As energy transitions progress from formative to growth or acceleration phases, issues related to resource formation increase in importance. In this paper we address a type of resource formation that has received scant attention in the sustainability transitions literature to date: developing the industrial capacity to manufacture and deliver key complementary assets (i.e. components and services) to large energy projects. Such supply chain elements constitute a significant share of investment, are crucial for the upscaling of low-carbon technologies, and offer important job and value creation opportunities for different regions and countries. Empirically we study the build-up of industrial capacity to supply key complementary assets to the European offshore wind power market in the 2000–2019 period through three phases (formative, take-off, growth) of development. We provide explanations to observed spatio-temporal patterns of industrial capacity development by considering 1) industry life-cycle dynamics, 2) pre-existing assets and industrial relatedness, and 3) home market opportunities.
{"title":"Developing the industrial capacity for energy transitions: Resource formation for offshore wind in Europe","authors":"Markus Steen , Tuukka Mäkitie , Jens Hanson , Håkon Endresen Normann","doi":"10.1016/j.eist.2024.100925","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.eist.2024.100925","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>As energy transitions progress from formative to growth or acceleration phases, issues related to resource formation increase in importance. In this paper we address a type of resource formation that has received scant attention in the sustainability transitions literature to date: developing the industrial capacity to manufacture and deliver key complementary assets (i.e. components and services) to large energy projects. Such supply chain elements constitute a significant share of investment, are crucial for the upscaling of low-carbon technologies, and offer important job and value creation opportunities for different regions and countries. Empirically we study the build-up of industrial capacity to supply key complementary assets to the European offshore wind power market in the 2000–2019 period through three phases (formative, take-off, growth) of development. We provide explanations to observed spatio-temporal patterns of industrial capacity development by considering 1) industry life-cycle dynamics, 2) pre-existing assets and industrial relatedness, and 3) home market opportunities.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":54294,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Innovation and Societal Transitions","volume":"53 ","pages":"Article 100925"},"PeriodicalIF":5.7,"publicationDate":"2024-10-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142528791","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-10-17DOI: 10.1016/j.eist.2024.100923
Lena Kramer , Tobias Stern , Michael Kriechbaum
While there is growing research about the roles of organisations in the transition to a post-growth society, activities in the market economy and the roles of businesses have received little attention so far. In this study, we address this gap by exploring the extent to which post-growth aspects have been considered by sustainability-oriented SMEs in the German speaking fashion industry. By drawing on the concepts of alterity and socio-technical niches, we analyse the framing strategies the companies use to position their alternative approaches in the context of the growth debate. We identify two narratives that show different degrees of oppositionality towards the established “mainstream” practices of the fashion industry: the “grow when it's good” narrative and the “less (growth) is more” narrative. Despite their antagonistic perspectives towards the relationship between sustainability and growth, these narratives can play complementary roles in a post-growth transition. At the same time, they represent the opposite ends of a continuum rather than distinct categories, which underlines the multidimensional nature of businesses’ perceptions of growth.
