What is protective space? Reconsidering niches in transitions to sustainability

The transitions literature emphasises the role of niches, defined as a protective space for path-breaking innovations. Surprisingly, the concept of protection has not been systematically interrogated. Our analysis identifies protection as having three functions in wider transition processes: shielding, nurturing and empowerment. Empowerment, understood as processes and mechanisms that contribute to changes in mainstream selection environments in ways favourable to the path-breaking innovation, is considered the least developed in current niche development literature. We argue that these properties need to be understood from an agency perspective, with attention for the politics involved in their realisation. The paper ends with an outlook upon two promising research avenues: 1) the reconstruction of niche development pathways in light of the present framework; 2) analyses of the diverse (political) narratives seeking to empower niches across time and space.transitions, sustainability, niches

Соціально-комунікаційна праксеологія: поняття і методи

Про проблеми формулювання та становлення соціально-комунікаційної праксеології як напрямку у сфері соціальної комунікації.О проблемах формулирования и становления социально-коммуникационной праксеологии как направления в сфере социальной коммуникации.On the problems of formation and establishment of social-communication praсseology as line in the sphere of social communication

Urban Planning by Experiment at Precinct Scale: Embracing Complexity, Ambiguity, and Multiplicity

Urban living labs have emerged as spatially embedded arenas for governing urban transformation, where heterogenous actor configurations experiment with new practices, institutions, and infrastructures. This article observes a nascent shift towards experimentation at the precinct scale and responds to a need to further investigate relevant processes in urban experimentation at this scale, and identifies particular challenges for urban planning. We tentatively conceptualise precincts as spatially bounded urban environments loosely delineated by a particular combination of social or economic activity. Our methodology involves an interpretive systematic literature review of urban experimentation and urban living labs at precinct scale, along with an empirical illustration of the Net Zero Initiative at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia, which is operationalising its main campus into a living lab focussed on precinct-scale decarbonisation. We identify four processual categories relevant to precinct-scale experimentation: embedding, framing, governing, and learning. We use the empirical illustration to discuss the relevance of these processes, refine findings from the literature review and conclude with a discussion on the implications of our article for future scholarship on urban planning by experiment at precinct scale

Strategic Niche Management (SNM) beyond sustainability. An exploration of key findings of SNM through the lens of ICT and privacy

Recently the governance of socio-technical transitions to sustainability is gaining attention in the field of innovation studies. One particular approach is that of Strategic Niche Management (SNM), which advocates the creation of protected space to experiment with radically new sustainable socio-technical practices. This paper contributes by asking whether this approach is also useful for analysis and governance of other types of socially desirable change. This question is addressed through a review of six key-findings of Strategic Niche Management and an original case study in the field of Near Field Communication (NFC) technologies for mobile payment. The social value at stake in this case is not sustainability but privacy. We draw three main conclusions. First, we find that the key-findings and concepts in SNM for sustainability are helpful to understand and interpret much of the data collected for the NFC case and privacy. However, there are notable differences in each of the key-findings, i.e findings related to a) the local-global distinction in SNM, b) expectations, c) social networks, d) learning, e) protection, and f) niche-regime interactions. Second, in relation to governance, the role of sustainability values (being a promising value to pursue) and privacy values (being a bottom-line value to defend) are notably different. Third, these differences result in different roles of public bodies in niche development. The paper ends with discussing the consequences for SNM for sustainability research and future research topics.Strategic Niche Management, sustainability, NFC, mobile payment, privacy

Translation Mechanisms in Socio-Technical Niches. A case study of Dutch river management

This paper makes three contributions to the field of transition research. First, it sheds light on how the concept of translation can contribute to a better understanding of agency in niche development. Second, it articulates how the local-global distinction in the Strategic Niche Management (SNM) approach relates to the levels in the Multi-Level Perspective. Third, the article is empirically novel by presenting a radical sustainable innovation in Dutch water management (‘New Rivers’).Sustainability transitions, translations, strategic niche management, river management

The ‘purpose ecosystem’ : emerging private sector actors in earth system governance

