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Derks, Milou, Frank Berkers, and Arnold Tukker. "Toward Accelerating Sustainability Transitions through Collaborative Sustainable Business Modeling: A Conceptual Approach." Sustainability 14, no. 7 (March 23, 2022): 3803. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/su14073803.
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Sustainability transitions are purposeful and require deliberate collective action from multiple organizations, leading to the necessity to adopt new business models and redesign value networks. In both business model and sustainability transition research, the explicit activities needed to re-shape value creation and capture systems of organizations are largely unaddressed. We aim to fill this gap by proposing collaborative sustainable business modeling (CSBMing) as a participative multi-actor approach aimed at value network innovation to accelerate sustainability transitions. To do this, we first conceptualize a sustainability transition as a business ecosystem change. We then introduce the value network as the interceding level connecting the individual business to the wider ecosystem, which upon scaling, can change the ecosystem, leading to transition. CSBMing aims to redesign value networks and may thus be used as an actionable approach to accelerate transitions. Second, through the multi-level perspective, we explain how CSBMing can scale, influence other value networks, and change the ecosystem. Third, we recognize that scaling value networks might need more than just implementation of a CSBM and show how elements of CSBMing can complement executing transition management activities. We illustrate the potential role of CSBMing in accelerating transitions through two examples from the Dutch energy transition. In all, we show that CSBMing can be a fruitful approach to innovate and scale value networks, create collective action needed for sustainability transitions, and contribute to transition management activities.
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Yudha, Satya Widya, Benny Tjahjono, and Philip Longhurst. "Sustainable Transition from Fossil Fuel to Geothermal Energy: A Multi-Level Perspective Approach." Energies 15, no. 19 (October 10, 2022): 7435. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/en15197435.
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Indonesia is currently undergoing the energy transition from heavily fossil fuel-dependent energy to cleaner sources of energy in order to achieve its net-zero emissions by 2060. In addition to reducing fossil fuel dependency, as one of the countries with the most geothermal reserves, the optimization of geothermal energy in Indonesia could be key to facilitating the energy transition. The objective of this paper is to elaborate on the transition process, which incorporates the destabilization of fossil fuel and the growth of geothermal energy, by analyzing the impact of both exogenous and endogenous factors on the supply chain structures of both sectors. This study employs workshop involving geothermal stakeholders in Indonesia, combined with the application of the Multi-Level Perspective (MLP) framework as the theoretical lens. The study found that energy demand, environmental awareness, energy regulations, energy supply chain, and geothermal potential breakthroughs are important aspects pertinent to the MLP components, namely the socio-technical landscape, socio-technical regime and niche innovations. The socio-technical landscapes are exogenous factors that pressurize the energy sector regime allowing the niche innovation, in the form of geothermal innovation, to penetrate the fossil fuel regime, allowing it to transition to a geothermal regime. The transition pathways include several measures that could break down the fossil fuel and build up geothermal energy, through a number of schemes and incentives.
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Deleye, Maarten, Katrien Van Poeck, and Thomas Block. "Lock-ins and opportunities for sustainability transition." International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education 20, no. 7 (November 4, 2019): 1109–24. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/ijshe-09-2018-0160.
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Purpose This study aims to provide an overview of sustainability in Flemish higher education (HE) by using the multi-level perspective (MLP) on sustainability transitions for a comprehensive empirical analysis of how sustainability is embedded in Flemish HE. Design/methodology/approach MLP was used as analytical framework to study the case and allow a focus on the interplay between innovative experiments in niche-practices, the characteristics of the prevailing regime (dominant structures, cultures and practices) and macro-trends at the landscape level. The data were collected through document analyses, surveys, in-depth interviews and a focus group. The empirical analysis was complemented with an extensive literature study. Findings In all, 9 landscape trends, 21 regime characteristics and 5 types of niches are identified. Furthermore, the multi-level analysis revealed 5 important lock-ins in the dominant regime that impede the upscaling of sustainable niches, 5 internal contradictions that destabilise the regime and can thus create windows of opportunity for niches to become viable alternatives and 16 opportunities for further embedding sustainability in HE. Originality/value The paper gives an original insight into the complexities of integrating sustainability in HE, highlights the important role of policy entrepreneurs to grasp emerging opportunities and offers them insight into how to create momentum and identify and fruitfully address windows of opportunity for a sustainability transition. It shows the potential and limits of the MLP for research on HE and outlines prospects for future research.
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Pratt, Bonnie Wylie, Jon D. Erickson, Jane Kolodinsky, Erik Monsen, and William J. Wales. "Shades of Green: Modelling Differences in Thought and Action among Electric Utility Regime Actors in the Energy System Transition." Sustainability 14, no. 20 (October 16, 2022): 13287. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/su142013287.
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There is wide variability in how organizations approach sustainability and the energy system transition toward using more renewables. In the electric power industry, while some distribution utilities have leaned into the transition, others have taken a more conservative approach. Grounded in an institutional resource-based perspective, this multi-level study examines key intra-firm, firm, and individual leadership factors that impact an organization’s commitment to renewables. Sustainability orientation in the power industry is assessed as the percent of renewable energy in a utility’s fuel mix compared with their expressed commitment to renewables and energy efficiency within planning documents. Through computer-aided text analysis, characteristics of 170 electric utilities in the United States were analyzed to predict sustainability orientation. Results indicate that rurality, deregulation, and the entrepreneurial orientation of a utility, as expressed within their Integrated Resource Plans, explain a significant amount of variability in the sustainability orientation of electric utilities.
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Keller, Margit, Marlyne Sahakian, and Léon Francis Hirt. "Connecting the multi-level-perspective and social practice approach for sustainable transitions." Environmental Innovation and Societal Transitions 44 (September 2022): 14–28. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.eist.2022.05.004.
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Duan, Xiaoyi. "Sustainable Product Strategy System Frame from the Perspective of Transition Design." Advances in Economics, Management and Political Sciences 41, no. 1 (November 10, 2023): 199–207. http://dx.doi.org/10.54254/2754-1169/41/20232067.
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As an important means for enterprises to achieve sustainable development, sustainable product strategy has received increasing attention. In the study of sustainable product strategy, transition design is a relatively new and forward-looking research method that proposes a design philosophy and approach by focusing on the trends of future social, cultural, and technological changes, aiming to promote sustainable development and social innovation. This paper analyzes the sustainability issues of corporate product strategy through the STEEP and multi-level perspective (MLP) approaches and develops a product strategy framework under the perspective of transition design. Based on the evaluation of five energy consumptions throughout the product life cycle, a product design strategy process is proposed. By establishing a product strategy system that promotes positive economic, social, and ecological cycles of energy consumption at corresponding stages, this system can coordinate stakeholder interests, meet the goal of sustainable development for the enterprise, and shape sustainable lifestyles for users. This study adopts a research approach that combines a transitional design perspective, sustainable design theory, and systems thinking methods, which fills the gaps in traditional design research methods in sustainable product strategy, provides enterprises with more sustainable product design solutions and promote the realization of sustainable development.
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Peter, Camaren. "Social Innovation for Sustainable Urban Developmental Transitions in Sub-Saharan Africa: Leveraging Economic Ecosystems and the Entrepreneurial State." Sustainability 13, no. 13 (June 30, 2021): 7360. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/su13137360.
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This study theorizes social innovation-based transitions to sustainable urban development from the perspective of the African urban condition, highlighting that large infrastructure and service provision deficits, poverty, inequality, heavy import dependence and the prevalence of dual formal–informal sector systems are key factors to account for in a just, sustainable urban African developmental transition. It identifies an opportunity space that can be leveraged for urban and broader transitions to sustainability on the continent by leveraging “economic ecosystems” for local scale social innovation-based development interventions. It theorizes that multi-level transitions to sustainability can be engendered by adopting an entrepreneurial state led approach at local scales by using economic ecosystems as the framework to (1) stimulate social innovation-based entrepreneurship that meets local and local–regional demands through decentralized, low cost, small-scale infrastructures, technologies and services, (2) leverage social innovation-based economic ecosystems for catalyzing multi-scalar transitions to sustainability, (3) recast the role of the entrepreneurial state, specifically in relation to social innovation and sustainable urban development (SUD) in Africa and (4) bridge formal–informal sector dualism. This framing prioritizes local economic development over centralized, state-led interventions that involve grand-scale masterplans, wholly new satellite cities and bulk infrastructure deployments in conceptualizing sustainable urban development transitions in Africa.
