99,216 research outputs found

    The value of theoretical multiplicity for steering transitions towards sustainability

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    Transition management, as a theory of directing structural societal changes towards sustainable system innovations, has become a major topic in scientific research over the last years. In this paper we focus on the question how transitions towards sustainability can be steered, governed or managed, in particular by governmental actors. We suggest an approach of theoretical multiplicity, arguing that multiple theories will be needed simultaneously for dealing with the complex societal sustainability issues. Therefore, we address the steering question by theoretically comparing transition management theory to a number of related theories on societal change and intervention, such as multi-actor collaboration, network governance, configuration management, policy agenda setting, and adaptive management. We conclude that these related theories put the managerial assumptions of transition management into perspective, by adding other steering roles and leadership mechanisms to the picture. Finally we argue that new modes of steering inevitable have consequences for the actual governance institutions. New ways of governing change ask for change within governance systems itself and vice versa. Our argument for theoretical multiplicity implicates the development of multiple, potentially conflicting, governance capacitie

    Soil Governance: Accessing Cross-Disciplinary Perspectives

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    Soil provides the foundation for agricultural and environmental systems, and are subject to a complex governance regime of property rights and secondary impacts from industry and domestic land use. Complex natural resource management issues require approaches to governance that acknowledge uncertainty and complexity. Theories of next generation environmental governance assume that inclusion of diverse perspectives will improve reform directions and encourage behaviour change. This paper reports on a qualitative survey of an international workshop that brought together cross-disciplinary perspectives to address the challenges of soil governance. Results reveal the challenges of communicating effectively across disciplines. The findings suggest that strategies for improved soils governance must focus on increasing communications with community stakeholders and engaging land managers in designing shared governance regimes. The need for more conscious articulation of the challenges of cross-disciplinary environments is discussed and strategies for increasing research collaboration in soils governance are suggested. The identified need for more systematic approaches to cross-disciplinary learning, including reporting back of cross-disciplinary initiatives to help practitioners learn from past experience, forms part of the rationale for this paper

    The Importance of Clusters for Sustainable Innovation Processes: The Context of Small and Medium Sized Regions

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    The purpose of the current paper is to provide a critical state-of-the-art review of current research on clusters and its correlation to innovation dynamics in small and medium-sized regions. In particular, we focus on the systematization of the main concepts and theoretical insights that are tributary to the cluster overview in terms of its relevance for the sustainability of the innovation processes, knowledge production and diffusion, which take place inside small and medium-sized regions. The present working paper takes into account the initial studies on English industrial districts (in the nineteenth century), passing through the Italian industrial districts (in the 70s and 80s of the twentieth century), until the modern theories of business clusters and innovation systems. These frameworks constitute the basis of an approach to endogenous development, which gives a central role to the interaction between economic actors, the society and the institutions and to the identification, mobilization and combination of potential resources within a particular geographical area.Cluster; Innovation; Endogenous development; Territory.

    Private Sector Investment and Sustainable Development: The Current and Potential Role of Institutional Investors, Companies, Banks and Foundations in Sustainable Development

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    This paper seeks to provide the Financing for Development process with a perspective on the role institutional investors, companies, and foundations can play in the design and implementation of a financing strategy for global sustainability. This will help bridge the terminology and investment approaches of institutional investors, companies, foundations, and governments. The paper highlights ongoing efforts among private investors to increase the impact of their investments. It concludes with a set of key actions facing investors, companies and foundations in their transition towards investment practices that contribute to sustainable development

    Towards a framework for analyzing interactions between social science and environmental policy

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    Interactions between social science and environmental policy have become increasingly important over the past 25 years. There has, however, been little analysis of the roles that social scientists adopt and the contributions they make. In this paper we begin the process, offering tentative answers to two key questions: in relation to environmental problems: (1) how do social science and public policy interact? and (2) in the future, what types of interactions can social scientists engage in? To answer these questions we build on research in policy studies and science and technology studies, and extend it through public scholarship debates

