional entrepreneurship—such as bottom-up rule creation and local de-locking—to accelerate radical path creation of green hydrogen. We contribute to transition literature by demonstrating how actors navigate persistent institutional uncertainty shaped by co-evolving mechanisms of trust and distrust, thereby driving pragmatic responses like hybrid strategies and coopetition.