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Schulte, Jesko, Carolina Villamil, and Sophie I. Hallstedt. "Strategic Sustainability Risk Management in Product Development Companies: Key Aspects and Conceptual Approach." Sustainability 12, no. 24 (December 16, 2020): 10531. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/su122410531.
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Society’s transition towards sustainability comes with radical change, which entails significant threats and opportunities for product development and manufacturing companies, for example related to new legislation, shifting customer preferences, and increasing raw material prices. Smart risk management therefore plays a key role for successfully maneuvering society’s sustainability transition. However, from a company perspective, it remains challenging to connect the macro-level societal change with tangible risks for the business on the micro level. Based on interviews with academic and industrial experts, this study identified 21 key aspects for sustainability risk management. Drawing on these results and research from the areas of transition design, strategic sustainable development, and sustainability risk management, a conceptual approach for strategic risk management within the sustainability transition is presented. It builds on layered, double-flow scenario modelling in which backcasting from a vision, framed by basic principles for sustainability, is combined with forecasting from the present. The implications of such scenarios, i.e., risks, can then be identified and managed. By doing so on different scales, connections between macro- and micro-level change can be established. Thereby, product development companies shall be supported in making sustainability an intrinsic part of decision-making across the strategic, tactical, and operational levels to increase competitiveness while contributing to the transition towards a sustainable society.
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Jia, Xiangping. "Agro-Food Innovation and Sustainability Transition: A Conceptual Synthesis." Sustainability 13, no. 12 (June 18, 2021): 6897. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/su13126897.
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The global community faces the challenge of feeding a growing population with declining resources, making transformation to sustainable agriculture and food systems all the more imperative and ‘innovation’ all the more crucial. In this study, agro-food system innovation (re)defines sustainability transition with a complexity construct of cross-scale interaction and an adaptive cycle of system change. By taking a panarchical view, top-down and bottom-up pathways to innovation can be reconciled and are not contradictory, enabling and constraining innovation at every level. This study breaks down the structure of the agricultural innovation system into four components based on multi-level perspectives of sustainability transition, namely: actors and communities, interaction and intermediaries, coherence and connectedness and regimes rules and landscape. Meanwhile, this research frames the functional construct of system innovation for food and agriculture with five perspectives drawing on broad inputs from different schools of thought, namely: knowledge management, user sophistication, entrepreneurial activities’ directionality and reflexive evaluation. This research advocates for an ecosystem approach to agricultural innovation that gives full play to niche-regime interactions using social-technical perspectives.
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Witt, Tobias, and Matthias Klumpp. "Multi-Period Multi-Criteria Decision Making under Uncertainty: A Renewable Energy Transition Case from Germany." Sustainability 13, no. 11 (June 2, 2021): 6300. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/su13116300.
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Methods of multi-criteria decision making (MCDM) from operations research have been applied to provide information for making long-term decisions in the energy sector, and energy policy. For example, in sustainability evaluations, multiple conflicting criteria can be considered. While most MCDM approaches have been applied to evaluate energy systems in a single period, the multi-criteria evaluation of energy system evolution over time has received less attention. To evaluate such transition paths, multi-period MCDM approaches can be used. Because of long-term planning horizons, deep uncertainties need to be considered. Based on prior multi-period MCDM approaches, this paper provides an extension of the outranking approach preference ranking and organization method for enrichment evaluations (PROMETHEE) for multi-period evaluations in deep uncertainty settings. In order to adequately address the consideration of uncertainties and to obtain an additional level of information, a multi-period PROMETHEE approach and scenario planning are combined. In an illustrative example, this method is applied to a case study from the German energy sector regarding a renewable energy transition. This highlights the potential interactions of a multi-period perspective and the consideration of external scenarios in the decision-making process.
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Daniel, Pierre A. "Multi-level perspective framework in macro project studies: Towards a complex project organizing approach to sustainability transitions." International Journal of Project Management 40, no. 8 (November 2022): 865–70. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijproman.2022.10.001.
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Zhang, Danlei, and Yong He. "The Roles and Synergies of Actors in the Green Building Transition: Lessons from Singapore." Sustainability 14, no. 20 (October 15, 2022): 13264. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/su142013264.
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Transforming the building sector toward sustainability based on green building (GB) technologies is a multi-faceted, multi-actor process of socio-technical transition. Understanding the different roles of primary actors in both technological and non-technological dimensions of GB transition is pivotal for effectively engaging multiple GB stakeholders during this process. However, relevant research is rare in the GB literature. This paper conducts an actor analysis based on a conceptual framework constructed on the actor and power relation typology from the multi-actor perspective approach and regime insights from the multi-level perspective theory. A qualitative case study of Singapore is adopted to exemplify the roles of the government, developers, citizens and NGOs, determined by their respective power and multi-actor power relations, and to evaluate their synergetic influence on the technological, social and governance dimensions of the GB transition. It was found that the government leads all three dimensions of GB transition and it has an indirect impact on promoting the technological transformation and social adaption by synergizing the other three actors. As the intermediary between government and non-government actors, NGOs indirectly influence GB transition by primarily assisting the government. Developers and citizens directly contribute to technological transformation and social adaption, respectively, and they have an indirect impact on the opposite dimensions through interacting with one another. We argue that a successful GB transition entails synergies from multi-actor interactions and the interplay of technical and non-technical development. This paper offers a heuristic framework for multi-actor analysis in the multi-faceted GB transition and generates policy lessons for other cities.
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Wigboldus, Seerp, Jan Brouwers, and Herman Snel. "How a Strategic Scoping Canvas Can Facilitate Collaboration between Partners in Sustainability Transitions." Sustainability 12, no. 1 (December 24, 2019): 168. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/su12010168.
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The loosely applied concepts of transformations and transitions often result in unarticulated different visions and expectations among stakeholders regarding the orientation and ambition of a particular initiative related to system transitions/transformations. In this paper, a strategic scoping canvas and an associated facilitation process are presented as a way of enhancing shared understanding among stakeholders. Illustrations are provided of initial application in three cases related to food system transitions in Peru, Ethiopia, and Bangladesh, exploring the connectivity with approaches commonly used in the context of system transformations, including the Multi-Level Perspective on sustainability transitions, the Leverage Points approach, Capability Approach, and the theory of Large System Change. We conclude that the canvas and associated facilitation approach has proved useful in different contexts, offering opportunities for complementing existing methodologies, and potentially enhancing their efficacy in facilitated multi-stakeholder processes.
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Wieliczko, Barbara, Agnieszka Kurdyś-Kujawska, and Zbigniew Floriańczyk. "EU Rural Policy’s Capacity to Facilitate a Just Sustainability Transition of the Rural Areas." Energies 14, no. 16 (August 17, 2021): 5050. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/en14165050.
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The sustainability transition of rural areas is a must due to rapid climate changes and biodiversity loss. Given the limited resources of rural communities, policy should facilitate a just sustainability transition of the EU rural areas. The analysis of EU development policies, past performance and the envisaged scope of reform, presented in this study point to a serious inconsistency between the declaration and implementation of relevant policies. Namely, the marginal role rural areas perform in common agricultural policy and cohesion policy; a result of the lack of a complex approach to rural development. The analysis was based on the concept of good governance and took a multi-level perspective. It advocates territorial justice as an approach that should be at the core of creating a comprehensive policy for rural areas in the EU, including their diversity and empowering local communities to choose the transition pathway that is most in line with their current situation and development capacity. This analysis fills a gap in research on the evolution of the rural development policy in the EU. This research can inform the reprioritization and intensification of efforts to create equitable policies for EU rural development.
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Keating, Charles B., Polinpapilinho F. Katina, Joseph M. Bradley, Richard Hodge, and James C. Pyne. "Sustainability: A Complex System Governance Perspective." INCOSE International Symposium 33, no. 1 (July 2023): 1117–31. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/iis2.13073.
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AbstractThis paper explores the sustainability field from a Complex System Governance (CSG) perspective. In general, sustainability suggests maintenance at a specific rate or level. It is also frequently held as maintaining ecological balance to negate the depletion of natural resources. CSG offers sustainability a theoretically grounded, model based, and methodologically sound approach to better inform sustainability design, execution, and development for complex systems. CSG examines sustainability as an outcome‐based product resulting from effective governance of an underlying system which produces sustainability. Thus, sustainability is proposed as a ‘systems engineered product’, whose design, execution, and development will be favored by CSG systems engineering. Following an introduction, two primary objectives are pursued. First, Systems Theory is used to provide an alternative view of sustainability. Second, a perspective of sustainability is developed through the paradigm of the emerging CSG field. The paper closes with the contributions, opportunities, and challenges for deployment of CSG for enhanced development, transition, and maintenance of sustainable systems.