{"title":"Framing the limits to growth: Narratives in the sustainable fashion industry","authors":"Lena Kramer , Tobias Stern , Michael Kriechbaum","doi":"10.1016/j.eist.2024.100923","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.eist.2024.100923","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>While there is growing research about the roles of organisations in the transition to a post-growth society, activities in the market economy and the roles of businesses have received little attention so far. In this study, we address this gap by exploring the extent to which post-growth aspects have been considered by sustainability-oriented SMEs in the German speaking fashion industry. By drawing on the concepts of alterity and socio-technical niches, we analyse the framing strategies the companies use to position their alternative approaches in the context of the growth debate. We identify two narratives that show different degrees of oppositionality towards the established “mainstream” practices of the fashion industry: the “grow when it's good” narrative and the “less (growth) is more” narrative. Despite their antagonistic perspectives towards the relationship between sustainability and growth, these narratives can play complementary roles in a post-growth transition. At the same time, they represent the opposite ends of a continuum rather than distinct categories, which underlines the multidimensional nature of businesses’ perceptions of growth.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":54294,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Innovation and Societal Transitions","volume":"53 ","pages":"Article 100923"},"PeriodicalIF":5.7,"publicationDate":"2024-10-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142446091","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-10-15DOI: 10.1016/j.eist.2024.100918
M. Iakovleva, J. Rayner
Much of the research on technological innovation, especially in the context of sustainability transitions, has focused on the early stages of innovation. Much less work has been done on successful acceleration of technological change after pre-development and take-off. Filling this gap is important for improving the chances of successful deployment of small modular reactors (SMRs). Recent work on sustainability transitions has focused on the importance of "intermediaries". These are actors and platforms that sustain the momentum of transitions by linking actors, activities, and resources. Their role in the acceleration phase is less well understood and SMRs provide a compelling case study of the challenges. This paper uses document, web, and interview data to analyze the role of intermediaries in Canadian SMR deployment, focusing particularly on the intermediaries needed for successful social innovation; identifies gaps; and evaluates the role of public policy in supporting the development of these critical relationships.
{"title":"Accelerating the deployment of SMRs in Canada: The importance of intermediaries","authors":"M. Iakovleva, J. Rayner","doi":"10.1016/j.eist.2024.100918","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.eist.2024.100918","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Much of the research on technological innovation, especially in the context of sustainability transitions, has focused on the early stages of innovation. Much less work has been done on successful acceleration of technological change after pre-development and take-off. Filling this gap is important for improving the chances of successful deployment of small modular reactors (SMRs). Recent work on sustainability transitions has focused on the importance of \"intermediaries\". These are actors and platforms that sustain the momentum of transitions by linking actors, activities, and resources. Their role in the acceleration phase is less well understood and SMRs provide a compelling case study of the challenges. This paper uses document, web, and interview data to analyze the role of intermediaries in Canadian SMR deployment, focusing particularly on the intermediaries needed for successful social innovation; identifies gaps; and evaluates the role of public policy in supporting the development of these critical relationships.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":54294,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Innovation and Societal Transitions","volume":"53 ","pages":"Article 100918"},"PeriodicalIF":5.7,"publicationDate":"2024-10-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142442072","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-10-13DOI: 10.1016/j.eist.2024.100922
Wikke Novalia , Megan Farrelly , Rob Raven
Transforming critical infrastructure systems, such as water and energy, is crucial to achieving global sustainability and climate change targets in many cities. Whilst experimentation has been studied extensively in urban sustainability scholarships, there have been no large-N cross-sector comparative studies. Existing research is potentially blind to different patterns of urban experiments across multiple sectors. This is particularly relevant to advancing deep transitions thinking, which has increasingly foregrounded the notion of multi-system alignment across socio-technical domains. Our research aims to fill this knowledge gap using a database to characterise urban experiments across water and energy domains while integrating sectoral and place-based perspectives. We analysed 40 experiments across Melbourne and Adelaide, Australia. Our results show that on a collective level, these experiments skew towards technological interventions, while their transfer and impact trajectories are underpinned by distinct territorial and sectoral logics. We show that cross-sectoral analysis can reveal plurality in urban experiments across multiple systems and places while offering a more refined understanding of multi-system alignment requirements for deep transitions.
