Megaprojects as Niches of Sociotechnical Transitions: The Case of Digitalization in UK Construction

Transitions are processes of systemic change where niches peripheral to a sociotechnical regime accumulate momentum, scale up and eventually transform its core. In contrast to this dominant narrative in transitions research, infrastructure systems exhibit the reverse process as change propagates from the regime core to its periphery. We explore this under-researched process in the case of digitalization in UK construction. We analyse six UK megaprojects that span more than 30 years and show how the adoption of digital technologies that is driven by regime incumbents, seeds the processes of technology adaptation, aggregation, and system transformation. The adoption of digital technologies by incumbents is necessary to cope with megaproject scale and scope. Their adaptation to technology instigates organizational level change that starts at the regime core, accumulates with each project and makes these changes ripple across the industry and transform it

Addressing capability failure in demand-led industrial transitions

Public policy is now confronted with the exceptional challenge of transforming our current production and consumption systems within timeframes defined by imperatives such as climate change mitigation. To this end, there are large potential policy gains from aligning, synchronising and/or sequencing demand-side policies for solution deployment with supply-side policies for production capability accumulation and diversification. For example, fiscal policies and regulations in support of solution deployment for the challenge of climate change with policies in support of innovation, investment and skills development. The present note outlines the conceptual basis for the development of a new System Dynamics model that aspires to quantify these policy gains. The model will be empirically calibrated and intended to capture the joint dynamics of solution deployment (demand) and production capability accumulation and diversification (supply) taking place over time horizons of one or more decades. This will serve as a basis to evaluate the approximate contributions of various policies over time. To facilitate model development, we demarcate an initial analytical space that combines high value for policy, theoretical soundness, sufficient data availability and well-established empirical regularities. The ambition is to offer a simulation environment that allows quick policy experimentation, learning and improvement, and can therefore facilitate the design of powerful packages of policies potentially spanning several policy areas and levels of governance.JRC.B.7 - Innovation Policies and Economic Impac

Home for the Common Future (HCF):The use of home-meanings to promote domestic energy retrofit

The promotion of energy retrofit to homeowners is an important policy strategy to reduce operational energy use in dwellings and mitigate climate change. Energy research and policy typically focus on the cognitive (logical) aspects to motivate retrofit decisions, such as savings on energy bills and health considerations. However, this focus appears to have neglected the emotional aspects of how homeowners themselves make sense of the potential benefits of low-carbon dwellings.To encompass both the emotional and cognitive aspects of energy retrofit decisions, the authors developed a home-meanings framework around the concept of perezhivanie (emotional and cognitive experience). We backgrounded our theoretical construction by drawing upon current literature of home-meanings and empirical insights from: (i) eighteen case studies, in ten of which homeowners achieved significant carbon emission reductions through retrofit activities, while in eight they did not; (ii) a stakeholder workshop (n = 36), representing various actors interested to advance domestic energy retrofit activities in the UK, e.g. industry, government, academia, intermediaries.We analysed the data to identify positive experiences associated with low-carbon dwellings. These experiences are organised in five themes: (i) control over one's environment; (ii) Health and well-being & Happiness in everyday life, (iii) Climate concerns & Caring identity, (iv) Financial considerations & Future-resilience; (v) a full integration between and individual and their environment. The authors developed a Home for the Common Future (HCF) heuristic, which captures three out of five identified themes (ii–iv). We suggest that the heuristic can be used for promoting the benefits of low-carbon dwellings

Home for the Common Future (HCF):The use of home-meanings to promote domestic energy retrofit

The promotion of energy retrofit to homeowners is an important policy strategy to reduce operational energy use in dwellings and mitigate climate change. Energy research and policy typically focus on the cognitive (logical) aspects to motivate retrofit decisions, such as savings on energy bills and health considerations. However, this focus appears to have neglected the emotional aspects of how homeowners themselves make sense of the potential benefits of low-carbon dwellings.To encompass both the emotional and cognitive aspects of energy retrofit decisions, the authors developed a home-meanings framework around the concept of perezhivanie (emotional and cognitive experience). We backgrounded our theoretical construction by drawing upon current literature of home-meanings and empirical insights from: (i) eighteen case studies, in ten of which homeowners achieved significant carbon emission reductions through retrofit activities, while in eight they did not; (ii) a stakeholder workshop (n = 36), representing various actors interested to advance domestic energy retrofit activities in the UK, e.g. industry, government, academia, intermediaries.We analysed the data to identify positive experiences associated with low-carbon dwellings. These experiences are organised in five themes: (i) control over one's environment; (ii) Health and well-being & Happiness in everyday life, (iii) Climate concerns & Caring identity, (iv) Financial considerations & Future-resilience; (v) a full integration between and individual and their environment. The authors developed a Home for the Common Future (HCF) heuristic, which captures three out of five identified themes (ii–iv). We suggest that the heuristic can be used for promoting the benefits of low-carbon dwellings

Home for the common future (HCF): the use of home-meanings to promote domestic energy retrofit

The promotion of energy retrofit to homeowners is an important policy strategy to reduce operational energy use in dwellings and mitigate climate change. Energy research and policy typically focus on the cognitive (logical) aspects to motivate retrofit decisions, such as savings on energy bills and health considerations. However, this focus appears to have neglected the emotional aspects of how homeowners themselves make sense of the potential benefits of low-carbon dwellings. To encompass both the emotional and cognitive aspects of energy retrofit decisions, the authors developed a home-meanings framework around the concept of perezhivanie (emotional and cognitive experience). We backgrounded our theoretical construction by drawing upon current literature of home-meanings and empirical insights from: (i) eighteen case studies, in ten of which homeowners achieved significant carbon emission reductions through retrofit activities, while in eight they did not; (ii) a stakeholder workshop (n = 36), representing various actors interested to advance domestic energy retrofit activities in the UK, e.g. industry, government, academia, intermediaries. We analysed the data to identify positive experiences associated with low-carbon dwellings. These experiences are organised in five themes: (i) control over one's environment; (ii) Health and well-being & Happiness in everyday life, (iii) Climate concerns & Caring identity, (iv) Financial considerations & Future-resilience; (v) a full integration between and individual and their environment. The authors developed a Home for the Common Future (HCF) heuristic, which captures three out of five identified themes (ii–iv). We suggest that the heuristic can be used for promoting the benefits of low-carbon dwellings