| 1. |
- Bergmann, Matthias, et al.
(författare)
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Transdisciplinary sustainability research in real-world labs: success factors and methods for change
- 2021
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Ingår i: Sustainability Science. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1862-4057 .- 1862-4065. ; 16:2, s. 541-564
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The transdisciplinary research mode has gained prominence in the research on and for sustainability transformations. Yet, solution-oriented research addressing complex sustainability problems has become complex itself, with new transdisciplinary research formats being developed and tested for this purpose. Application of new formats offers learning potentials from experience. To this end, we accompanied fourteen research projects conceptualized as real-world labs (RwLs) from 2015 to 2018. RwLs were part of a funding program on ‘Science for Sustainability’ in the German federal state of Baden-Württemberg. Here, we combine conceptual and empirical work to a structured collection of experiences and provide a comprehensive account of RwLs. First, we outline characteristics of RwLs as transformation oriented, transdisciplinary research approach, using experiments, enabling learning and having a long-term orientation. Second, we outline eleven success factors and concrete design notes we gained through a survey of the 14 RwLs: (1) find the right balance between scientific and societal aims, (2) address the practitioners needs and restrictions, (3) make use of the experimentation concept, (4) actively communicate, (5) develop a ‘collaboration culture’, (6) be attached to concrete sites, (7) create lasting impact and transferability, (8) plan for sufficient time and financial means, (9) adaptability, (10) research-based learning, and (11) recognize dependency on external actors. Characteristics and success factors are combined to illustrate practical challenges in RwLs. Third, we show which methods could be used to cope with challenges in RwLs. We conclude discussing the state of debate on RwLs and outline future avenues of research.
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| 2. |
- Caniglia, Guido, et al.
(författare)
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A pluralistic and integrated approach to action-oriented knowledge for sustainability
- 2021
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Ingår i: Nature Sustainability. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2398-9629. ; 4:2, s. 93-100
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Forskningsöversikt (refereegranskat)abstract
- Sustainability science needs to better mobilize a range of knowledge to support transformative change. This Perspective contends that such transformative, action-oriented knowledge emerges from integrating multiple kinds of knowledge and ways of knowing. Sustainability science needs more systematic approaches for mobilizing knowledge in support of interventions that may bring about transformative change. In this Perspective, we contend that action-oriented knowledge for sustainability emerges when working in integrated ways with the many kinds of knowledge involved in the shared design, enactment and realization of change. The pluralistic and integrated approach we present rejects technocratic solutions to complex sustainability challenges and foregrounds individual and social learning. We argue that research institutions devoted to sustainability should focus more on creating the conditions for experimenting with multiple kinds of knowledge and ways of knowing to foster sustainability-oriented learning.
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| 3. |
- Fazey, Ioan, et al.
(författare)
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Transforming knowledge systems for life on Earth : Visions of future systems and how to get there
- 2020
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Ingår i: Energy Research & Social Science. - : Elsevier. - 2214-6296 .- 2214-6326. ; 70
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Formalised knowledge systems, including universities and research institutes, are important for contemporary societies. They are, however, also arguably failing humanity when their impact is measured against the level of progress being made in stimulating the societal changes needed to address challenges like climate change. In this research we used a novel futures-oriented and participatory approach that asked what future envisioned knowledge systems might need to look like and how we might get there. Findings suggest that envisioned future systems will need to be much more collaborative, open, diverse, egalitarian, and able to work with values and systemic issues. They will also need to go beyond producing knowledge about our world to generating wisdom about how to act within it. To get to envisioned systems we will need to rapidly scale methodological innovations, connect innovators, and creatively accelerate learning about working with intractable challenges. We will also need to create new funding schemes, a global knowledge commons, and challenge deeply held assumptions. To genuinely be a creative force in supporting longevity of human and non-human life on our planet, the shift in knowledge systems will probably need to be at the scale of the enlightenment and speed of the scientific and technological revolution accompanying the second World War. This will require bold and strategic action from governments, scientists, civic society and sustained transformational intent.
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| 4. |
- McCrory, Gavin, 1990, et al.