{"title":"Place-based and sectoral patterns in urban experimentation: Implications for deep transitions research","authors":"Wikke Novalia , Megan Farrelly , Rob Raven","doi":"10.1016/j.eist.2024.100922","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.eist.2024.100922","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Transforming critical infrastructure systems, such as water and energy, is crucial to achieving global sustainability and climate change targets in many cities. Whilst experimentation has been studied extensively in urban sustainability scholarships, there have been no large-N cross-sector comparative studies. Existing research is potentially blind to different patterns of urban experiments across multiple sectors. This is particularly relevant to advancing deep transitions thinking, which has increasingly foregrounded the notion of multi-system alignment across socio-technical domains. Our research aims to fill this knowledge gap using a database to characterise urban experiments across water and energy domains while integrating sectoral and place-based perspectives. We analysed 40 experiments across Melbourne and Adelaide, Australia. Our results show that on a collective level, these experiments skew towards technological interventions, while their transfer and impact trajectories are underpinned by distinct territorial and sectoral logics. We show that cross-sectoral analysis can reveal plurality in urban experiments across multiple systems and places while offering a more refined understanding of multi-system alignment requirements for deep transitions.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":54294,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Innovation and Societal Transitions","volume":"53 ","pages":"Article 100922"},"PeriodicalIF":5.7,"publicationDate":"2024-10-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142432204","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The aim of the paper is to investigate the role of hybrid entrepreneurship in developing justice and diversity responses to sustainability transitions that are complicated by contexts of ambiguous socio-technological shifts and manifested in material and ethical dilemmas for ‘the other’, i.e., those deemed different. Based on analysis of two original case studies featuring the other—the Nisichawayasihk Cree Nation indigenous community in Canada and the Karachi Down Syndrome Program in Pakistan—we identify the conditions for engaging minority communities in strong collaborative and participatory cross-stakeholder processes to deal with dilemmas posed by sustainability transitions. We centre on issues of social inclusion and social equity. We illuminate how hybrid entrepreneurship practices enable, structure and manage collective learning within and outside hybrid ventures to facilitate equitable transitions. Finally, we propose how to co-create actions that amplify marginalized voices to influence institutions.
{"title":"Hybrid entrepreneurship in just transitions: Dealing with dilemmas facing ‘the other’","authors":"Rick Colbourne , Lalarukh Ejaz , Vadim Grinevich , Saima Husain , D'Arcy O'Farrell","doi":"10.1016/j.eist.2024.100924","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.eist.2024.100924","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The aim of the paper is to investigate the role of hybrid entrepreneurship in developing justice and diversity responses to sustainability transitions that are complicated by contexts of ambiguous socio-technological shifts and manifested in material and ethical dilemmas for ‘the other’, i.e., those deemed different. Based on analysis of two original case studies featuring the other—the Nisichawayasihk Cree Nation indigenous community in Canada and the Karachi Down Syndrome Program in Pakistan—we identify the conditions for engaging minority communities in strong collaborative and participatory cross-stakeholder processes to deal with dilemmas posed by sustainability transitions. We centre on issues of social inclusion and social equity. We illuminate how hybrid entrepreneurship practices enable, structure and manage collective learning within and outside hybrid ventures to facilitate equitable transitions. Finally, we propose how to co-create actions that amplify marginalized voices to influence institutions.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":54294,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Innovation and Societal Transitions","volume":"53 ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":5.7,"publicationDate":"2024-10-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142418258","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-10-12DOI: 10.1016/j.eist.2024.100920
Véronique Vasseur , Julia Backhaus
Household energy use relates to our socio-cultural identity, our socio-economic status and the socio-cultural and material contexts in which we live. Around the world, households experienced dramatic changes in light of the COVID-19 pandemic and the drastic increase of energy prices following the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Habits and routines were disrupted, reinterpreted, reorganized and renegotiated, albeit under constraints and in most cases involuntarily. This paper analyses how the practice of ‘keeping warm’ responds to disruptive events ranging from a small-scale and short-lived experiment to much more drastic and far-reaching geopolitical events. Following an initial study challenging households to reduce temperatures inside their homes during October/November 2018, the same households were revisited for follow-up questioning two and a half years after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe and six months after the attack of Russian armed forces on Ukraine. Quantitative and qualitative data were collected before, during, and three months as well as three years after the original ‘heating challenge’. The final follow-up survey took place in August 2022 and turned the initial short-lived Living Lab-based experiment into a longitudinal study.