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Keating, Charles B., Polinpapilinho F. Katina, Joseph M. Bradley, Richard Hodge, and James C. Pyne. "Sustainability: A Complex System Governance Perspective." INSIGHT 27, no. 1 (February 2024): 8–17. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/inst.12471.
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ABSTRACTThis paper explores the sustainability field from a complex system governance (CSG) perspective. In general, sustainability suggests maintenance at a specific rate or level. It is also frequently held as maintaining ecological balance to negate the depletion of natural resources. CSG offers sustainability a theoretically grounded, model based, and methodologically sound approach to better inform sustainability design, execution, and development for complex systems. CSG examines sustainability as an outcome‐based product resulting from effective governance of an underlying system which produces sustainability. Thus, sustainability is proposed as a ‘systems engineered product’, whose design, execution, and development will be favored by CSG systems engineering. Following an introduction, two primary objectives are pursued. First, systems theory is used to provide an alternative view of sustainability. Second, a perspective of sustainability is developed through the paradigm of the emerging CSG field. The paper closes with the contributions, opportunities, and challenges for deployment of CSG for enhanced development, transition, and maintenance of sustainable systems.
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Soares Dal Poz, Maria Ester, Paulo Sergio de Arruda Ignácio, Aníbal Azevedo, Erika Cristina Francisco, Alessandro Luis Piolli, Gabriel Gheorghiu da Silva, and Thaís Pereira Ribeiro. "Food, Energy and Water Nexus: An Urban Living Laboratory Development for Sustainable Systems Transition." Sustainability 14, no. 12 (June 10, 2022): 7163. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/su14127163.
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From a climate change perspective, the governance of natural common-pool resources—the commons—is a key point in the challenge of transitioning to sustainability. This paper presents the main strategic advances of the São Paulo Urban Living Laboratory (ULL) regarding Food, Energy and Water (FEW Nexus) analysis and modelling at the border of a high biodiverse forest in a peri-urban region in southeast Brazil. It is a replicable and scalable method concerning FEW governance. The FEW Nexus is an analytical guide to actions that will enable a colossal set of innovative processes that the transition to sustainability presupposes. Sustainable governance of the FEW dimensions, seen as an innovation-based process, is approached by a decision making tool to understand the past and future dynamics of the system. The governance framework is based on a multi-criteria and multi-attribute set of sustainability-relevant factors used as indicators to model complex system dynamics (SD) and the stakeholders’ future expectations through a Delphi approach. Based on the three main dimensions of the Ecosystem Services Approach—Physical and Material Conditions, Attributes of Communities, and Rules-in-Use—the tool comprises thirteen specific sustainability indicators such as water and carbon footprints, land use social development, payment for ecosystem services, and land use gain indices. Its development was designed to generate a long-term network of socioenvironmental stakeholders’ decision making processes and collective learning about a higher level of sustainable systems. System Dynamics modelling demonstrates the associations between sustainability indicators and the impacts of payment for ecosystem services on the land use social development index, or on the trophic state index. The Delphi foresight approach, using the Promethee-Gaia method, allows us to understand the positions of multiple agents regarding the transition process. In this context, decision making tools can be very useful and effective in answering the “how to” questions of ULLs and paving the way for transition, providing collective planning and decision support frameworks for sustainability transition management.
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AL-SULAITI, Khaloud, and Houda ALEQEDAT. "An innovation Systems Approach to Sustainability Transitions Between Qatar and Jordan by Using SAP Software System." International Journal of Business Studies 2, no. 3 (August 29, 2019): 133–43. http://dx.doi.org/10.32924/ijbs.v2i3.80.
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This paper aimed to discuss how and where SAP software system can be used. It addresses relevant areas including linear innovation model, multi-level perspective, innovation systems and factors of innovation, factors of innovation, innovation management, circular economy, sustainability transitions, and SAP software system in terms of history, use, digital circular economy business model toolkit, and the difference between linear SAP and circular SAP solutions. It also compares the use of SAP in Qatar and Jordan.
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Strøm-Andersen, Nhat. "Incumbents in the Transition Towards the Bioeconomy: The Role of Dynamic Capabilities and Innovation Strategies." Sustainability 11, no. 18 (September 16, 2019): 5044. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/su11185044.
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This study explored incumbents’ roles in the transition towards the bioeconomy by examining what goes on inside firms, what strategies they practiced, and how these affected the way incumbents engaged in the transition, as well as their ability to innovate. The study focused on the Norwegian meat-processing sector, investigating how dynamic capabilities affected incumbent firms in the transition process, and the management strategies adopted in response to external pressures (local and global) and to innovation opportunities. The analytical approach builds on two theoretical pillars: Multi-level perspective and dynamic capabilities. The findings showed that the incumbent exercised different modes of behavior—first-into-niche and follow-into-niche—in response to innovation pathways during the transition, mobilizing various dynamic capabilities—learning, financing, and organizational restructuring. The study sheds light on the underlying business dynamics of incumbent firms within a given regime and on intra-regime dynamics concerning innovation opportunities, and notes the proactive roles of incumbents in the sustainability transition.
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Schmitt, Daniel, and Chisenga Muyoya. "Influence in Technological Innovation Spaces: A Network Science Approach to Understand Innovation for Sustainability in the Global South." Sustainability 12, no. 5 (March 1, 2020): 1858. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/su12051858.
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The number of scholars working on transition concepts in the Global South is rapidly increasing. In this context, a substantial amount of research output particularly focusses on niches and how they affect transition towards sustainability in a wider framework of the multi-level-perspective. At the same time, there is a growing interest in digital technology and its effect on sustainability challenges. In this article, we combine the two fields, and by utilizing social media data, we create an innovative network science approach to analyze the production environment of digital innovations in Africa. We focus on three innovation hubs that we conceptualize as niches and innovation intermediaries that not only create communities to develop, test and implement new technology but also function as networks to discuss and form new ideas around innovations. Our key findings show how local communities are embedded in larger innovation structures. The connections between local stakeholders and global actors are predominantly created through bridge actors, who hold key positions in their communities. With tools from network science, we demonstrate that these linking elements can regulate and steer discussions and therefore, strongly influence digital niche environments. Utilizing geographical location data, we can also see that the online space of technological innovations in Africa is heavily cantered in urban areas.
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Belda-Miquel, Sergio, Victoria Pellicer-Sifres, and Alejandra Boni. "Exploring the Contribution of Grassroots Innovations to Justice: Using the Capability Approach to Normatively Address Bottom-Up Sustainable Transitions Practices." Sustainability 12, no. 9 (April 30, 2020): 3617. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/su12093617.
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There is growing interest in the potential of grassroots innovations for the transition towards more just and sustainable societies. Nevertheless, there is lack of clear normative discussion regarding these processes. The paper strives to propose and test a framework that enables an analysis of how and in which sense specific grassroots innovation processes may be contributing to the construction of more just societies. To this end, we connect elements of the multi-level perspective on sociotechnical transitions (frequently used in the analysis of grassroots innovations) with elements of the capability approach, which offers a multi-dimensional perspective to justice. The framework is used to address two purposively selected empirical cases in two key sectors in Spain: an energy cooperative and a food purchasing group. We draw on the information of 25 individual interviews with members of these two cases, on observation, and on secondary sources. Information was processed by means of a qualitative content analysis. We draw on predefined categories from the framework, which was refined during the analysis. The paper illustrates that grassroots innovations may be contributing to justice in several aspects: they expand capabilities in different dimensions, improve public reasoning processes, and create better structural conditions for human flourishing. Nevertheless, these processes are not free of tensions and contradictions.
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Sobratee, Nafiisa, Rashieda Davids, Chuma B. Chinzila, Tafadzwanashe Mabhaudhi, Pauline Scheelbeek, Albert T. Modi, Alan D. Dangour, and Rob Slotow. "Visioning a Food System for an Equitable Transition towards Sustainable Diets—A South African Perspective." Sustainability 14, no. 6 (March 10, 2022): 3280. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/su14063280.