    THE “STOCK AND FLOW” APPROACH TO THE GOVERNANCE OF SELF-SUSTAINABLE RURAL SYSTEMS

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    The aim of this study is to present the “stock and flow” model - based on the Georgescu-Roegen bio economic paradigm and on the ecological economics principles - in a regional key and to discuss the implications of such an approach on the local system governance in order to guarantee a long term economic, social and environmental self-sustainability. These theories give a dynamic characteristic to this approach, by interconnecting the production process (supply) with the responsibilities of the welfare generation (demand). Starting from this theoretical model, it is possible to look at the integrating modes of production and consumption processes at a local scale that consent to guide a rural system towards conditions of sustainability. This perspective of rural system governance imposes the relocation of the control of resources (stock) to a local level and, therefore, a deep change in the idea of the politic procedures.Ecological economics, Stock and flow, Ecological footprint, Agribusiness, Community/Rural/Urban Development, Environmental Economics and Policy, Public Economics,

    Multifunctionality and value creation in rural areas of southern Italy

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    The paper focuses on a new theoretical-methodological approach to interpreting functional transformation processes of farms located in rural areas and marked by a delay in development. We have defined a theoretical paradigm of optimal value portfolio (OVP) which considers -in a new light- multifunctional agricultural farms as an ensemble of governance structures optimizing the creation of value. The need to validate the OVP functionality has led us to identify a new methodological approach referred to as the Value Portfolio and Multifunctional Governance Analysis (VPMGA). This analysis embeds value chain analysis and governance value analysis and at the same time attempts to overcome the “sectoral” limits representing also a new and further development. We deem, in fact, that the VPMGA best responds to the specificities of multifunctional agricultural farms. Through the VPMGA we have identified four determining family variables which are internal and external to the farm (internal resources, market, territory, policies). We have also assessed the functional links with the boundary shift processes and the mechanisms governing transactions and the creation of an optimal value portfolio. We have empirically verified this approach on selected agro-food chains which are located in rural areas characterized by different levels of development. From the findings we have defined various ideal types of farms that allowed us to make future scientific assumptions and highlight normative implications for improving managerial decision-making processes based on the VPMGA model. In this way, the VPMGA can be a tool to inform policy makers, especially in the light of the new challenges facing rural development.multifunctionality, rural development, positive externalities, value chains, Community/Rural/Urban Development, Q12, Q18, Q19,

    10-01 "Climate-Resilient Industrial Development Paths: Design Principles and Alternative Models"

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    Global climate change is here. According to recent scientific reports, the earth has warmed by nearly half a degree centigrade over the last twenty five years. Even with robust mitigation efforts, the global climate could warm by up to 4 degrees centigrade due to past emissions. Under a business-as-usual, high consumption fossil fuel-based development path, it could warm even more, resulting in catastrophic and life-threatening destruction of earth’s eco-systems. The “climate imperative”—the urgent need to both mitigate and adapt to global climate change—has important implications for economic development paths in general and industry and energy policies in particular. Development models and practice historically have treated climate—and indeed, the natural environment in general—as exogenous. Future development models will need to incorporate both climactic uncertainty and the economic threats and opportunities arising from an evolving global climate regime. Developing countries, which are especially vulnerable to climate instability, will need to design energy and industry policies which aim to achieve not only economic and social objectives but which also enhance climate resilience. This paper explores the broad contours of climate resilient industrial development paths. It defines development as an increase in local capacities for production and innovation and argues that the overarching goal of development is the generation of sustainable livelihoods. It suggests that. to be climate resilient, industry policies should have four key design features: 1) they are pro-active; 2) they promote industrial diversification; 3) they focus on mobilizing investment in environmentally sustainable industries and infrastructure, including low-carbon and renewable energy; 4) they are highly responsive to local geo-physical conditions and are based on principles of adaptive management; and 5) they are designed, implemented and governed via accountable partnerships involving government, business, and community actors. The paper evaluates three development macro-models—neo-liberal, sustainable globalization, and new developmental—against the five design principles and finds that aspects of both climate vulnerability and climate-resilience are embodied in each. The paper concludes that responding to the climate imperative will require not a new synthesized one-size-fits-all model but a multiplicity of economic development paths. The effort to articulate the theory and praxis of such paths has barely begun.
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