The experimental exploration of possibilities to reduce household energy use through the disruption of routinized practices in Living Labs enables an analysis of the effects of disruptive events, including the role of values, social norms, habits and routines (Sahakian et al., 2021). But what happens, when experiments get serious and large-scale upheaval affecting many challenges and changes meanings, thus contributing to changes in social norms and practices? This research explores lasting-changes in energy-related household practices following voluntary disruptive experimentation and subsequent involuntary disruptions. Compared to the macro-systemic disruptions experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic and the more recent energy crisis, the disruptions induced through the initial ‘heating challenge’ are of a much smaller magnitude. Our findings show that reductions in energy use are possible when routinized practices are disrupted through voluntary experimentation. In addition, our results indicate that the meanings tied up with indoor comfort had changed due to the initial experiment and that participants who initially experimented in an interactive community setting had learned more about how to connect, share experiences and reflections to adapt to other, also large-scale disruptions collaboratively.
{"title":"The influence of disruptive events on energy-related household practices: Results of a longitudinal study in the Netherlands","authors":"Véronique Vasseur , Julia Backhaus","doi":"10.1016/j.eist.2024.100920","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.eist.2024.100920","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Household energy use relates to our socio-cultural identity, our socio-economic status and the socio-cultural and material contexts in which we live. Around the world, households experienced dramatic changes in light of the COVID-19 pandemic and the drastic increase of energy prices following the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Habits and routines were disrupted, reinterpreted, reorganized and renegotiated, albeit under constraints and in most cases involuntarily. This paper analyses how the practice of ‘keeping warm’ responds to disruptive events ranging from a small-scale and short-lived experiment to much more drastic and far-reaching geopolitical events. Following an initial study challenging households to reduce temperatures inside their homes during October/November 2018, the same households were revisited for follow-up questioning two and a half years after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe and six months after the attack of Russian armed forces on Ukraine. Quantitative and qualitative data were collected before, during, and three months as well as three years after the original ‘heating challenge’. The final follow-up survey took place in August 2022 and turned the initial short-lived Living Lab-based experiment into a longitudinal study.</div><div>The experimental exploration of possibilities to reduce household energy use through the disruption of routinized practices in Living Labs enables an analysis of the effects of disruptive events, including the role of values, social norms, habits and routines (Sahakian et al., 2021). But what happens, when experiments get serious and large-scale upheaval affecting many challenges and changes meanings, thus contributing to changes in social norms and practices? This research explores lasting-changes in energy-related household practices following voluntary disruptive experimentation and subsequent involuntary disruptions. Compared to the macro-systemic disruptions experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic and the more recent energy crisis, the disruptions induced through the initial ‘heating challenge’ are of a much smaller magnitude. Our findings show that reductions in energy use are possible when routinized practices are disrupted through voluntary experimentation. In addition, our results indicate that the meanings tied up with indoor comfort had changed due to the initial experiment and that participants who initially experimented in an interactive community setting had learned more about how to connect, share experiences and reflections to adapt to other, also large-scale disruptions collaboratively.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":54294,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Innovation and Societal Transitions","volume":"53 ","pages":"Article 100920"},"PeriodicalIF":5.7,"publicationDate":"2024-10-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142418259","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
This paper suggest that we need to better understand the relationship between policy rationales and their scalar orientation. The former refers to the underlying motivations for proposing policies. The latter refers to two dimensions: the geography of challenges that policy seek to address, and the geography of effects that policy seek to instigate. Such variations in the scalar orientation of national level climate and energy policy, may lead to differing rationales for (not) supporting technologies that can contribute to decarbonization, depending also on their alignment with broader context structures. In this way, scalar orientation of policy rationales may have significant implications for technology legitimacy. We develop a conceptual framework that distinguishes four types of scalar orientation in local/global challenges and effects. Empirically, we analyse how shifting scalar orientation of policy rationales in Norway has influenced legitimacy for LNG in shipping, offshore wind in the energy sector, and CCS for various user sectors.
