societal transformations rené kemp unu-merit, icis, drift presentation 5 environment and...
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Societal transformations
René Kemp
UNU-MERIT, ICIS, DRIFT
Presentation 5Environment and Sustainable Development course
UNU-MERIT PhD programme
Sustainability benefits may be secured through sociotechnical transformations involving system innovationAre green system innovations easier for countries that go through a transformation?
System Innovation
System innovations involve a new logic (guiding principle) and new types of practices (at the supply and user side).
Through system innovation a service is offered in a novel way or altogether new services are offered.
Innovation System
An innovation system is constituted by elements and relationships which interact in the production, diffusion and use of new and economically useful knowledge (Lundvall, 1992). A further distinction is between national, sectoral and regional systems of innovation.
Socio-technical change
Socio-technical change is the outcome of processes that can be identified at different levels: micro, meso and macroThe story of change: (1) Most innovation is incremental
and part of a technological regime, radical change occurs rarely
Socio-technical change (2)
At the micro level there is variety but the variety is bounded due to competition and to advantages of standardization but also bounded by self-assumed roles, routines and shared assumptions and beliefs – that form a cognitive and normative framework (a regime) which channels investment and imagination into particular directions
Socio-technical change (3)
The transformation of regimes and landscapes
Landscape
Patchworkof regimes
Niches(novelty)
Increasingstructuration of activities in local practices
Multi-level perspective on system- innovation
Geels (2002, 2004)
SSI =Sectoral systems of innovation (Malerba)
TIS = Technology-specific innovation systems (Jacobsson)
Markard (2006)
What is a regime?
A regime may be defined in terms of knowledge and technology (internal combustion vehicle regime)in terms of a practice: automobility, massproductionIn terms of the central institution or type of coordination: world trade agreement, IPR, system of control measures (product testing, occupational safety, health, ..)
Tec h n o lo g ic a lre g im e
U s e r a n dm a rk e tre g im e
S c ien c ere g im e
P o lic yre g im e
S o c io -c u l tu ra lre g im e
Alignment of ongoing processes in
a socio-technical regime
Geels (2005)
Landscape developments put pressure on existing regime, which opens up, creating windows of opportunity for novelties
Socio-technical regime is ‘dynamically stable’.On different dimensions there are ongoing processes
New configuration breaks through, takingadvantage of ‘windows of opportunity’. Adjustments occur in socio-technical regime.
Elements become aligned,and stabilise in a dominant design.Internal momentum increases.
Small networks of actors support novelties on the basis of expectations and visions.Learning processes take place on multiple dimensions (co-construction).Efforts to link different elements in a seamless web.
New regime influences landscape
Niche-innovations
Socio-technical’landscape (exogenouscontext)
Socio-technicalregime
Technology
Markets, user preferences
CulturePolicy
ScienceIndustry
External influences on niches(via expectations and networks)
Increasing structurationof activities in local practices
TimeGeels (2005)
The strength of the multi-level framework
is that innovation and transition processes can be explained by the interplay of stabilizing mechanisms at the regime level and (regime-) destabilizing influences or pressures at the landscape level combined with the emergence of radical innovations at the niche level
Regimes should be operationalised
Regimes are empirically vague: The conceptual issue of how to define a regime empirically has received only scant attention
When can we call something a regime?
How to deal with variations of products, actor strategies, markets within a regime conceptually?
How to measure grammar and rules sets?
An example of a regime
The automobility regime with its various regimeso Internal combustion engineo Car-ownership and self-drivingo Professional servicingo Massproduction
Each of which can be called a regime
How does a regime look?
What are key elements?Can they be observed empirically?
I would define regimes in terms of
Dominant practices (at supply and user side)Self-assumed rolesDominant ways of thinking (basic assumptions, problem definitions, favoured approaches for dealing with problems)Which are being reproduced
Questions
An important question for policy is whether sustainability transformations can be identified and implemented. What capacities and circumstances are needed for transformations to occur?Is the capacity for green transformations in developing countries less than it is in developed countries? If so, what are the reasons for this? Is this because of the lack of markets (which causes agents to adapt) or the lack of certain capabilities?