Sustainability Transitions: Research agenda, technological innovation systems and organizations

Abstract

We are confronted with grand sustainability challenges such as climate change, air pollution, deforestation, loss of biodiversity and many more. To address these challenges, we need fundamental changes in how we produce and consume things. We need to transform technologies, business models, industries, policies, lifestyles and consumption patterns. Such kinds of changes are not only needed in some places but at a global scale and in many different sectors. Also, we have to act swiftly as many sustainability challenges get worse the longer we wait. This habilitation focuses on sustainability transitions as a response to the above challenges. Sustainability transitions are long-term, fundamental changes of established sectors such as energy, transport or agri-food, with the intention (e.g., in the form of policy targets) to make production and consumption more sustainable. The term ‘sustainability transitions’ captures both, an empirical phenomenon, i.e. sectors changing due to sustainability challenges, and a novel field of research with specific frameworks and a growing community of scholars. The habilitation has three objectives. First, to contribute to the formation of the research field and to the development of guiding principles for sustainability transition policies. Second, to improve the technological innovation systems (TIS) framework, one of the key conceptual approaches in transition studies. Third, to better understand the role of organizations in sustainability transitions. The first objective has been addressed with a set of ‘agenda setting’ papers that take stock of existing research and formulate new research challenges. Three further publications formulate key principles and particularities of sustainability transition policy in the light of current discussions around carbon pricing and COVID-19 recovery programs. Second, improvements of the TIS framework have focused on the ‘core’ of the framework, the system context and the role of multi-technology interaction. Key contributions include the formulation of a TIS life cycle perspective, the exploration of institutional dynamics and technology legitimacy, and the analysis of complementarities, e.g., between multiple technological innovations. Third, the habilitation has explored two types of activities organizations use to shape emerging technologies and transition pathways: system building and politics. Key findings point to the relevance of inter-organizational networks and intermediary organizations in the development of collective resources at the innovation system level. The studies on politics highlight the contested nature of transition pathways and policies, with competing coalitions of firms and associations forming around specific policy positions (e.g. in favor or against more stringent climate policies). The contributions and insights of this cumulative habilitation are relevant for future research in sustainability transitions and for transition-oriented policy making such as the Green Deal of the European Commission.