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The global goal to end hunger requires the interpretation of problems and change across multiple domains to create the scope for collaboration, learning, and impactful research. We facilitated a workshop aimed at understanding how stakeholders problematize sustainable diet transition (SDT) among a previously marginalized social group. Using the systems thinking approach, three sub-systems, namely access to dietary diversity, sustainable beneficiation of natural capital, and ‘food choice for well-being’, highlighted the main forces governing the current context, and future interventions of the project. Moreover, when viewed as co-evolving processes within the multi-level perspective, our identified microlevel leverage points—multi-faceted literacy, youth empowerment, deliberative policymaking, and promotion of sustainable diet aspirations—can be linked and developed through existing national macro-level strategies. Thus, co-designing to problematize transformational SDT, centered on an interdisciplinary outlook and informational governance, could streamline research implementation outcomes to re-structure socio-technical sectors and reconnect people to nature-based solutions. Such legitimate aspirations could be relevant in countries bearing complex socio-political legacies and bridge the local–global goals coherently. This work provides a collaborative framework required to develop impact-driven activities needed to inform evidence-based policies on sustainable diets.
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van Dam, Karin I. M., and Henny J. van der Windt. "Islands as Playing and Breeding Grounds for Incumbents, Entrepreneurial Technologists, Policymakers, and Engaged Citizens: The Case of Energy Transition on Ameland." Sustainability 14, no. 13 (June 27, 2022): 7839. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/su14137839.
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Increasingly, discussions on sustainability, in particular in relation to energy transition, are finding their way to the regional and local political arena. Although for analysing transition pathways on these sub-national scales, conceptual frameworks such as the multi-level perspective may be helpful, some issues remain relatively unaddressed: the relevance of citizens and their social networks and the precise interactions between place, the local context, and external conditions. This paper aims to better understand energy transition processes on the local and regional scale by analysing the case of the Dutch island of Ameland. Since 2006, Ameland has been on a sustainability pathway towards self-sufficiency, in particular in terms of reducing CO2 emissions. In this case study, we conducted in-depth empirical analysis, using a mixed-methods approach, including document analysis and ethnographic techniques. In a five-stage development process, a combination of place-related niche development, regime developments, and the involvement of citizens have created a protective space for several socio-technological innovations to emerge. The unique combination of specific local conditions, in particular political and cultural, and external influences, national policy, and ‘enlightened’ companies have shaped ideal conditions for Ameland to become an inspiring example of innovation in regional transition processes.
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Rishi, Meghna, Vinnie Jauhari, and Gaurav Joshi. "Marketing sustainability in the luxury lodging industry: a thematic analysis of preferences amongst the Indian transition generation." Journal of Consumer Marketing 32, no. 5 (August 10, 2015): 376–91. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/jcm-09-2014-1155.
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Purpose – This paper aims to identify emerging themes that can help in understanding the preferences of Indian consumers, in the transition generation (25-44 years) (Sinha, 2011), toward sustainability in the luxury lodging industry. Design/methodology/approach – The paper uses a multi-method approach for data collection. Thorough literature review and personal interviews with marketers were conducted to explore the themes and construct tentative thematic webs. In total, 42 customer inputs were drawn through focus groups and personal interviews to validate the themes. Customer perspective, marketers’ perspective and findings from literature were juxtaposed to understand the themes. Findings – “Influence of Parents, Children and Travel agents”, “Rewards for green behaviour” and “frequent communication around sustainability efforts” have been identified as some of the key motivations for consumers to choose sustainability. Some deterrents have been identified as “limited awareness about sustainability issues in Tier II cities”, “detachment with the hotel’s operations”, “higher prices” and “unchecked wasteful/acquisitive consumption”. Practical implications – Findings from this research work have implications for the practitioners and policy-makers because establishing an understanding of the factors that deter and motivate consumers for engaging in green behavior is important for designing meaningful marketing strategies. Originality/value – Findings are based on the analysis of data from customer inputs and industry inputs. Themes in this research work have been analytically identified, and this study has made significant academic contributions to the marketing literature. It also provides valuable insights for the practitioners.
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Hausknost, Daniel, and Willi Haas. "The Politics of Selection: Towards a Transformative Model of Environmental Innovation." Sustainability 11, no. 2 (January 18, 2019): 506. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/su11020506.
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As a purposive sustainability transition requires environmental innovation and innovation policy, we discuss potentials and limitations of three dominant strands of literature in this field, namely the multi-level perspective on socio-technical transitions (MLP), the innovation systems approach (IS), and the long-wave theory of techno-economic paradigm shifts (LWT). All three are epistemologically rooted in an evolutionary understanding of socio-technical change. While these approaches are appropriate to understand market-driven processes of change, they may be deficient as analytical tools for exploring and designing processes of purposive societal transformation. In particular, we argue that the evolutionary mechanism of selection is the key to introducing the strong directionality required for purposive transformative change. In all three innovation theories, we find that the prime selection environment is constituted by the market and, thus, normative societal goals like sustainability are sidelined. Consequently, selection is depoliticised and neither strong directionality nor incumbent regime destabilisation are societally steered. Finally, we offer an analytical framework that builds upon a more political conception of selection and retention and calls for new political institutions to make normatively guided selections. Institutions for transformative innovation need to improve the capacities of complex societies to make binding decisions in politically contested fields.
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Kemp, René. "Eco-Innovation and Transitions." ECONOMICS AND POLICY OF ENERGY AND THE ENVIRONMENT, no. 1 (September 2009): 103–24. http://dx.doi.org/10.3280/efe2009-001007.
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- This paper is aimed at examining the scholarship on system innovation and societal transformation for sustainable development, which today is known as "transition management". In theoretical terms, the approach of transition management relies on markets, guidance in the form of goals and visions of sustainable development, network management with an element of self-organisation. Transition management could be viewed as "evolutionary governance" as it is concerned with the functioning of the variation-selection-retention process: creating variety informed by visions of the sustainability, shaping new paths and reflexively adapting existing institutional frameworks and regimes. It is a model for escaping lock-in and moving towards solutions offering multiple benefits, not just for users but also for society as a whole. It is not a megalomaniac attempt to control the future but an attempt to insert normative goals into evolutionary processes in a reflexive manner. The multilevel perspective of change and the model of goal-oriented modulation and reflexive governance, on which transition management is based, are described. Experiences with transition management in the Netherlands are described too, as well as the international debate on transition management as a model of governance for sustainable development.Keywords: eco-innovation, transition, reflexive governance, multi-level change, the NetherlandsJEL classification: B52; Q50Parole chiave: governance ambientale; fallimenti del mercato; esternalitŕ; beni pubblici; economia del benessere; economia istituzionale.
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Hoinle, Birgit, Ilka Roose, and Himanshu Shekhar. "Creating Transdisciplinary Teaching Spaces. Cooperation of Universities and Non-University Partners to Design Higher Education for Regional Sustainable Transition." Sustainability 13, no. 7 (March 26, 2021): 3680. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/su13073680.
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Teaching formats involving non-university partners are increasingly gaining importance to deliver key competencies needed in higher education for sustainable development. Such teaching formats may also create new transdisciplinary spaces that allow different actors to impact regional transition towards sustainable development. Against this background, this article focuses on how universities foster regional transition through teaching, particularly in collaboration with local non-university. Using the interdisciplinary certificate programs on sustainable development offered by the German Universities of Tübingen and Duisburg-Essen as case studies, we analyze the potentials and challenges of teaching programs on sustainable development for promoting regional transition. Leaning on the multi-level-perspective-approach, we have used qualitative interviews to shed light on the design of cooperation between the university and regional partners as well as the creation and integration of transdisciplinary learning spaces. This paper shows that the impact of such teaching formats on the regional transition consists primarily of awareness and network building. One of the most fundamental challenges faced is unequal power relations in terms of access to resources, financing, and doing the course planning. Simultaneously, co-design, mutual understanding, and collective decisions on roles and responsibilities and—especially—empathy and trust are crucial factors for successfully teaching cooperation towards regional sustainability.
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Anderson, Colin Ray, Janneke Bruil, Michael Jahi Chappell, Csilla Kiss, and Michel Patrick Pimbert. "From Transition to Domains of Transformation: Getting to Sustainable and Just Food Systems through Agroecology." Sustainability 11, no. 19 (September 25, 2019): 5272. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/su11195272.
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The acceleration of ecological crises has driven a growing body of thinking on sustainability transitions. Agroecology is being promoted as an approach that can address multiple crises in the food system while addressing climate change and contributing to the Sustainable Development Goals. Beyond the more technical definition as, “the ecology of food systems”, agroecology has a fundamentally political dimension. It is based on an aspiration towards autonomy or the agency of networks of producers and citizens to self-organize for sustainability and social justice. In this article, we use the multi-level perspective (MLP) to examine agroecology transformations. Although the MLP has been helpful in conceptualizing historic transitions, there is a need to better understand: (a) the role of and potential to self-organize in the context of power in the dominant regime, and (b) how to shift to bottom-up forms of governance—a weak point in the literature. Our review analyzes the enabling and disabling conditions that shape agroecology transformations and the ability of communities to self-organize. We develop the notion of ‘domains of transformation’ as overlapping and interconnected interfaces between agroecology and the incumbent dominant regime. We present six critical domains that are important in agroecological transformations: access to natural ecosystems; knowledge and culture; systems of exchange; networks; discourse; and gender and equity. The article focuses on the dynamics of power and governance, arguing that a shift from top down technocratic approaches to bottom up forms of governance based on community-self organization across these domains has the most potential for enabling transformation for sustainability and social justice.
