Burgermeesterboek: Lokaal en duurzaam innoveren voor iedereen

Iedere tijd vraagt om zijn eigen manier van innoveren. Onze tijd vraagt om burge(r)meesters: bijzondere burgers met lef die een heldere visie hebben op de toekomst. Het Burge(r)meesterboek maakt duidelijk hoe deze burge(r)meesters samen met bestuurders, beleidsmedewerkers, ondernemers en inwoners aan een duurzaam Nederland kunnen werken. Pepik Henneman en Derk Loorbach beschrijven een methode waarbij initiatieven en ideeën van koplopers uit het bedrijfsleven, overheid en samenleving verbonden worden tot een gezamenlijke visie en aanpak. Deze benadering is gebaseerd op de laatste inzichten uit transitiemanagement, co-creatie en ervaringen met diverse succesvolle lokale pioniersprojecten en helpt gemeentes, provincies en lokale pioniers om samen innovatieprocessen te versnellen. Een boek over en vooral voor bijzondere, betrokken burgers, beleidsmakers én burgervaders, die samen de slag om morgen willen winnen voor de nieuwe generaties. Met veertien portretten van Burge(r)meesters

Evaluating megaprojects: from the “iron triangle” to network mapping

Evaluation literature has paid relatively little attention to the specific needs of evaluating large, complex industrial and infrastructure projects, often called ‘megaprojects’. The abundant megaproject governance literature, in turn, has largely focused on the so-called ‘megaproject pathologies’, i.e. the chronic budget overruns, and failure of such projects to keep to timetables and deliver the expected social and economic benefits. This article draws on these two strands of literature, identifies shortcomings, and suggests potential pathways towards an improved evaluation of megaprojects. To counterbalance the current overemphasis on relatively narrowly defined accountability as the main function of megaproject evaluation, and the narrow definition of project success in megaproject evaluation, the article argues that conceptualizing megaprojects as dynamic and evolving networks would provide a useful basis for the design of an evaluation approach better able to promote learning and to address the socio economic aspects of megaprojects. A modified version of ‘network mapping’ is suggested as a possible framework for megaproject evaluation, with the exploration of the multiple accountability relationships as a central evaluation task, designed to reconcile learning and accountability as the central evaluation functions. The article highlights the role of evaluation as an ‘emergent’ property of spontaneous megaproject ‘governing’, and explores the challenges that this poses to the role of the evaluator

Power in Transition: An Interdisciplinary Framework to Study Power in Relation to Structural Change

This article conceptualizes power in the context of long-term process of structural change. First, it discusses the field of transition studies, which deals with processes of structural change in societal systems on the basis of certain presumptions about power relations, but still lacks an explicit conceptualization of power. Then the article discusses some prevailing points of contestation in debates on power. It is argued that for the context of transition studies, it is necessary to develop an interdisciplinary framework in which power is explicitly conceptualized in relation to change. Subsequently, such a framework is presented, with reference to existing literature on power. Starting with a philosophical and operational definition of power, a typology is developed of the different ways in which power can be exercised, explicitly including innovative power and transformative power. Finally, the presented power framework is applied to transition studies, redefining pivotal transition concepts in terms of power and formulating hypotheses on the role of power in transitions. By doing so, the article not only offers an interdisciplinary framework to study power in the context of transition studies, but also contributes to power debates more generally by including innovation and transformation as acts of power, and thereby proposes a re-conceptualization of the relation between power and structural change

Assessing the Dutch energy transition policy: how does it deal with dilemmas of managing transitions?