{"title":"Scalar orientation of policies and technology legitimacy: The case of decarbonization in Norway","authors":"Teis Hansen , Jens Hanson , Tuukka Mäkitie , Håkon Normann , Markus Steen","doi":"10.1016/j.eist.2024.100919","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.eist.2024.100919","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This paper suggest that we need to better understand the relationship between policy rationales and their scalar orientation. The former refers to the underlying motivations for proposing policies. The latter refers to two dimensions: the geography of challenges that policy seek to address, and the geography of effects that policy seek to instigate. Such variations in the scalar orientation of national level climate and energy policy, may lead to differing rationales for (not) supporting technologies that can contribute to decarbonization, depending also on their alignment with broader context structures. In this way, scalar orientation of policy rationales may have significant implications for technology legitimacy. We develop a conceptual framework that distinguishes four types of scalar orientation in local/global challenges and effects. Empirically, we analyse how shifting scalar orientation of policy rationales in Norway has influenced legitimacy for LNG in shipping, offshore wind in the energy sector, and CCS for various user sectors.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":54294,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Innovation and Societal Transitions","volume":"53 ","pages":"Article 100919"},"PeriodicalIF":5.7,"publicationDate":"2024-10-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142418257","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-10-08DOI: 10.1016/j.eist.2024.100921
Luka Gudek, Kristiaan P.W. Kok, Jacqueline E.W. Broerse
Although stakeholder engagement is a well-discussed topic within sustainability transitions research, it is underexplored in the context of supranational actors, such as the EU, despite the apparent relevance. Through the case study of the European citizen and stakeholder consultations around European Green Deal (EGD), this paper investigates the implications of stakeholder engagement conducted on a supranational level. By applying a transitions-based engagement framework, gaps are highlighted in the existing knowledge of the particular supranational dynamics in engagement for sustainability transitions. The goals of engagement are entangled and point to the complexity of supranational organisations, as well as specific challenges these organisations face in engagement processes. These include challenges of overcoming scale, relevance for the citizens, as well as legitimizing their own role as a transitions actor. These distinctly supranational challenges of engagement in transitions highlight several new avenues for research. In order to play a more effective role in transitions, supranational organisations must overcome these challenges.
{"title":"Towards new perspectives of stakeholder engagement in sustainability transitions: Bringing the supranational level into view","authors":"Luka Gudek, Kristiaan P.W. Kok, Jacqueline E.W. Broerse","doi":"10.1016/j.eist.2024.100921","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.eist.2024.100921","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Although stakeholder engagement is a well-discussed topic within sustainability transitions research, it is underexplored in the context of supranational actors, such as the EU, despite the apparent relevance. Through the case study of the European citizen and stakeholder consultations around European Green Deal (EGD), this paper investigates the implications of stakeholder engagement conducted on a supranational level. By applying a transitions-based engagement framework, gaps are highlighted in the existing knowledge of the particular supranational dynamics in engagement for sustainability transitions. The goals of engagement are entangled and point to the complexity of supranational organisations, as well as specific challenges these organisations face in engagement processes. These include challenges of overcoming scale, relevance for the citizens, as well as legitimizing their own role as a transitions actor. These distinctly supranational challenges of engagement in transitions highlight several new avenues for research. In order to play a more effective role in transitions, supranational organisations must overcome these challenges.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":54294,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Innovation and Societal Transitions","volume":"53 ","pages":"Article 100921"},"PeriodicalIF":5.7,"publicationDate":"2024-10-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142418256","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-09-28DOI: 10.1016/j.eist.2024.100917
Ping Huang , Vanesa Castán Broto , Linda Westman
The narrative of 'just transition' has gained significant traction in arenas of transition research and policymaking. Social innovation can play a central role in delivering a just transition, fostering social change and providing social arrangements that enable adjustment to change. Engaging with the ‘shapeshifting’ nature of social innovation, this research conceptualizes social innovation at the core of the just transition. Through an in-depth empirical case of tea industrialization in Enshi, China, this research explores how a locally born social innovation, Enshi Yulu, has gained momentum in advancing a just transition in-the-making in a new era of ecological civilization. The empirical analysis reveals that the key to the empowerment of Enshi Yulu in driving a just transition in Enshi city lies in the introduction of updated forms of the social innovation at opportune moments. This finding underscores the importance of comprehending the context- and time-sensitive nature of social innovation in navigating the directionality of transition towards more just outcomes. The core analytical question lies not in characterizing the ultimate shape of social innovation, but in understanding how certain initiatives come to be understood as social innovation and with what implications.