The private sector arguably plays a critical role in addressing the challenges of the Anthropocene and providing potential solutions to achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Recently, a myriad of new actors in the form of intermediaries, initiatives and organisations have started driving wider systems change by advocating and advising companies to reconsider and broaden their fundamental ‘raison d’être’. In this Perspective we argue that the emergence of this ‘purpose ecosystem’ could play an important function within earth system governance, specifically by endorsing and accelerating action aligned with achieving the UN SDGs; yet we also highlight a number of risks, barriers and critical considerations for its overall assessment and propose important questions for further research

Factors influencing the societal acceptance of new, renewable and energy efficiency technologies: meta-analysis of recent European projects

The paper addresses the conditions for the successful introduction of sustainable energy technology projects in different geographic, institutional and cultural contexts. Our aim is to identify contextual and process-related factors influencing the level of societal acceptance and techno-economic successfulness achieved in energy projects that aim to mitigate climate change (renewable energy, energy efficiency and advanced technologies). Our focus is on successfulness on the level of individual projects, but we also consider how ‘lessons learned’ in individual projects diffuse into the wider context of energy planning. In our conclusions, we identify key challenges for project managers and policy makers

Pluralizing urban futures : A multicriteria mapping analysis of online taxis in Indonesia

The exploration of urban future storylines of transformative change is subject to socio-political processes rather than a mere, objective envisioning of the desirable city. Approaches in urban imagination and planning processes should thus consider plural perspectives across a range of actors and stakeholders beyond the usual suspects of experts and professionals.This paper mobilizes the case of the emergence of online taxis in Indonesia to embrace a more inclusive approach to the assessment of urban mobility futures by employing multi-criteria mapping (MCM) analysis and combining it with an open dialog on future storylines. We answer the question of what insights can be derived from diversifying future storylines in the online taxi industry in Indonesia? From applying a more inclusive approach in constructing future imaginaries we derive four insights: 1) criteria to appraise the future are never purely technological; 2) there is a difference in perceptions of time horizons among actors when imagining futures; 3) perceptions of time horizons are shaped by actor backgrounds and social interactions; and 4) the MCM method contributed to helping individuals to focus and explore their future storylines

Bottom-up dynamics in circular innovation systems: The perspective of circular start-ups

The concept of circular economy (CE) is proposed to lead humanity toward a sustainable future. Public authorities increasingly build on CE narratives. The progress of private sector actors is key to enable more circular resource flows. Still, the world falls far short from becoming circular and large-scale implementation of CE in actual problem–solution spaces is scarce. This study sheds light into the external strategies of circular start-ups (CSUs) in building an adequate socio-institutional embedding for circular business models (CBMs) and puts the findings in the context of CE and sustainability transformations research. CSUs are a distinct group of CE-oriented actors that build and implement CBMs wholistically and from scratch. Thereby, they can directly and indirectly contribute to the creation of circular innovation systems. This study defines the common CE mission of CSUs, sets it in context of respective socio-political CE missions, and scrutinizes the roles that CSUs adopt to drive systemic CE implementation. We observe that CSUs’ strategic interventions go further than only novelty creation. This article proposes and elaborates on four roles that CSUs adopt: conveners, reinforcers, pioneers, and champions. The roles differ according to the CSU business models, stakeholders, the institutional elements that are addressed, as well as the directionalities that CSUs set. The findings are discussed considering the governance, policies, and strategic management of various directionalities in which CE innovation develops. It sheds light on inadequacies and limitations for bottom-up CE innovation in existing norms and cognition, policy, and network governance

Smart and Sustainable Cities? Pipedreams, Practicalities and Possibilities

Smart and Sustainable Cities? Pipedreams, Practicalities and Possibilities provides one of the first examinations of how smart cities relate to environmental and social issues. It addresses the gap between the ambitious visions of smart cities and the actual practices on the ground by focusing on the social and environmental dimensions of real smart city initiatives as well as the possibilities they hold for creating more equitable and progressive cities. Through detailed analyses of case studies in the United States, Australia, the United Kingdom, Japan, Germany, India and China, the contributors describe the various ways that social and environmental issues are interpreted and integrated into smart city initiatives and actions. The findings point towards the need for more intentional engagement and collaboration with all urban stakeholders in the design, development and maintenance of smart cities to ensure that everyone benefits from the increasingly digitalised urban environments of the twenty-first century