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Trusina, Inese, and Elita Jermolajeva. "ASSESSING THE SUSTAINABILITY OF ADVANCED AND DEVELOPING COUNTRIES: A DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVE." Business, Management and Economics Engineering 22, no. 01 (May 3, 2024): 96–111. http://dx.doi.org/10.3846/bmee.2024.19981.
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Purpose – The research aim of the article is the analysis of advanced/developed and developing countries in the context of sustainable development, using invariant coordinate system in energy units, as well as the impact of structural changes in the economy affect the possibility of transition to sustainable development and creation post-industrial society. Research methodology – In order to achieve the aim were applied the method of socio-economic systems power changes analyzing in the frame of structural economic Kaldor model of GDP and the energy flows models. Finding – The advanced countries have seen a trend of “zero growth” and a decrease in useful energy production in the last 10 years. These countries have high labor productivity, technological level and diminishing potential for sustainable development. China is in the stage of “growth and development” and has great potential. Data calculated by the authors of the article correlates with the findings of the Kaldor model. Research limitation – The initial interpretation of the calculated data of France, Germany, Japan, USA, European Union and China was made. Countries have been analyzed in the period from 1990 to 2019. The data of the Central Statistical Office of EU and the World Bank were used. Practical implications – The results of the study can be used to further planning and design of transition to sustainable development for advanced and developing countries. Originality/Value – within the framework of the approach, an invariant coordinates system in energy units is proposed and the main parameters for assessing the potential of growth and sustainable development for advanced countries were formed.
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Brunet, Carole, Oumarou Savadogo, Pierre Baptiste, Michel A. Bouchard, Jean Chrysostome Rakotoary, Andry Ravoninjatovo, Céline Cholez, Corinne Gendron, and Nicolas Merveille. "Impacts Generated by a Large-Scale Solar Photovoltaic Power Plant Can Lead to Conflicts between Sustainable Development Goals: A Review of Key Lessons Learned in Madagascar." Sustainability 12, no. 18 (September 10, 2020): 7471. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/su12187471.
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In a context of energy transition towards renewable energies, this case study situated in Madagascar allows us to verify the extent to which an on-grid photovoltaic solar power plant represents a vector for sustainable development. The article proposes a model for assessing sustainability from a qualitative multi-criteria perspective. This analysis fits into the theoretical question of the science of sustainability by challenging the theory of endogenous development. The innovation of this research is based on the use of a qualitative approach to a technological issue filling a literature gap in the major issue of the effective sustainability of renewable energy (particularly in the context of an island state). The study emphasizes that the plant can only represent a vector for sustainable development with the collaboration of the concerned parties, which implies considering the electrification needs at the local level. The article confirms that the impacts generated by the power plant can lead to conflicts between different sustainable development goals. Theoretically, the study emphasizes that the evaluation of the sustainability of solar power plants should follow a process that: (i) uses a preferably qualitative methodology likely to understand the local conditions of the communities in which they are established; (ii) identifies dissociated indicators while taking into account the context; and (iii) analyzes the possible negative interactions between the impact areas by highlighting the key areas linked to land management and the well-being of women within a poverty reduction approach.
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Heijmans, Annelies, and Rik Eweg. "Transformative research and education in Living Labs using the SDGs as a compass." International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education 24, no. 9 (September 25, 2023): 335–54. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/ijshe-11-2022-0350.
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Purpose This study aims to investigate how Living Labs of Van Hall Larenstein UAS perform as sustainability-oriented, transdisciplinary learning environments. It shows how the sustainable development goals (SDGs) can be used as a compass and debates the sustainability impact of applied research. Design/methodology/approach A case study approach was adopted, including a literature review, scoping visits, online workshops and peer-to-peer inter-vision/learning, using the SDGs as a compass and framework for analysis. Findings Most Living Labs use a “silo-approach” on the SDGs and are designed from a technological-expert perspective. This results in blind spots, particularly on SDGs related to reducing socio-economic inequality and just institutions. Debating unsustainable systems, cultures and practices is avoided. To contribute to sustainability transitions, universities need to invest in developing transformative capacity. This refers to SDG-transition competences such as collaborative communication, constructively engaging with diversity and conflicts, discussing values, norms and ethics and encouraging reflexivity. Research limitations/implications Mainly lecturer-researchers were involved in the study. COVID-19 travel restrictions hindered the research at the grassroots level in India and Indonesia. Originality/value The study revealed the importance of creating Living Labs as safe and brave inter- and transdisciplinary learning environments to practice reflexivity: encouraging students, researchers and stakeholders to look at sustainability issues from plural perspectives and questioning unsustainable practices, which combined lead to changing perceptions, practices and relations and a deeper understanding of how change happens. The SDGs as a compass method supports reflexivity among stakeholders and in redirecting strategies towards a sustainable future.
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Aiking, H., and J. de Boer. "Protein and sustainability – the potential of insects." Journal of Insects as Food and Feed 5, no. 1 (February 15, 2019): 3–7. http://dx.doi.org/10.3920/jiff2018.0011.
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In this research it is aimed to outline the role and potential contribution of insects towards food security and sustainability from a multidisciplinary perspective. First, ecological, economic and social aspects of food sustainability and food security are identified by prioritising the environmental impacts associated with food production and consumption. Subsequently, it is argued how protein supply is underlying and linking the top-3 of anthropogenic impacts, i.e. (1) biodiversity loss; (2) nitrogen cycle acceleration; and (3) carbon cycle acceleration (resulting in climate change). In order to address the production and consumption inefficiencies inherent to the current food system a ranked list of more sustainable options is proposed, based on their order of magnitude. Versatile side-stream valorisation returning losses to the food chain is deemed a unique selling point of insects. In addition to quantitative impacts, however, qualitative aspects relating to feasibility also play an important part. In that respect, just a minority of Western consumers are inclined to adopt insects as food. As an illustration, consumer acceptance of edible insects as attractive food items are quantified at the level of diets, dishes and ingredients (for the Netherlands). From the perspective of sustainability, the potential of insects is reflected upon. Meeting the UN Sustainable Development Goals requires a relatively rapid transition towards a circular economy. In this light, insects are undeniably useful for food, feed, and other purposes. Health may be key to entice consumers to drop their conservative attitudes and progress towards a diet transition. However, an integrated, multidisciplinary approach including all stakeholders remains a prerequisite.
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Bozer, Gil, Leon Levin, and Joseph C. Santora. "Succession in family business: multi-source perspectives." Journal of Small Business and Enterprise Development 24, no. 4 (November 20, 2017): 753–74. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/jsbed-10-2016-0163.
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Purpose Despite the extensive breadth of research into the critical challenge of succession in family business, generational succession in family business has been investigated from predominately one-dimensional perspective. The purpose of this paper is to respond to call for a multi-perspectives examination of leadership succession in order to embrace the dynamic and complex nature of succession in a family business. Accordingly, the authors investigated the key personal and professional factors associated with effective family-business succession across four key stakeholders: incumbent, successor, family, and nonfamily members. Design/methodology/approach The explanatory research design included 16 interviews in Phase 1 and 41 prospective case study interviews in Phase 2, both with Australian family businesses that had or were about to experience generational transition. Findings Incumbents and successor interview findings support the benefits of maintaining a cohesive family business, adaptable family culture, and familiness for effective succession. The authors also identified several personal components (e.g. family-business socialization and external experiences) that can help determine the commitment of successors and how this commitment can change once they assume a leadership position. Business size was the professional component supported by incumbent, successor, and nonfamily members as having a significant impact on succession process. As family business grows and becomes more highly complex, a clearly defined set of procedures become imperative. Practical implications Family-business practitioners can apply the findings to manage the processes and expectations of family and the business to achieve effective generational succession and thereby increase the sustainability of the business. Originality/value This research provides a coherent and comprehensive understanding of the interdependencies of competing priorities in the complex succession process that is essential for family-business sustainability and performance.