ABSTRACT In the Netherlands, the national government is committed towards altering the systems of energy, transport and agriculture in the name of sustainable development. A process of deliberation and change was started—aimed at achieving ‘transitions’—using a model of transition management. This paper examines how the new arrangements of governance for energy transition deal with six problems of steering: ambivalence about goals, uncertainty about cause–effect relations, distributed power of control, political myopia, determination of short-term steps for long-term change and the danger of lock-in to new systems. The Dutch experience shows that transition management is applied in ways different from the original model (established players play a too great role) but it appears a useful model of reflexive governance, combining advantages of incremental politics with those of planning. It helps to orientate innovation policy and sectoral policies to sustainable development goals and to exploit business interests in system innovations in a prudent manner

A Practical Guide to Preprints: Accelerating Scholarly Communication

This guide is the translation adapted to the French background of "A Practical Guide to Preprints: Accelerating Scholarly Communication"International audienceThis guide is the translation adapted to the French background of "A Practical Guide to Preprints: Accelerating Scholarly Communication" prepared and distributed by a team of Dutch researchers and librarians). It is intended for researchers who wish to deposit preprints in repositories even before their manuscript is accepted by a publisher and addresses a number of their questions and concerns related to community review, publication in scientific and scholarly journals, evaluation and assessment, and the visibility of their work.The guide also includes explanations and advice on the use, understanding and interpretation of the preprint for members of the public, who may find it useful as well.Ce guide est la traduction adaptée au contexte français de "A Practical Guide to Preprints: Accelerating Scholarly Communication" préparé et diffusé par une équipe de chercheurs et bibliothécaires néerlandais . Il s'adresse aux chercheuses et chercheurs qui désirent déposer des prépublications dans des archives même avant l'acceptation de leur manuscrit auprès d'un éditeur et répond à un certain nombre de leurs questions et préoccupations en lien avec l'appréciation communautaire, la publication dans des revues scientifiques et savantes, l'évaluation et la visibilité de leur travail.L'ouvrage offre également des explications et des conseils pour l'utilisation, la compréhension et l'interprétation de cet objet particulier qu'est le préprint aux membres du public auprès duquel il trouve également une certaine utilité

One transition, many transitions? A corpus-based study of societal sustainability transition discourses in four civil society’s proposals

When the civil society makes ‘transition’ its label, it cannot be assumed that different civil society actors share compatible varieties of localist or radical transformationists discourses. This study has comparatively analyzed the discourses in four civil society sustainability transition proposals using a corpus-based methodology. We found that the proposals are similar as they identify the economy as an object and an entry point for transition, frame the economy as embedded in the socio–ecological system, ascribe agency to grassroots movements for transitions from the bottom–up. We also found crucial differences among the discourses regarding the role of the State, the degree of reform or radical innovation, the degree of imaginative character of the sustainability vision, the degree of opposition to capitalism. We suggest that insights on how the civil society employs notions of transition with respect to the themes of politics, emotions and place can help advance theorizations and practices of societal sustainability transitions led by the civil society

Towards a Learning System for University Campuses as Living Labs for Sustainability

Universities, due to their sizeable estates and populations of staff and students, as well as their connections with, and impact within, their local and wider communities, have significant environmental, social and economic impacts. There is a strong movement for universities to become leaders in driving society towards a more sustainable future, through improving the sustainability of the built environment and the universities’ practices and operations, and through their educational, research and wider community engagement missions. Around the globe the concept of ‘Living Labs’ has emerged as an instrument to integrate these different aspects to deliver sustainability improvements, through engaging multiple stakeholders in all of these areas, and through the co-creation of projects to improve the sustainability of the campus environment and operations, and to link these to the education, research, and wider community missions of the institution. This chapter describes a living, shared framework and methodology, the ‘Campus as Living Lab’ learning system, created through global participatory workshops and Living Lab literature, aimed at supporting universities and their Sustainability (Coordinating) Offices in the development and monitoring of Living Lab projects. The framework includes seven categories of supportive data collection and three levels of details to meet different requirements of potential users. The Living Lab framework presented in this chapter, aims to create value and help universities maximise the benefit of Living Lab projects within an institution, support monitoring, reflection and learning from projects, and facilitate communication with stakeholders, and the sharing of practices and learning between peers across the globe. As a living shared, framework and learning system, the framework will adapt and develop over time and within different contexts. To provide feedback and fast (practical) learning from users, the system will be further developed to facilitate transparent peer reviewing