{"title":"Harnessing social innovation for a just transition: A case study of tea industrialization in China's era of ecological civilization","authors":"Ping Huang , Vanesa Castán Broto , Linda Westman","doi":"10.1016/j.eist.2024.100917","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.eist.2024.100917","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The narrative of 'just transition' has gained significant traction in arenas of transition research and policymaking. Social innovation can play a central role in delivering a just transition, fostering social change and providing social arrangements that enable adjustment to change. Engaging with the ‘shapeshifting’ nature of social innovation, this research conceptualizes social innovation at the core of the just transition. Through an in-depth empirical case of tea industrialization in Enshi, China, this research explores how a locally born social innovation, Enshi Yulu, has gained momentum in advancing a just transition <em>in-the-making</em> in a new era of ecological civilization. The empirical analysis reveals that the key to the empowerment of Enshi Yulu in driving a just transition in Enshi city lies in the introduction of updated forms of the social innovation at opportune moments. This finding underscores the importance of comprehending the context- and time-sensitive nature of social innovation in navigating the directionality of transition towards more just outcomes. The core analytical question lies not in characterizing the ultimate shape of social innovation, but in understanding how certain initiatives come to be understood as social innovation and with what implications.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":54294,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Innovation and Societal Transitions","volume":"53 ","pages":"Article 100917"},"PeriodicalIF":5.7,"publicationDate":"2024-09-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142358930","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-09-27DOI: 10.1016/j.eist.2024.100916
Matti Pihlajamaa, Ville Valovirta
As local authorities and providers of services and infrastructures, cities can advance sustainability transformations through instruments like public procurement. However, a disconnect exists between broad (supra)national sustainability challenges and public procurers’ local needs. We examine innovation contests as a tool for articulating societal challenges as local demands for innovation. We study Helsinki Energy Challenge, where the city of Helsinki, Finland, sought solutions for decarbonizing its heating system, offering a million-euro reward. We explore how innovation contest-related activities contribute to articulating demand for system innovation locally and their influence on participants’ problem-solving approaches. The case demonstrates how innovation contests could localise demand for sustainable solutions and direct innovation processes toward a societal challenge, while supporting solutions’ broader scalability. We identify six demand articulation activities: expressing strategic intent, scoping, boundary-setting, user-producer interaction, evaluation, and embedding. We enhance understanding of demand articulation processes for system innovation and the potential of innovation contests for transformative innovation missions.
{"title":"The potential of innovation contests in articulating demand for system-level transformation: The case of the Helsinki Energy Challenge","authors":"Matti Pihlajamaa, Ville Valovirta","doi":"10.1016/j.eist.2024.100916","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.eist.2024.100916","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>As local authorities and providers of services and infrastructures, cities can advance sustainability transformations through instruments like public procurement. However, a disconnect exists between broad (supra)national sustainability challenges and public procurers’ local needs. We examine innovation contests as a tool for articulating societal challenges as local demands for innovation. We study Helsinki Energy Challenge, where the city of Helsinki, Finland, sought solutions for decarbonizing its heating system, offering a million-euro reward. We explore how innovation contest-related activities contribute to articulating demand for system innovation locally and their influence on participants’ problem-solving approaches. The case demonstrates how innovation contests could localise demand for sustainable solutions and direct innovation processes toward a societal challenge, while supporting solutions’ broader scalability. We identify six demand articulation activities: expressing strategic intent, scoping, boundary-setting, user-producer interaction, evaluation, and embedding. We enhance understanding of demand articulation processes for system innovation and the potential of innovation contests for transformative innovation missions.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":54294,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Innovation and Societal Transitions","volume":"53 ","pages":"Article 100916"},"PeriodicalIF":5.7,"publicationDate":"2024-09-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142327171","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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