Mobile transitions : exploring synergies for urban sustainability research

Urban sustainability approaches focusing on a wide range of topics such as infrastructure and mobility, green construction and neighbourhood planning, or urban nature and green amenities have attracted scholarly interest for over three decades. Recent debates on the role of cities in climate change mitigation have triggered new attempts to conceptually and methodologically grasp the cross-sectorial and cross-level interplay of enrolled actors. Within these debates, urban and economic geographers have increasingly adopted co-evolutionary approaches such as the social studies of technology (SST or ‘transition studies’). Their plea for more spatial sensitivity of the transition approach has led to promising proposals to adapt geographic perspectives to case studies on urban sustainability. This paper advocates engagement with recent work in urban studies, specifically policy mobility, to explore conceptual and methodological synergies. It emphasises four strengths of an integrated approach: (1) a broadened understanding of innovations that emphasises not only processes of knowledge generation but also of knowledge transfer through (2) processes of learning, adaptation and mutation, (3) a relational understanding of the origin and dissemination of innovations focused on the complex nature of cities and (4) the importance of individual actors as agents of change and analytical scale that highlights social processes of innovation. The notion of urban assemblages further allows the operationalisation of both the relational embeddedness of local policies as well as their cross-sectoral actor constellations

“Just” ecopreneurs: re-conceptualising green transitions and entrepreneurship

© 2016 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. Economic, environmental, and social limits of the current capitalist mode of production have led to a rethinking and reconceptualisation of economic processes and models including the role of businesses in sustainable development. While green economies and more specifically green entrepreneurs have been identified as agents of change that can challenge the mainstream and seek to induce environmental, social, and ethical transformation of society, much research has stayed within existing models of thinking predominantly rooted in technocratic approaches (e.g. ecological modernisation and more recently transition studies). This paper seeks to offer an alternative understanding of green entrepreneurship that breaks open these discussions using an environmental justice frame that focuses on the role of extra-economic discourses in shaping the social relations of economic systems. By drawing on an exemplary case study of “just” entrepreneurship from Boston, Massachusetts, USA, the paper seeks to start a conversation around the ideas of green entrepreneurship and environmental justice as vehicles to deliver potentially broader system changes and explores both conceptual and practical aspects of green development. As such, it offers (1) evidence of a just green economy that can be realised within existing capitalist structures as well as (2) a different conceptual entry point to understanding green entrepreneurship

Institutional thickening and innovation: reflections on the remapping of the Great Bear Rainforest

The information, practices and views in this article are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of the Royal Geographical Society (with IBG). © 2016 Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers) As a response to forest conflict, contemporary remapping refers to re-evaluations of resource values, new and diverse forms of governance among stakeholders, and compromises within patterns of land use that give greater emphasis to environmental and cultural priorities. This paper elaborates the processes of remapping by examining the role of institutional innovation in conflict resolution, with particular reference to the iconic Great Bear Rainforest of British Columbia. After years of conflict and protest, peace in the Great Bear Rainforest was heralded by an interim agreement in 2006, with final ratification likely in 2016. Conceptually, a four-legged stakeholder model identifies the main institutional interests and their interactions through learning and bargaining. New forms of governance were created to bring the stakeholders together in constructive dialogue and then to reach and implement acceptable bargains. Analytically, the paper examines how this agreement has worked in practice by reflecting on the emergence of novel institutions that integrate the interests of key stakeholders. The discussion identifies six bilateral negotiations between: industrial and environmental interests; federal and provincial governments and aboriginal peoples; government and environmental interests; government and industry; industry and aboriginal peoples; and environmental groups and local communities. The remapping process has produced a thickening architecture of institutions that remain experimental even as they seek to promote sustainability, resilience and legitimacy

Blending scales of governance: land-use policies and practices in the small state of Luxembourg

© 2014 Regional Studies Association. Affolderbach J. and Carr C. Blending scales of governance: land-use policies and practices in the small state of Luxembourg, Regional Studies. While multilevel governance is helpful in understanding the logics behind integrated sustainable development policies, this paper argues that relational multi-scalar approaches more accurately explain actual land-use transformations in the small state of Luxembourg. These conclusions are based on surveys of planning policies and observations of land-use patterns related to housing and retail. Additionally, over 60 interviews were performed with local actors. The results reveal how actors blend scales of governance to override national directives to exert changes in land use. Blending scales is not always strategic or advantageous, but is an unavoidable process that characterizes interactions in a small state

Summary of Preliminary Results: BALTA Social Economy Survey Spring 2008

In January 2008 the BC-Alberta Social Economy Research Alliance (BALTA) launched its Social Economy Survey, as part of its Portraiture and Mapping project. The survey consists of an online questionnaire and is housed at Athabasca University. It is designed to compile an inventory of social economy actors and organizations in BC and Alberta in order to provide general data on the scope and scale of the sector including evidence of its economic, social and environmental significance. The survey is an ongoing endeavour. It will stay active for the duration of the mapping project until 2011. The survey is open to any organizations and actors that are part of the social economy.The BC-Alberta Social Economy Research Alliance (BALTA) is a regional collaboration of organizations engaged in research initiatives to strengthen the foundations of the social economy in western Canada. Undertaken by the BALTA mapping team, a social economy survey is aimed at identifying the scope and characteristics of the social economy in BC and Alberta. The online survey is ongoing. This summary provides a brief overview of the first responses collected from January to April 2008.BC-Alberta Social Economy Research Alliance (BALTA

