TY - JOUR
T1 - Lessons from the past for sustainability transitions? A meta-analysis of socio-technical studies
AU - Martínez Arranz, Alfonso
PY - 2017/5/1
Y1 - 2017/5/1
N2 - To break away from techno-institutional lock-in in climate change and in other sustainability problems, many have focused on innovation in technological ‘niches’. The destabilisation of the incumbent ‘regime’ has been neglected and external ‘landscape’ pressures under-analysed. With this in mind, this article examines the factors of regime destabilisation and forms of regime resistance in past technological transitions in energy and transport. It analyses 23 energy (electricity, heat & chemicals) and 11 transport (drive chain, networks, fuels & land planning) transitions pre-1990. Furthermore, in order to properly frame these results and make any “lessons from the past” applicable to the present, this article includes an assessment of current sustainability trends. The key lessons from past energy transitions are that regime outsiders with the right ideology and influence on the market can destabilise the energy sector, which has traditionally had strong incumbents. As incumbents are weakened, past transport transitions show that further change may come from emphasising the Health and Lifestyle benefits of sustainability transitions.
AB - To break away from techno-institutional lock-in in climate change and in other sustainability problems, many have focused on innovation in technological ‘niches’. The destabilisation of the incumbent ‘regime’ has been neglected and external ‘landscape’ pressures under-analysed. With this in mind, this article examines the factors of regime destabilisation and forms of regime resistance in past technological transitions in energy and transport. It analyses 23 energy (electricity, heat & chemicals) and 11 transport (drive chain, networks, fuels & land planning) transitions pre-1990. Furthermore, in order to properly frame these results and make any “lessons from the past” applicable to the present, this article includes an assessment of current sustainability trends. The key lessons from past energy transitions are that regime outsiders with the right ideology and influence on the market can destabilise the energy sector, which has traditionally had strong incumbents. As incumbents are weakened, past transport transitions show that further change may come from emphasising the Health and Lifestyle benefits of sustainability transitions.
KW - Energy
KW - Health
KW - Innovation
KW - Lifestyle
KW - Lock-in
KW - Regime destabilisation
KW - Transport
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85018305894&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2017.03.007
DO - 10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2017.03.007
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85018305894
VL - 44
SP - 125
EP - 143
JO - Global Environmental Change
JF - Global Environmental Change
SN - 0959-3780
ER -