Transition management for sustainable development concepts, initiatives and outlook

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Transition management for sustainable
developmentconcepts, initiatives and outlook

• Derk Loorbach
• Brussels, 07-12-2006

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Transitions and sustainable development

• Many social systems are faced with persistent
  problems
• Many actors involved, deeply embedded in
  institutions, long time horizon
• Examples energy, mobility, agriculture,
  education, health care, waste and water
  management, housing etc.
• Transitions are inevitable and needed
• Persistent problems and societal dynamics
  ultimately lead to structural change
• Obviously we need transitions to more sustainable
  systems

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Transitions

• fundamental shift in structure, culture and
  practices at the systems level
• Culture dominant perspectives and values
• Structure institutions, routines, material
  structures, networks
• Practices behaviour, individual choices,
  innovations
• fundamental shift in thinking and acting
• shift in power from one regime to another

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Transition conceptwhen and how do transitions
occur?
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Transition Managementhow to deal with
transitions?

• Systems and transitions thinking as analytical
  basis
• Long-term envisioning as framework for short-term
  
• Multi-actor approaches
• Taking multi-level dynamics into account
• Dealing with uncertainties, keeping options open
• Focus on learning, experiment and innovation
• ?Flexible, adaptive and context specific
  governance approaches at different levels

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TransitionmanagementMulti-level governance
approach
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The Transitionarena
society
Transitionarena
Regular policy arena

• - Long term
• - Innovators
• System-innovation
• Problem- and goal searching

• - Short term
• - Peloton
• Incremental change
• Problem- and goal oriented

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Transition approach

• Invest time and energy in frontrunners
  (wegbereiders) and less in the laggards
• Bring together innovative niche- and
  regime-actors in transitionarenas
• Develop a shadow policy track in the arena
• Become concrete by initiating transition
  experiments
• Transform arenas and networks into social
  movement to exert public pressure
• Claim success

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What are results?

• Increased sense of urgency
• Shared problem definitions
• Shared perspective and orientation
• Transition and transition vision
• Space for innovation
• Mental, institutional, financial, physical etc.
• Competent individuals with changed perspective
• New elan and storng message/narrative
• New coalitions and networks
• With shared transition agenda and experiments

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Example 1Dutch Energy Transition 2001-2006
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Achievements so far

• Strategic Consensus on the over-all direction
• safe, reliable, cost-effective, climate-neutral
  and robust energy-system
• Task force energy transition
• Interdepartmental policy group (IPE)
• Tactical
• 6 subtransitions (Biomass, New Gas, Mobility,
  Clean fossil, Green electricity, Built
  environment)
• 6 networks/communities (Companies, governmental
  bodies, scientists, ngos)
• Transition agendas (images, paths)
• Operational experiments
• Over 80 million Euro invested directly (partly
  during 2005)
• Energy innovation research Eur. 200 Mil.
• 75 coalitions and transitions experiments

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Emerging new governance system
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Example 2Flemish arena on sustainable housing

• Aminal environmental policy plan project 1
• experiment with transition management in Flanders
• Consortium TNO, Drift, CDO, Pantopicon
• Project structure
• Phase 1 expert preparation phase
• Integrated systems analysis
• Actor selection for arena
• Phase 2 transition arena
• Problem structuring and envisioning
• Phase 3 transition network and agenda
• Images, pathways and experiments

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Results (content)

• Ambitious qualitative vision as collective
  attractor/direction
• Target images
• Sluit de kring, wonen voor het leven, samen leren
  en innoveren in de bouw, levende kernen
• 6 transition paths
• Towards sustainable material use, - energy
  producing homes, - flexible and transparant
  building process, - sustainable consumers, -
  sustainable living quality, - multifunctional
  space-use, - adaptive spatial planning
• 15 concrete transition experiments (partly new)
• Some already funded, initiated (green financing,
  isolation, knowledge, media, passiefhuis)

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Results (process)

• Broad transition arena with participantion from
  industry, ngos, government, research
• Shared transition agenda to build on
• Follow-up activities already planned (platform,
  organizational structure)
• Political commitment and support
• Communication strategy in planning

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Evaluation results

• Innovative process with very good results
• Time-consuming, stressful, difficult and complex
  learning-by-doing
• Does TM fit in Belgium?
• 70 NO does not fit the political culture
• 90 YES it can very well be applied in other
  areas
• Differences between NL and belgium
• Culture
• Process more structure, less self-organization
• Action oriented, less conceptual and long-term
• Different position ands structure of government
• Language differences
• Structure
• Closer to politics, bureaucracy less important
• Less room for exploration because of regime
  pressure
• Smaller budgets

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Final remarks

• Major barriers are routines, dogmas, false
  expectations and lack of knowledge and competence
• Pressure to deliver concrete results and treat TM
  as regular project
• Experiences in Netherlands and Belgium inform
  theory and vice versa
• No blueprint, but learning-by-doing and
  doing-by-learning
• Transition management is a promising new research
  and governance approach
• Applied in a growing number of areas and countries