Mapping the Social Economy in British Columbia and Alberta: Trends, Patterns, New Directions

The BC-Alberta Social Economy Research Alliance (BALTA) is collecting information on the scope and scale of the social economy in British Columbia and Alberta. As part of this research endeavor, the BALTA Mapping project conducted an online survey in 2008. This paper provides a first snapshot of the social economy in British Columbia and Alberta based on information collected with the BALTA mapping online survey. It reflects on research decisions and identifies some challenges in surveying the sector. While the mapping project is ongoing, data collected so far illustrate the diversity of the sector and underline its importance for individuals, communities and the economy. The paper sets out some preliminary patterns and provides analysis of the role of the sector as it impacts gender and minorities, its engagement with market practices and the emergence of the environment and sustainability as a social economy mission and practice.BC-Alberta Social Economy Research Alliance (BALTA) ; Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC

2008 Summary of Results: BALTA Social Economy Survey - Fall 2008

In January 2008 the BC-Alberta Social Economy Research Alliance (BALTA) launched its Social Economy Survey, as part of its Portraiture and Mapping project. The survey consists of an online questionnaire and is housed at Athabasca University. It is designed to compile an inventory of social economy actors and organizations in BC and Alberta in order to provide general data on the scope and scale of the sector including evidence of its economic, social and environmental significance. The survey is an ongoing endeavour. It will stay active for the duration of the mapping project until 2011. The survey is open to any organizations and actors that are part of the social economy.The BC-Alberta Social Economy Research Alliance (BALTA) is a regional collaboration of organizations engaged in research initiatives to strengthen the foundations of the social economy in western Canada. Undertaken by the BALTA mapping team, a social economy survey is aimed at identifying the scope and characteristics of the social economy in BC and Alberta. The online survey is ongoing. This summary provides a brief overview of the responses collected from January to October 2008

Positioning Vancouver through urban sustainability strategies? The Greenest City 2020 Action Plan

© 2017 Elsevier Ltd Cities around the world have launched greening initiatives to reduce their carbon footprint and to become more sustainable. At the same time, they have also sought to use these initiatives to position themselves as climate change leaders and green champions. This paper focuses on the City of Vancouver's Greenest City 2020 Action Plan as urban policy strategy to reduce carbon emissions. Based on interviews with actors and experts involved in the development and implementation of the plan, the paper evaluates the role green leadership aspirations play in shaping urban climate change policy and how policy makers and stakeholders use policy to position the city and its greening initiatives locally and globally. In particular, it analyzes the role of competitive positioning and green leadership in sustainability initiatives and change within and beyond urban boundaries. While leadership suggests increased buy-in of residents and those involved in the implementation of the strategy and multiplication effects through learning within the region and between (peer) cities, it can also pose challenges as the interest in meeting leadership claims can impede more radical change through specific targets and implementation strategies and challenge other sustainability objectives

Just transitions through digitally enabled sharing economies?

Digital technologies have become central to social interaction and accessing goods and services. Development strategies and approaches to governance have increasingly deployed self-labelled ‘smart’ technologies and systems at various spatial scales, often promoted as rectifying social and geographic inequalities and increasing economic and environmental efficiencies. These have also been accompanied with similarly digitalized commercial and non-profit offers, particularly within the sharing economy. Concern has grown, however, over possible inequalities linked to their introduction. In this paper we critically analyse the role of sharing economies’ contribution to more inclusive, socially equitable and spatially just transitions. Conceptually, this paper brings together literature on sharing economies, smart urbanism and just transitions. Drawing on an explorative database of sharing initiatives within the cross-border region of Luxembourg and Germany, we discuss aspects of sustainability as they relate to distributive justice through spatial accessibility, intended benefits, and their operationalization. The regional analysis shows the diversity of sharing models, how they are appropriated in different ways and how intent and operationalization matter in terms of potential benefits. Results emphasize the need for more fine-grained, qualitative research revealing who is, and is not, participating and benefitting from sharing economies

Urban energy transitions through innovations in green building

Recent debates on climate change have increasingly focused on cities as a strategic spatial scale to implementss climate change mitigation and adaptation strategies. Within this context, green building and the way the built environment interfaces with urban structures and services have become significant levers of action for cities to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and become climate change leaders (Bulkeley et al., 2011). Approximately 30% to 40% of final energy consumption is linked to buildings and, as a consequence, the building sector has been identified as one of the most relevant sectors to reduce CObuilding is largely associated with technological innovations, building design and the way elements are embedded within the overall urban fabric, a shift towards green building in cities largely depends on modes of sustainable governance. Relevant dimensions include support of and for green policies and incentives, institutional support through resource centres, think tanks, certification bodies, and training, aspects of inclusivity both in the planning process as well as the later use of (and access to) buildings and to a considerable extent on lived sustainability (i.e. the ways individuals interact with and use buildings). This latter dimension of possibly changing user behaviour and consumer lifestyles seems to be absent from most of the energy scenario studies, as Samadi et al. (2016) revealed in their assessment of a series of internationally influential studies and policy programmes. Like other scholars (e.g. Sachs, 1999; Princen, 2003; Schneidewind & Zahrnt, 2014), they plead for a stronger conceptualization of sufficiency oriented policy approaches and differentiate persuasive instruments (e.g. through education and communication) from incentive based (price/tax policies) and more coercive approaches (limits, bans)