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Sorensen, André, and Anna-Katharina Brenner. "Cities, Urban Property Systems, and Sustainability Transitions: Contested Processes of Institutional Change and the Regulation of Urban Property Development." Sustainability 13, no. 15 (July 28, 2021): 8429. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/su13158429.
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Sustainability transitions research has emerged as one of the most influential approaches to conceptualizing the potential and practice of transformative system change to avoid climate catastrophe. Evolving from work on socio-technical systems via Geels’ multi-level perspective (MLP), this conceptual framework has contributed to understanding how complex systems in the contemporary world can be transformed. This paper contributes to the sustainability transitions literature in three main ways. First, the paper develops a conceptual framework focused on the urban property systems which regulate and support urban property, infrastructure and governance that are historically produced, are densely institutionalized, and through which public norms of property and governance are deeply embedded in and continually inscribed in urban space. Second, the paper suggests that urban property systems are continually and vigorously contested and demonstrate different modes of institutional change than those recognized by the existing sustainability transitions literature. Third, the paper illustrates the approach with a case study of the contested governance of property development in Toronto, Ontario, long one of the fastest growing cities in North America. The Toronto case suggests that institutions embedded in urban property systems are consequential and deserve more attention by those concerned with low-carbon transitions.
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Kastner, Fabian, and Silke Langenberg. "Transition in Architecture Education? Exploring Socio-Technical Factors of Curricular Changes for a Sustainable Built Environment." Sustainability 15, no. 22 (November 15, 2023): 15949. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/su152215949.
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Curricular changes in architecture can support to meet the increased demand for sustainability in higher education (HE). Identifying their associated factors is necessary to understand ongoing and future transitions in architecture education. Transition management (TM) frameworks have been frequently used to analyze structural changes in various institutions but have received little attention in architecture education. This study explores the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH Zurich) as a case study, focusing on its architecture curricula within 32 years from 1990 to 2022, corresponding to multiple generations of academic careers. A multiple-level perspective (MLP) document analysis on curricular changes is conducted in three steps, drawing on a specific perspective on sustainability in architecture. First, generic characteristics that may influence curricular changes are identified from the literature. Second, shifts in the undergraduate curriculum of ETH Zurich are systematically mapped. Third, a classification of implemented curricular shifts results in seven nuanced variations in generic factors. These socio-technical factors involve the development and dissemination of new disciplinary (1) and interdisciplinary (2) approaches to a sustainable built environment (SBE), a relocation of the viewpoint on sustainability from physiology/hygiene to building physics (3), experimentation with inquiry-based learning in niches (4), extended spheres of influence in teaching (5), early committed intra-faculty opinion leaders (6), and the formation of educational networks (7). The proposed approach based on longitudinal curriculum mapping offers a way to locate structural curricular changes, identify hidden educational trends, and inform institutional changes.
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Bien, Colin, and Coco Klußmann. "Exploring fields of ambiguity in the sustainability transition of universities." International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education 23, no. 2 (October 18, 2021): 237–82. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/ijshe-06-2020-0199.
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Purpose The purpose of this paper is to develop a framework that systematically captures the ambiguity of different understandings about science, the university and its relation to society, while conceptualising sustainability. Following Corley and Gioia (2004, p. 174) on identity ambiguity and change, it seems pivotal to better understanding the ambiguity of sustainability in relation to academic cultures and university models to manage the transition more effectively. Design/methodology/approach The nature of this paper’s objectives as well as the wide thematic scope leads to the need of exploring a broad knowledge base. This was best addressed by an exploratory literature review with data collection from primary and secondary sources. The data was interpreted through a hermeneutic analysis and resulted in the inductive development of first categories and goals (further referred to as category development). In addition, a multi-method approach further adjusted the categories and raised their empirical validity and social robustness. Findings Implementing sustainability involves dealing with a double bound ambiguity due to organisational and individual identity reasons. Five fields of ambiguity were developed to systemise the conceptualisation of a sustainable university along contradictory understandings of science, the university and sustainability. These fields offer a framework to qualitatively assess the degree of sustainability in higher education institutions. Arguments for and against sustainability in universities have been categorised around five criteria and associated to the fields of ambiguity. The finding indicates that meaning in organisational change management for sustainability can be considered both, a potential driver and barrier for a sustainability transition in universities. Research limitations/implications This paper exclusively focussed on the internal perspective and left aside any external factors that influence the sustainability transition, such as political measures to stimulate sustainability in higher education. In addition, the operational dimension of a sustainable university has been neglected, which is by all means a necessary and important aspect. The interrelation of the identified goals has not been discussed. Originality/value This paper focusses on the conceptualisation and understanding of sustainability within the institution, an often-forgotten but fundamental aspect of implementation. The fields of ambiguity are designed to be applied for assessing the “degree of maturity” of a sustainable university. The fields reveal the different understandings about the role, the mission and the governance of universities, stemming from competing preferences about goals and their assumed relations by various stakeholders of a higher education institutions. The five fields are not an attempt to resolve the hidden contradictions and tensions in a sustainability transition, but to state them clearly to anticipate resistances and conflicts that hinder the development of a shared understanding.
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Katz-Rosene, Ryan M. "“Ditch red meat and dairy, and don’t bother with local food”: The problem with universal dietary advice aiming to save the planet (and your health)." Canadian Food Studies / La Revue canadienne des études sur l'alimentation 7, no. 2 (November 16, 2020): 5–19. http://dx.doi.org/10.15353/cfs-rcea.v7i2.413.
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In recent years there have been increasing calls for “global dietary transition” in order to save the planet and improve human health. One troubling development associated with this is the attempt to delineate in universal terms what constitutes a sustainable and healthy diet. This perspective takes issue with this development, and specifically refutes one increasingly popular dietary narrative which calls for people to avoid red meat and dairy, and which portrays the local food movement as a romantic distraction. In contrast, the paper provides evidence of a range of sustainability and health benefits associated with both local food systems and the agri-food system’s inclusion of ruminants (the suborder of mammals from which humans mostly derive red meat and dairy). Finally, the perspective calls for a pluralist and multi-scalar approach to the multifaceted challenges associated with food production.
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Pătruț, Petra. "The Road Toward Sustainability in the Romanian Fast Fashion Organisations." Management Dynamics in the Knowledge Economy 12, no. 2 (June 1, 2024): 184–201. http://dx.doi.org/10.2478/mdke-2024-0012.
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Abstract The continuous level of consumption in the fast fashion industry has a concerning effect and needs to be addressed through a strategic approach, as it has a considerable environmental, social, and economic impact. The study contributes to a better understanding of the barriers hindering the transition toward a more sustainable future in the fast fashion industry through qualitative research. We conducted the qualitative research using the Grounded Theory, which allows an evaluation from different and multiple perspectives, resulting in a more exhaustive and justified result. Our approach was exploratory, and the results will be tested in future studies. The purpose of the paper was to map the road to sustainable fashion by understanding the obstacles/barriers, and solutions/drivers for sustainable development. The sustainability fast fashion organizational barriers were identified in the international literature through a structured literature review and further tested for the Romanian market through interviews. After the NVivo Analysis, the identified barriers referenced the most to least, from a Romanian organisational dimensions perspective were financial barriers, insufficient management engagement, lack of Romanian governmental support and infrastructure, eco-friendly packaging, and stakeholder and supplier barriers. The most mentioned driver dimension from an organisational point of view was the existence of a financial reward system for stakeholders, funding programs from the Government and EU, the implementation of mandatory regulations, and the possibility of creating an infrastructure.
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Basereh Taramsari, Hossein, Steven Hoffenson, Ashley Lytle, and Roshanak Nilchiani. "Identifying the Characteristics of Sustainable Design System: A Survey Study." Systems 12, no. 12 (December 12, 2024): 556. https://doi.org/10.3390/systems12120556.
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To achieve triple bottom line sustainability, a system requires a balance of its social, economic, and environmental axioms. This multi-dimensional system has multiple stakeholders with different objectives acting within the system, leading to an increased level of complexity. Product design is an area with significant potential to achieve sustainable development, which is also influenced by policies. Product designers/managers and policymakers have been identified as critical stakeholders within this complex system, and their decisions directly affect the transition toward sustainable product design. However, these stakeholders have different perspectives on sustainability, and there is a lack of understanding of the main characteristics of a sustainable design system and its requirements. This research aims to find a detailed and unified understanding of these stakeholder’s perspectives, practices, and requirements. An online survey investigated the views of engineers/managers and policymakers in the United States to find their definitions of sustainability, their assessment methods, drivers, and barriers of sustainability. Finally, the participants were asked to identify their requirements for a sustainable design tool that can assist them effectively in designing a sustainable product. Considering the exploratory nature of this study, a targeted sample of 50 participants was selected to capture in-depth, qualitative insights, enabling a nuanced understanding of this complex system. The open-ended questions were designed to obtain detailed responses, which were analyzed qualitatively to develop a comprehensive view of the current state and future requirements for sustainable design tools. This targeted approach allowed the study to probe deeply into each stakeholder’s frame of reference, facilitating the identification of critical factors for a successful transition to sustainable design in both industry and policy. The results identified the critical factors that contribute to a successful transition toward sustainable product design in industry and policies while the requirements found in this study provided a road map to meet the diverse needs of these stakeholders.