(författare)
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Governing sustainability transitions: contrasting experimental arenas through the lens of Agenda 2030
- 2018
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Konferensbidrag (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- In 2015, the necessity of fundamental societal change was outlined in a universal, transnational agreement with the headline of “transforming our world”. The UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development includes 17 Sustainable Development Goals, ranging from ending poverty and establishing gender equality to halting climate change and sustainable cities and communities. Building on UN and scholarly debates, we put forward two key principles to guide the realization of Agenda 2030: transformation (to sustainability) and integration. Transformation refers to the understanding that fundamental change is necessary to achieve sustainability; Integration recognizes that such change is dependent upon different perspectives, such as sustainability dimensions and the SDGs themselves, and different actors. At the same time, laboratories in real world contexts have emerged from various discourses, and are portrayed as settings to host potentially transformative experimentation and innovation processes and integrate various perspectives and actors. Sustainability related labs contribute a significant share to all labs existing. Despite their proliferation across the local, regional and national levels, it remains unclear how different laboratory settings might relate to processes of integration and transformation. Labs have seldom been attached explicitly to Agenda 2030 in practice, and a systematic assessment of the suitability of labs to support agenda 2030 so far is lacking. Hence, the main aim of this work-in-progress paper is to situate existing lab approaches from real world contexts in relation to the ambitions of Agenda 2030. It is guided by the following main research question: What is the capacity of labs in real world contexts in contributing to agenda 2030 by processes of transformation and integration? The paper presents the progress of an ongoing study, which intends to employ a step-based systematic review approach. Firstly, we highlight and unpack the key principles to guide the realization of Agenda 2030: transformation (to sustainability) and integration, and propose an analytical framework related to these principles. Secondly, and currently ongoing, we investigate a breadth of lab approaches building on a systematic review to draw out their capacities to contribute to transformation and integration. Results of the first stage are presented, before the paper ends by outlining the ongoing data collection process, describes the sample and provides a brief outlook.
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| 5. |
- McCrory, Gavin, 1990, et al.
(författare)
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Sustainability-oriented labs in real-world contexts: An exploratory review
- 2020
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Ingår i: Journal of Cleaner Production. - : Elsevier BV. - 0959-6526. ; 277, s. 1-18
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Forskningsöversikt (refereegranskat)abstract
- There are growing claims that meaningfully engaging with complex sustainability challenges requires change of a systemic nature. In governing transitions to sustainability, laboratories in real world contexts are growing in presence and promise. Yet, they span an array of contexts, conceptualisations and cases, making it difficult to find and relate labs across disciplines. Moreover, it is unclear how these labs vary in their approaches to sustainability, the importance of which has been voiced by the sustainability transitions community. In addressing these concerns, we adopted the broad research question: How can sustainability-oriented labs in real-world contexts be understood? We systematically reviewed 53 labs from disparate fields of research that broadly share a focus on sustainability. Through a mixed-methods analysis, we present three levels of results. Firstly, we provide an overview of the diversity in distribution, thematic focus and setup of labs. Secondly, we trace 7 different research communities where sustainability-oriented labs have been conceptualized (Living, Urban Living, Real-world, Evolutionary Learning, Urban Transition, Change and Transformation labs). Thirdly, we identify three key dimensions of labs, space, process and organisation, enabling a structured understanding of lab approaches towards sustainability. We then situate our results within salient transitions research areas, namely transition geographies, governance and innovation. In concluding, we point towards fruitful avenues for future research, capable of 1) unpacking lab approaches to sustainability as a dynamic normative property, and 2) providing a basis for complementary case-based comparison.
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| 6. |
- McCrory, Gavin, 1990, et al.
