Collaborating for energy efficiency in Swedish shipping industry: interrelating practice and challenges

Abstract

As achieving environmental sustainability is a complex problem, it is often recognized that no organization can accomplish this systemic change by itself; thus, multi-actor collaboration is needed. Regarding the specific issue of increased energy efficiency, previous research has highlighted the need for collaboration and knowledge exchange among actors. However, insights from literature suggest that despite all the good intentions, establishing multi-actor collaboration can be both complicated and difficult to achieve in practice. In this paper, an in-depth qualitative, ethnographic-inspired study of an emerging collaboration aiming for increased energy efficiency within the shipping industry is used as a foundation to better understand the practices and challenges involved in the organizing of multiactor collaboration. The findings reveal how the interrelating of collaboration practices and experienced challenges influenced the development of the collaboration. The paper contributes to the current discussion on how to organize for sustainable development. Also, practitioners managing and participating in multi-actor collaborations addressing complex societal issues can benefit from the findings.

An overview of sociotechnical research on maritime energy efficiency

“…Rather, the decisions just "happened" as a result of organizational priorities and practices. Borg and von Knorring (2019) and Borg and Yström (2019) conducted an ethnographic case study on a multi-actor collaboration project. The project aimed at knowledge sharing between companies for increased energy efficiency and included development of a database with energy efficiency measures, a series of workshops to educate onboard personnel in matters related to energy efficiency, and the establishment of a network of energy efficiency experts in the partner organizations.…”

“…Few participants engaged in the workshops and expert networks because of difficulties of engaging people to participate and managing conflicting opinions about collaboration structures and goals as well as problems in concretizing and agreeing on shared visions. Borg and von Knorring (2019) and Borg and Yström (2019) showed that the failure to create the energy efficiency database and expert-network project had mainly to do with the inability of the stakeholders to agree on a mutual agenda and shared goals.…”