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Visser, Keesstra, Maas, de Cleen, and Molenaar. "Soil as a Basis to Create Enabling Conditions for Transitions Towards Sustainable Land Management as a Key to Achieve the SDGs by 2030." Sustainability 11, no. 23 (November 29, 2019): 6792. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/su11236792.
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The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) can be grouped into three domains, the environmental domain, the social domain and the economic domain. These different layers influence each other; hence sustainable progress in the economic layer cannot be achieved without good progress in the two other layers. To achieve the SDGs, transitions in the current system are needed and actions should be taken that support transitions and contribute to short term needs and long term (global) goals. Therefore, it is necessary to have knowledge of transitions and understand the different phases of transition. In this paper we discuss the key role of the soil-water system in these transitions and the achievement of the SDGs by 2030. The increasing pressure on land calls for multi-use of land and for the restoration of degraded land. Healthy soils and healthy land are the basic conditions for the successful implementation and realization of the SDGs. To enable a sustainable management of the soil and water system a transition approach is a prerequisite. In the X-curve used to describe transitions, soil and land stakeholders are given a framework, which provides perspective for action, specifically for science and governance stakeholders in each phase of the transition. This framework can provide the required intensive guidance to (1) analyze the impact of provided incentives, (2) identify new reference points in the transition and (3) stimulate transition catalysts, and (iv) innovate by testing cutting edge policy instruments in close cooperation with society. The key to make the necessary transitions and realize the SDGs by 2030 lies in the intensive guidance to combining initiatives, steering knowledge flows and continuously assessing the stage of the transition, in order to plan specific steps needed to progress in the transition framework. Both scientist and policy makers have an important role in this guidance.
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Benedetto, Graziella, and Maria Bonaventura Forleo. "PDO Economy and Quality Agri-Food District in the wine sector: Blockchain and digitalization as tools for the twin transition." Economia agro-alimentare, no. 3 (February 2025): 187–213. https://doi.org/10.3280/ecag2024oa17787.
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The twin transition has great potential for the development of the wine sector, although its benefits for the valorisation of the Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) economy and at the quality districts level are not explored in depth either in the theoretical or empirical literature. The study aims to contribute to this knowledge gap from a strictly conceptual perspective, by investigating benefits and obstacles that Blockchain and digital technologies can have to favour the creation and implementation of a quality wine district towards a sustainable path. Based on the literature background and a case study approach, the Vermentino di Gallura PDO Quality District, this study discusses the prospects and hypotheses of introducing Blockchain technologies and other digital tools at district level and the challenges and opportunities for fostering its sustainable transition. Preliminary results suggest that this transition could benefit the local supply chain and its territory over different pillars of sustainability, although obstacles can be expected along the implementation path. Obstacles can be in various areas – among which are the breadth and variety of processes included within the boundaries of the digital transition and the inter-organizational nature of the twin transition.
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Holtkamp, Carolin, and Trix van Mierlo. "Paving a Way towards Food Democratisation: Mechanisms in Contentious Niche Development." Sustainability 14, no. 3 (January 28, 2022): 1553. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/su14031553.
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Transition scholars have argued that the analysis of the agency of local civil society actors in their political struggle to transform the food system is necessary. In response, we complement the multi-level perspective on socio-technical transitions with the mechanism-process approach of contentious politics. This framework guides our qualitative analysis of a local movement called “The Way of Mals” in South Tyrol, Italy. This movement aimed to ban pesticides by developing a niche of food democratisation. We investigate how the local movement strategically mobilised citizens to get actively engaged in the local governance of food. We argue that the creation of political opportunities by the movement was crucial for their claim making. Amongst others, they introduced a legally binding local referendum on the ban on chemical–synthetic pesticides. We call this mechanism “paving”. In combination with meaning-making and networking, paving has led to the democratisation of local food governance. We conclude that the agency of local movements is especially reflected in their capacity to readjust in response to suppression efforts of their opponents in the well-established conventional regime. We suggest comparisons with similar cases for future research.
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Lohrum, Nele, Morten Graversgaard, and Chris Kjeldsen. "Historical Transition of a Farming System towards Industrialization: A Danish Agricultural Case Study Comparing Sustainability in the 1840s and 2019." Sustainability 13, no. 22 (November 22, 2021): 12926. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/su132212926.
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A Danish pre-industrial farming system is reconstructed and compared to its modern industrialized farming system equivalent to evaluate agricultural performance in a sustainability perspective. The investigated Danish farm system and its contributing elements have undergone significant transformations. The intensity of contemporary agriculture shows that high productivity levels have been achieved by increasing the input of energy using modern machinery. At the same time, the energy efficiency (calculations based on energetic indicators) diminishes over time as the degree of dependence on fossil fuels increases. The results from this study show significant changes in the farming system, specifically inputs from agricultural land use, livestock, and energy systems. From being highly circular, the system changed to being a clear linear farming system with highly increased productivity but less efficient at the same time, questioning the relationship between productivity and efficiency and resource utilization in modern farming systems. Through utilizing an agroecological historical approach by comparing system performance over time, the results offer opportunities to explore how agricultural farming systems evolve over time and help to describe the complexity of the system level in a sustainability perspective.
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Farooq, Muhammad Bilal, and Charl de Villiers. "Understanding how managers institutionalise sustainability reporting." Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal 32, no. 5 (June 17, 2019): 1240–69. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/aaaj-06-2017-2958.
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Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore how sustainability reporting managers (SRMs) institutionalise sustainability reporting within organisations. Design/methodology/approach In total, 35 semi-structured interviews with SRMs in Australia and New Zealand were analysed using an institutional work perspective. Findings SRMs’ institutional work can be categorised into four phases with each phase representing a different approach to sustainability reporting. Organisations transition from phase one to four as they achieve a higher level of maturity and a deeper embedding and routinisation of sustainability reporting. These include educating and advocacy work undertaken by engaging with managers (phase one), transitioning to a decentralised sustainability reporting process (phase two), transitioning to leaner, focussed, materiality driven sustainability reporting (phase three), and using sustainability key performance indicators and materiality assessment reports for planning, decision-making, goal setting, performance appraisal, and incentives (phase four). However, SRMs face challenges including their inexperience, limited time and resources, lack of management commitment to sustainability reporting and low external interest in sustainability reporting. The study identifies ten reasons why material issues are not always (adequately) disclosed. Practical implications This study recommends more training and development for SRMs, and that regulation be considered to mandate the disclosure of the materiality assessments in sustainability reports. Originality/value This research extends the existing literature examining how sustainability reports are prepared and sheds further light on how a materiality assessment is undertaken. The study identifies ten reasons for the non-disclosure of material matters, including but not limited to, legitimacy motives. Researchers can use these reasons to refine their methods for evaluating published sustainability reports. At a theoretical level, the study provides four observations that institutional researchers should consider when examining forms of institutional work.
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Wang, Yanbo, Boyao Zhi, Shumin Xiang, Guangxin Ren, Yongzhong Feng, Gaihe Yang, and Xiaojiao Wang. "China’s Biogas Industry’s Sustainable Transition to a Low-Carbon Plan—A Socio-Technical Perspective." Sustainability 15, no. 6 (March 16, 2023): 5299. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/su15065299.
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China’s biogas industry has experienced ups and downs over the past two decades, with various challenges pointing to misplaced expectations that biogas technology is overly focused on energy production. With the promotion of China’s low-carbon strategy, a more rational and sustainable transformation strategy is crucial for the development of the biogas industry. To elucidate the sustainable development process of the biogas industry, this study applies the socio-technical transition theory and the strategic niche management (SNM) approach to understand the multi-regime interactions of biogas systems and their possible future paths. At present, the Chinese biogas industry needs to abandon the expectation of energy recovery and establish the expectation of multi-functional combination, especially including nutrient cycling. This study proposes a sustainable transformation path for the biogas industry and predicts three phases based on the type of socio-technological transformation path: a transformation path to 2030 to promote niche innovation and develop core technologies; a reconfiguration path from 2030 to 2050, which will require a lot of trials and errors; and the expansion of market share in 2050 through technology replacement. This study highlights the importance of niche experimentations and broad advocacy coalitions for the biogas industry. This research also illustrates how the transformation of China’s biogas industry can be achieved through incremental innovation with consistent policy support.
