Transition Management for sustainable cities insights from five European cities

Chris Roorda DRIFT, Dutch Research Institute for Transitions Erasmus University Rotterdam

Ecocities 2013, Nantes Session RG5

25 September 2013

Mitigation in Urban Areas, Solutions for Innovative Cities

5 local governments search for pathways to a low carbon future

Supported by two knowledge institutions: CRP Henri Tudor (LUX), DRIFT (NL)

Aberdeen

Ghent

Montreuil

Rotterdam

Ludwigsburg

• Ambitious targets, but issues are deeply rooted in societal structures. – need for fundamental change of paradigms, routines and structures

– complexity: non-linear; multiple actors, scales and domains involved.

– requires additional policy instruments

• Aiming for a sustainable future is about finding fundamental new ways of thinking, working, organising – by all kinds of actors. – impossible to ‘command and control’

• Transition Management aims to influence the pace and direction of societal change by creating space for systems innovation

TM as a response to persistent unsustainability

Transition Management - Basics

4

• Insight into the system

• Understand dynamics and interlinkages of multiple domains, actors and scale-levels

• System innovation in incremental steps

• Take small but radical steps, guided by a long-term perspective

• Diversity and flexibility

• Don’t pretend the future can be predicted nor planned

• Co-creation

• Realize everybody is a decision maker in some way

• Creating opportunities for change-agents

• Go beyond vested interests and stakes

• Social and institutional learning

• Take time for reflection & learning, this is essential for challenging paradigms and routines

“protected” setting with new connections to think & act beyond business-as-usual

selective, involving± 15 change-agents

≠ stakeholders

diverse backgrounds and opinions policy, business, civil society

complementary to “regular” policy (and also not to be confused with participation)

Central method in TM: Transition Arena

Transition

experiments

Transition

Arena

Transition

networks T-team

Problem

structuring

Vision

Agenda

analysis

Systemic

change

perspective

Action

perspective

Transition Management process

Example: Arena process in Ghent

Arena impulse concentrated in 2011

• With transition team (5 members): 4 months of

preparation

• With transition arena (17 members): 7 months

(6 meetings) from analysis to vision to agenda.

• „Launch“ at Climate Forum, 22/11/2011

• Ghent, great place to live

• Locally creating added value

• Energetic city, intelligent cycles

• Ghentenaar home in the city

Emerging

niches

Example Ghent: From understanding the current system to vision images

20 cultural

organizations

Transition

University

Ghent

Research

biogas from

biodegr.

Mobility arena

938 mobbers

Support for SMEs

Climate

arena Inspiration to

political parties

CWG Urban

Farming

CWG Energy Efficiency in business

CWG Valorisation waste water and

biodegradables CWG Art Sector

CWG mobility

CWG consumer pusher market

KWG UGent

Assessment of potential for ESCO’s

CEIP meets GMS

Example Ghent: Climate arena triggers action...

Example Ghent: Quotes from Arena Participants

Participants

“Most valuable was the dynamic atmosphere of people who want to

be the change”

“I learned a lot thanks to the different backgrounds”

“We built mutual trust, we showed openness and respect”

City officers

“I was amazed how much vigor such a group can have”

“I realized how little I knew of what is going on in my own hometown”

“This helps to get climate neutrality on the agenda in every

department”

10

11

Reflection

Experiences in 5 cities - reflecting on… Aberdeen, Ghent, Ludwigsburg, Montreuil, Rotterdam

about 150 interviews preparing the arenas

arena groups in cities developed a total of 5 transition

agendas (including problem framing, vision and agenda)

After the arena’s, 30 transition projects started up

some spin-offs, some experiments, some just seeds, even 2 new arena’s.

All in all, the ideas and actions from the arenas reached

thousands of followers and motivated a part of them to

engage in working towards a low-carbon future.

General results within municipalities

Better understanding of complexity and the societal

context of the low-carbon challenges through interaction

Shifting view on participation co-production & inspiring contact with the change-agents

‐ More space in organization for new ways of working it created a comfort zone to come out of the comfort zone

‐ more building upon societal dynamics

‐ more collaboration within municipality

‐ more reflexivity

‐ less SMART

Lessons learned

Tap into city dynamics

Explore / connect to / learn from what happens in the city

Invest time and take time

have patience, some things need time to grow

selection of change-agents is key

Don’t underestimate “setting the scene”

preparing, creating support, finding a way that it fits in the context

Elevate the level of knowledge of all involved

Overall outcomes of Transition Management

Creating joined understanding & responsibility for the challenges

Empowerment and learning

Bundling of innovation

new networks and constellations

Changing roles and relationships

incl interaction top-down/bottom-up and radical/moderate innovators

Giving an impulse to a movement for a sustainable city

15

Thank you for your attention

For more information and publications: roorda@drift.eur.nl www.drift.eur.nl www.themusicproject.eu Tip: visit Eurocities Ghent, 27-29 November

17