a b s t r a c tAgainst the backdrop of the transformation of the German energy system, a new dynamic is emerging between the previously separate economic fields of renewable energy systems, transportation, and information and communication technologies (ICT). The trend towards digitalization and interconnectivity is prompting the formation of new corporate alliances and business ideas. We argue that the increasing interactions between actors in these sectors are evidence of the emergence of a new intersectoral field. Building on concepts from neoinstitutionalism, particularly, the framework of strategic action fields (SAF), we examine the overlaps and dynamics that are arising in an exemplar of what policy makers and planners often refer to as "living labs." With help of this case study we observe the cross-field innovation activities taking place at a particular local site. Our empirical examination draws upon a four-year-long ethnography of an innovation campus in Berlin, the German capital. This case reveals the development of interdependent interests and collaborations between both different industries and between companies and academic institutions. These interconnections are built, in part, by socially skilled actors, who act as border crossers between established fields.
Real-world laboratories have made their way into policy programs and corporate agendas. They are expected to foster innovation on both the local and wider societal scales through co-creative settings in the “real world”. Yet little attention has been paid to how these multiple
expectations affect micro-level practices and pose challenges for the heterogeneous actors involved in these settings. Two case studies show the emerging tensions relating to participation, temporality and space, and the ways in which participants perceive and deal with them.
"In Krisen werden bestehende institutionelle Arrangements, Machtgefüge sowie Problemdeutungen hinterfragt und EntscheidungsträgerInnen geraten unter Zeit-, Handlungs- und Legitimationsdruck. Vor dem empirischen Hintergrund der EHEC-Epidemie in Deutschland werden Möglichkeiten und Grenzen institutionellen Wandels durch Krisenerfahrungen untersucht. Der Fall stellt die (Veränderungs-)Macht von Krisen infrage. Eine zentrale Konfliktarena im Politikfeld Verbraucherschutz kann nämlich nicht von den politischen EntscheidungsträgerInnen gelöst werden. Vielmehr wird ein Lernen, trotz Vorliegen spezifischer Krisenbedingungen, von bestehenden institutionellen Strukturen gehemmt. Die Entscheidung über die Institutionalisierung der Krisen-Task-Force folgt somit der begrenzten Logik der Politik und stellt nur in sehr geringem Ausmaß eine politische Innovation dar." (Autorenreferat
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