research proposal mag. josef kreitmayer - sustainability transition on the local levels of civil...

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Research proposal Mag. Josef Kreitmayer Page 1

Research Proposal

Sustainability Transition on the local levels of civil society

-

From Intervention to Transformation

30/10/2013

BOKU - University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, ienna

Mag. Josef Kreitmayer


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Table of Contents

!ntroduction """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" 3

Problem Statement"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" #

Objectives"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" $

Methodological Approach""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" %

Timeline"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" &

Core Literature"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" 10

Systems Science Approaches"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" 10

Sustainability Transition / Transformation"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" 11

Social nnovation""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" 12

Social !ntrepreneurship"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" 12

Change Agency""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" 12

'nne( 1 numbers to get a feel of the potential of the Sustainability ntervention Systems in Austria1#

'nne( 2 ntervention Schemes""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" 1$


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Sustainability Transition on the local levels of civil society

From Intervention to Transformation

Introduction

n the "#stcentury human civili$ation faces comple% challenges as never before in history&

The most threatening of this grand challenges are related to the patterns of production and

consumption adopted by industriali$ed societies& This social metabolism '(ischer)*o+als,i

und -.ttler #012 consumes resources that are in depletion +hether fossil 'hydro carbonates1

or mineral based 'rare earths1 and destroys natural capacity to reproduce natural resources& On

the output side2 by burning fossil fuels2 it produces CO"2 +hich is the main contributing factor

to climate change 'PCC "3#41#&

Solutions to this comple% problems2 that are very deep rooted in the everyday lifestyle and

interrelated functions and patterns of our contemporary society2 re5uire deep structuralchanges in ,ey areas of human activity2 such as our transport2 energy2 agri)food2 housing2

manufacturing2 leisure and other systems& The emerging research field of Sustainability

Transition 6esearch aims to understand the stabili$ing factors2 that cause loc,)in processes2

path dependent development and entrapment2 to find leverage points 'Meado+s 7onella

#812 to find +ays to 9dislodge: 'ST6; "3#31 them2 and identify path+ays and +indo+s of

opportunity for a Sustainability Transition i&e& transformation&

n governance theory there are three main spheres identified2 +here the path+ays of societyare consciously and unconsciously driven by human interaction2 state intervention2 mar,et and

civil society& The systems thin,er and grand seigneur !rvin Las$lo stated in a speech via

S,ype at the 7ays of the (uture "3#4 in Ossiach2 Austria< The greatest potential power in

the world is civil society - but in fact it is a sleeping dragon.This might be subject of a very

interesting debate2 especially as there is a tendency that election driven politics might for+ard

1!n t)e ne*est 2013 re+ort of t)e ! . !nternational anel on liate )ane, t)e lieli)ood ofant)ro+oenic O2 +roduction ein t)e ain cause of t)e current cliate c)ane *as solidified to &$

lieli)ood"


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inconvenient responsibility out of its sphere2 +hich has to be critically addressed& -ere +e

+ant to ta,e the metaphor of the sleeping dragon to have a loo, at structures2 that could

unloc, the potential of human individuals2 private persons and civil society in general2 rattling

the dragon to +a,e up2 so to say&

An ama$ing number of grassroots and social entrepreneurs2 government funded local

community managers and sustainability co)ordinators as enablers on local and regional level

as +ell as local government do their best to spur sustainable change in the immediate habitual

environments of people 'Anne% #1& A variety of intervention schemes are put in place for

enabling people in various roles to ma,e a difference 'Anne% "1& (or e%ample projects in

schools on climate change and other sustainability related issues are on the rise States develop

non)legislature mechanisms to enable people on the local level& Austria has a huge potentialfor effectively addressing the Sustainability Transition& n Anne% # to this document there is a

short overvie+ on numbers to get an idea of the potential2 that lies in the intervention schemes

in Austrian regions2 Anne% " sho+s a segmentation of different varieties of that schemes&

Problem Statement

The (ield of local sustainability intervention2 has "= years of e%perience in enabling people to

be entrepreneurial2 develop projects2 form +or,ing groups2 and set up programs2 to mention a

fe+ possibilities of engagement& There are successes& There are a fe+ regions and

communities2 that are tal,ed about2 and that really transformed 'at least partially1 to+ards a

more sustainable +ay of living& Many other interventions have not been able to unfold long

lasting effects +ithin local socio)technical and socio)ecological systems&

(rom ntervention to longterm Transformation2 ho+ to get there2 that is the mayor 5uestion of

this research&


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Objectives

>et an understanding of the practical challenges of sustainability processes2 +hatproblems the run into2 +hy initiatives +or,2 and +hy not&

-arvesting the insights from fields as Systems nnovation2 Social nnovation2 Social!ntrepreneurship2 Social mpact Scaling and Sustainability Transition 6esearch

Out of the e%isting ,no+ledge develop patterns and best practices for SustainabilityTransition Practice2 iterate and verify them in practical application and case studies&

Contribute to the emerging field of Sustainability Transitions 6esearch& 6esearchinterest in the areas2 that are not jet +ell addressed 'ST6; "3#312 very +ell match theinterest of this thesiserald '"3331< Systemic ntervention& Philosophy2 Methodology2 and Practice& @oston2 MA< Springer'Contemporary Systems Thin,ing1&

;!STA '!d&1 '"3#41< Systems nnovation& 7iscussion Paper& Dith contributions from >eoff Mulgan undCharlie Leadbeater& ;esta Operating Company& Online availablehttpreen2 *enneth '"33N1< System innovation and the transition to sustainability&Theory2 evidence and policy& Cheltenham< !lgar&

!l$en2 @oelieG Diec$ore,2 Anna '"33=1< Transitions to+ards sustainability through system innovation& nrin2 Kohn '"3#31< nnovation studies and sustainability transitions< The allure ofthe multi)level perspective and its challenges& n


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7olata2 Elrich '"3##1< 6adical Change as >radual Transformation& Characteristics and ariants of Socio)technical Transitions& Eniversity of Stuttgard2 nstitute for Social Sciences Organi$ational Sociology andnnovation Studies '6esearch Contributions to Organi$ational Sociology and nnovation Studies1& Onlineavailable http


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Annex 1

numbers to get a feel of the potential of the Sustainability ntervention Systems in Austria

==4 of the "4=NN communities in Austria are partners in the Climate Coalition29*limab.ndnis:2 a net+or, +ith more than "3 years of history&

More than N"N of the communities= 'many of +hich are also enrolled to the ClimateCoalition Program1 and 4J of the = districts in Austria are engaged in 9Local Agenda

"#: participatory sustainability processes2 a state co)funded net+or,2 that started in #02

initiated globally +ith the 6io Conference in #"&&

N4JJ of the J"38 Schools in Austria are Partners in the U,olog)Schul);et$+er,'Oe,olog ;et+or, for ecological schools1

All Austrian states committed to a shared initiative on Sustainability& The statesthemselves develop and implement strategies for fostering sustainable development& Kust

to mention some2 Lo+er Austria recently started a platform +here people can post their

energy efficiency measures& Tirol2 orarlberg Epper Austria in public private

partnerships adopted a program)franchise from Liechtenstein2 the 9deen,anal: 'dea)

Channel12 +here people can post ideas for the common good to a +ebsite2 and if it is

li,ed by online)votes and a jury2 can get funding and coaching to implement the idea&

of "" federal universities are partners in the Alliance for Sustainable Eniversitiesthat +as rolled out in "3#"&

[

4according to the *limab.ndnis Debsiteshttp


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Annex 2

ntervention Schemes(Identified in first brainstorming on the matter)

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