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Shi, Chenchen, and Jinjing Lu. "Unlocking Economic Resilience: A New Methodological Approach and Empirical Examination under Digital Transformation." Land 13, no. 5 (May 4, 2024): 621. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/land13050621.
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Economic resilience is crucial for urban sustainability as it ensures stability and growth in the face of external shocks, promotes social cohesion and inclusivity, fosters environmental sustainability, and enhances cities’ adaptability to future challenges. This study expands the conventional perspective on economic resilience beyond the context of shocks, focusing on the inherent resilience of regional economic systems. A novel method for quantifying economic resilience is introduced, emphasizing system sensitivity and adaptability. Using Chinese prefecture-level city data and an econometric model, we empirically examine how Fintech, a major digital transition in current urban systems, affects economic resilience. The findings reveal that Fintech has a substantial positive effect on economic resilience, primarily through the upgrading of industrial structures and technological innovation. Furthermore, there is significant regional heterogeneity in the impact of Fintech on economic resilience, with more pronounced contributions in the east, central, and western regions of China, as opposed to the northeast. Additionally, the impact of Fintech on economic resilience is more substantial in large-scale cities. The promotion of economic resilience through digital transformation serves as a potent risk prevention measure. Understanding the role of economic resilience in urban systems holds valuable implications for countries worldwide.
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Song, Zhao, Christoph M. Hackl, Abhinav Anand, Andre Thommessen, Jonas Petzschmann, Omar Kamel, Robert Braunbehrens, Anton Kaifel, Christian Roos, and Stefan Hauptmann. "Digital Twins for the Future Power System: An Overview and a Future Perspective." Sustainability 15, no. 6 (March 16, 2023): 5259. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/su15065259.
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The inevitable transition of the power system toward a sustainable and renewable-energy centered power system is accompanied by huge versatility and significant challenges. A corresponding shift in operation strategies, embracing more intelligence and digitization, e.g., a Cyber-Physical System (CPS), is needed to achieve an optimal, reliable and secure operation across all system levels (components, units, plants, grids) and by the use of big data. Digital twins (DTs) are a promising approach to realize CPS. In this paper, their applications in power systems are reviewed comprehensively. The review reveals that there exists a gap between available DT definitions and the requirements for DTs utilized in future power systems. Therefore, by adapting the current definitions to these requirements, a generic definition of a “Digital Twin System (DTS)” is introduced which finally allows proposing a multi-level and arbitrarily extendable “System of Digital Twin Systems (SDTSs)” idea. The SDTSs can be realized with an open-source framework that serves as a central data and communication interface between different DTSs which can interact by “Reporting Modules” and are regulated by “Control Modules” (CMs). Exemplary application scenarios involving multiple system levels are discussed to illustrate the capabilities of the proposed SDTS concept.
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Panaro, Simona, Giuliano Poli, Marilisa Botte, Sabrina Sacco, and Maria Cerreta. "Assessing the sustainability of the city-port transformations: Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) for alternatives portfolio selection." Valori e Valutazioni 32 (2023): 91–105. http://dx.doi.org/10.48264/vvsiev-20233208.
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In recent years, the EU has sought to define sustainable transition pathways towards more equitable, prosperous, and inclusive urban and territorial models, capable of responding to the rapid degradation of ecosystems, and improving quality of life of citizens. In this context, ports have been recognised as key strategic hubs not only for economic and logistical competitiveness, but also to generate employment and investment opportunities, and to address the challenges of the climate change. The research presents a multi-scale, multi-dimensional and multi- group methodological framework to support decision-making processes related to the development of sustainable transformations of port cities, capturing the complexity of interactions and conflicts. Integrating Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) approaches and Problem Structuring Methods (PSM), the proposed methodology aims to address the following gaps identified in the literature: (i) a scattered application of multi-group methods; (ii) the lack of social instances within the decision problem; (iii) a weak sustainability perspective; (iv) the use of one-dimensional scale assessment in sectoral studies. The case study of the city-port of Gela in Sicily (Italy) provided an opportunity to test the proposed methodology and to integrate multi-dimensional sustainability issues into feasibility studies, promoting a more balanced relationship between city and port. The interdependencies between environment, society and economy allowed MCDA to be identified as a suitable approach to address complex decision-making and support the sustainability assessment of port areas transformation. Two multi-criteria and multi-group evaluation methods guided the decision-making process to select a portfolio of preferred alternatives by assessing technical, environmental, and economic impacts and analysing stakeholder conflicts and coalitions. The process was carried out as follows: on the one hand, a multidimensional impact matrix integrating Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) divided into technical, financial-economic, and environmental categories through the application of the multi-criteria method EVAMIX; on the other hand, a social assessment with a dendrogram of coalitions derived from the application of the multi-group method NAIADE by modelling stakeholders’ preferences regarding a portfolio of alternatives related to the decision problem.
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Kumar, Chandan, Mukesh Kumar, Diwakar Kumar, Mohd Rameez Raza, and Anurag. "The Extension Services in Advancing Organic Farming: A Global Perspective." Journal of Scientific Research and Reports 31, no. 3 (March 12, 2025): 96–106. https://doi.org/10.9734/jsrr/2025/v31i32881.
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Agricultural extension plays a pivotal role in facilitating the adoption of sustainable organic farming practices by bridging the knowledge gap between research institutions and farmers. Organic farming is a viable alternative to conventional agriculture, promoting soil health, biodiversity conservation, and reduced chemical dependency while ensuring long-term productivity. This review explores the significance of agricultural extension in enhancing organic farming through participatory learning, digital interventions, market-led approaches, and policy support. Key strategies include farmer field schools, demonstration plots, ICT-based advisories, and the development of organic value chains. However, challenges such as knowledge gaps, complex certification processes, inadequate market access, and weak policy support hinder widespread adoption. Addressing these challenges requires a multi-stakeholder approach, integrating research, government initiatives, and farmer-led networks. Strengthening research-extension-farmer linkages, simplifying certification, and fostering climate-smart organic practices can further enhance the impact of extension services. The paper highlights the need for capacity building among extension personnel and the promotion of farmer-centric organic farming models to ensure sustainability. Future efforts should focus on digital extension tools, participatory research, and institutional reforms to create an enabling environment for organic farming. By reinforcing agricultural extension systems, the transition toward a resilient, sustainable, and profitable organic farming ecosystem can be accelerated.
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Sanon, Vincent-Paul, Raymond Ouedraogo, Patrice Toé, Hamid El Bilali, Erwin Lautsch, Stefan Vogel, and Andreas H. Melcher. "Socio-Economic Perspectives of Transition in Inland Fisheries and Fish Farming in a Least Developed Country." Sustainability 13, no. 5 (March 9, 2021): 2985. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/su13052985.
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Small-scale inland fisheries are essential for livelihoods and food security in developing countries such as Burkina Faso. However, there is a gap in research on the ongoing transformation of the sector toward sustainability. This article analyzes the transition in inland fisheries and aquaculture in Burkina Faso and its implications in terms of natural resources management, food security, and livelihoods. We used the Multi-Level Perspective (MLP) method as a reference transition framework and sampled using a mixed approach including 63 qualitative interviews, with fisheries experts and stakeholders, as well as quantitative data gathered through a representative survey with 204 fishermen’s households. We examined open access, concession, and co-management fisheries systems. Our results show that technical and institutional changes in fisheries over the last decades deeply shaped and transformed fisheries governance. Technological changes improved the sector’s productivity and its contribution to households’ livelihoods. Fishermen’s households consume up to 25% of fishermen’s catches. The share of the catches consumed is typically higher when commercial fishing is “not important”, but it remains typically low when it is “very important”. The income is higher for fishermen who allocate more time to or gain more income from animals breeding. The establishment of state-based management affects the balance between the coexisting traditional and newer “republican” institutions. Concession and co-management niches can contribute to the empowerment of the stakeholders and establishment of more effective management. However, they are still dominated by the traditional and centralized state regimes and governance. The support of the socio-technical landscape is paramount for the scaling-up of the fish farming niche, which has the potential to improve food security and sustain rural livelihoods in the least developed country, Burkina Faso.