(författare)
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Sustainability-oriented labs in transitions: An empirically grounded typology
- 2022
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Ingår i: Environmental Innovation and Societal Transitions. - : Elsevier BV. - 2210-4224. ; 43, s. 99-117
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Sustainability is high on the political agenda, with its analytical and practical importance underscored in the field of sustainability transitions. Experiments, arenas, and laboratories are frequently highlighted as real-world objects to investigate sustainability in place. Despite existing lab studies, attempts at comparison at the empirical level remain unconvincing. Here, sustainability remains oversimplified, warranting further investigation to unpack how labs compare in their orientation towards sustainability. This article presents a rigorous and transparent empirically grounded typology, intended to discern ways to engage with sustainability. We outline and elaborate upon six distinctive types entitled: 1) Fix and control, 2) (Re-)Design and optimize, 3) Make and relate, 4) Educate and engage, 5) Empower and govern, and 6) Explore and shape. This study highlights similarities and differences between labs, and across different types. These findings are discussed with reference to ongoing conceptualizations on directionality, providing a fruitful point of departure for ongoing transitions research.
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| 7. |
- Schäpke, Niko Alexander, 1977, et al.
(författare)
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Jointly experimenting for transformation?: Shaping real-world laboratories by comparing them
- 2018
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Ingår i: GAIA. - 2625-5413 .- 0940-5550. ; 27, s. 85-96
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Real-world laboratories (RwLs, German Reallabore) belong to a family of increasingly popular experimental and transdisciplinary research approaches at the science-society interface. As these approaches in general, and RwLs in particular, often lack clear definitions of key characteristics and their operationalization, we make two contributions in this article. First, we identify five core characteristics of RwLs: contribution to transformation, experimental methods, transdisciplinary research mode, scalability and transferability of results, as well as scientific and societal learning and reflexivity. Second, we compare RwLs to similar research approaches according to the five characteristics. In this way, we provide an orientation on experimental and transdisciplin ary research for societal transformations, and reveal the contributions of this type of research in supporting societal change. Our findings enable learning across the different approaches and highlight their complementarities, with a particular focus on RwLs.
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| 8. |
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| 9. |
- Schäpke, Niko Alexander, 1977, et al.
(författare)
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Strengthening the transformative impulse while mainstreaming real-world labs: Lessons learned from three years of BaWü-Labs
- 2018
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Ingår i: GAIA. - : Oekom Publishers GmbH. - 2625-5413 .- 0940-5550. ; 27:2, s. 262-264
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Real-world labs have been proposed as a central catalyst to advance research for sustainability and societal transformation. In Karlsruhe, the scientific community presented new experiences and results from more than three years of pioneering real-world lab research in Baden-Württemberg (BaWü-Labs) and discussed the lessons learned with practitioners.
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| 10. |
- Wamsler, Christine, et al.
(författare)
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Enabling new mindsets and transformative skills for negotiating and activating climate action: Lessons from UNFCCC conferences of the parties
- 2020
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Ingår i: Environmental Science and Policy. - : Elsevier BV. - 1873-6416 .- 1462-9011. ; 112, s. 227-235
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Technological and policy solutions for transitioning to a fossil-free society exist, many countries could afford the transition, and rational arguments for rapid climate action abound. Yet effective action is still lacking. Dominant policy approaches have failed to generate action at anywhere near the rate, scale or depth needed to avoid potentially catastrophic futures. This is despite 30 years of climate negotiations under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), and wide-ranging actions at national, transnational and sub-national levels. Practitioners and scholars are, thus, increasingly arguing that also the root causes of the problem must be addressed – the mindset (or paradigm) out of which the climate emergency has arisen. Against this background, we investigate decision-makers’ views of the need for a different mindset and inner qualities that can support negotiating and activating climate action, along with factors that could enable such a mindset shift. Data were collected during participatory workshops run at the 25th UNFCCC Conference of the Parties (COP25) in 2019, and comprise surveys, as well as social media communication and semi-structured interviews with COP attendees. Our results underline vast agreement among participants regarding the need for a mindset shift that can support new ways of communication and collaboration, based on more relational modes of knowing, being and acting. They also suggest the emergence of such a mindset shift across sectors and contexts, but not yet at the collective and systems levels. Finally, they highlight the importance of transformative skills and the need for experimental, safe spaces. The latter are seen as a visible manifestation and enabler that can support agency for change through shared self-reflection, experience and practice. We present a transformative skills framework, and conclude with further research needs and policy recommendations.
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