Developing and applying the Mission-oriented Innovation Systems (MIS) approach

Wesseling, Joeri; Meijerhof, Nick

doi:10.31235/osf.io/xwg4e

Cited by 12 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 53 publications

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“…Second, we add “coordination” as a function to describe those processes that contribute to the alignment of actors in the innovation system regarding the directionality and prioritization of problems and solutions within and across solution trajectories in a MIS (Hekkert et al, 2020a; Janssen et al, 2021; Wesseling & Meijerhof, 2021). Coordination issues can be heightened in circular transitions as (a) there is formation of value chain links among actors who are traditionally not interlinked and (b) actors are often geographically dispersed, and c) value creation and sharing gets reconfigured in circular value chains (Kanda et al, 2021).…”

Section: Theoretical Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In this specific study, we employ these notions to analyze directionality for the MIS as a whole, whereas we describe the directionality of solutions found in individual trajectories as "guidance of the search." Second, we add "coordination" as a function to describe those processes that contribute to the alignment of actors in the innovation system regarding the directionality and prioritization of problems and solutions within and across solution trajectories in a MIS (Hekkert et al, 2020a;Janssen et al, 2021;Wesseling & Meijerhof, 2021).…”

Section: Theoretical Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Understanding circular economy transitions: The case of circular textiles

2022

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The circular economy has been proposed to transform global textile supply chains which are currently challenged by a complex nexus of sustainability issues related to the dominant fast fashion trend. Research on circular economy in the textile sector often focuses on businesses or consumers as key enablers in circular transitions, yet it treats them as independent entities and thereby neglects the study of interactions that can provide insight at the systems level. The proclaimed “circular textile mission” in the Netherlands setting a national target for 100% circularity by 2050 is used as case study to address this research gap. We explore the circular textile transition processes found in the context of the Dutch mission and compare the development and interactions among various technical and non‐technological solutions produced by engaged actor constellations for assessing key factors driving and blocking the overall mission fulfilment. To these ends, we derive a theoretical framework based on innovation system theory and conceptualize the Dutch circular textile transition as a Mission‐oriented Innovation System (MIS). Analyzing the structure and functioning of the Dutch mission‐oriented innovation system, we show that (1) there is a good match between the formal Dutch circular textile mission and system actor perceptions; (2) system actors have formed structures around three dominant solution trajectories in the Dutch system: secondhand, mechanical recycling, and chemical recycling; (3) these trajectories expose distinct key virtuous and vicious cycles, which characterize (4) the entire system as formative. Overall, the secondhand trajectory shows most developed structures and most positive dynamics, chemical recycling carries most technological breakthrough potential, whereas mechanical recycling is a mature technology but lacks market demand and supply. We compare the three solution trajectories, discuss the disruptive nature of the Dutch circular textile transition, and suggest installing Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) as a potential intervention for accelerating system transformation. The study concludes with reflections on the case learnings and considerations for further research on mission‐oriented innovation systems.

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Section: Theoretical Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Theoretical Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 99%

Understanding circular economy transitions: The case of circular textiles

2022

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…In order to support this process, we propose a total of eleven stylized pathways that are considered as pivotal in mission realization and that draw on different theory-based strands of research such as transition studies, technological innovation systems (e.g. Ghosh et al 2021;Wesseling et al 2020), current work on crafting impact assessment concepts in the context of science and technology (Helman et al 2020), and empirical insights of the research team of the scientific support action to the German High-Tech Strategy. In contrast to earlier discussions on the economic impact of science (e.g.…”

Section: ) Analysis Of the Socio-technical Systemmentioning

confidence: 99%

Towards a framework for impact assessment for mission-oriented innovation policies. A formative toolbox approach

Wittmann¹,

Roth²,

Hufnagl³

et al. 2022

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Mission-oriented policies (MOIP) have become important means to foster transformative change in many countries. Yet, approaches for assessing these policies' impacts are still in their infancy, not least due to the complexity of MOIP. To address this gap, we propose a toolbox approach that supports policy-makers during policy design and implementation, and allows for an identification of potential impacts by a theory-based approach. To disentangle the complexity of missions, we first conceptualize MOIPs as multiple translation processes from mission formulation and design to implementation. Each translation step shapes the policies' impacts. Based on this framework, we develop a set of specific analytical tools that are intended to support the process of bringing missions into realization, but also help to assess whether missions contribute to the postulated goals. These tools include a mapping of the socio-technical systems, a typology to explore the transformative ambition of missions, a process to develop impact pathways, an inventory of policy instruments to support the mission design, and indicators to measure mission progress along the developed pathways. Finally, we propose several analytical questions to explore the context for the development of potential impacts.

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“…We apply the concept of mission‐oriented innovation (MI) to examine the complex dynamics of CE transformation processes (Elzinga et al., 2023; Hekkert et al., 2020; Mazzucato, 2018). In the existing literature, most work relates to mission‐oriented innovation systems (MISs) in their entirety, that is, the focus lies on structure, mission arenas, and systems functions (Jørgensen, 2012; Wesseling & Meijherhof, 2021). Scientific publications that address actual problem–solution spaces in MISs (and in CE transformation) find that clear missions may lead to a combination of various solution pathways.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Bottom‐up dynamics in circular innovation systems: The perspective of circular start‐ups

Henry,

Kirchherr,

Raven

et al. 2024

J of Industrial Ecology

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The concept of circular economy (CE) is proposed to lead humanity toward a sustainable future. Public authorities increasingly build on CE narratives. The progress of private sector actors is key to enable more circular resource flows. Still, the world falls far short from becoming circular and large‐scale implementation of CE in actual problem–solution spaces is scarce. This study sheds light into the external strategies of circular start‐ups (CSUs) in building an adequate socio‐institutional embedding for circular business models (CBMs) and puts the findings in the context of CE and sustainability transformations research. CSUs are a distinct group of CE‐oriented actors that build and implement CBMs wholistically and from scratch. Thereby, they can directly and indirectly contribute to the creation of circular innovation systems. This study defines the common CE mission of CSUs, sets it in context of respective socio‐political CE missions, and scrutinizes the roles that CSUs adopt to drive systemic CE implementation. We observe that CSUs’ strategic interventions go further than only novelty creation. This article proposes and elaborates on four roles that CSUs adopt: conveners, reinforcers, pioneers, and champions. The roles differ according to the CSU business models, stakeholders, the institutional elements that are addressed, as well as the directionalities that CSUs set. The findings are discussed considering the governance, policies, and strategic management of various directionalities in which CE innovation develops. It sheds light on inadequacies and limitations for bottom‐up CE innovation in existing norms and cognition, policy, and network governance.

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Developing and applying the Mission-oriented Innovation Systems (MIS) approach

Cited by 12 publications

References 53 publications

Understanding circular economy transitions: The case of circular textiles

Understanding circular economy transitions: The case of circular textiles

Towards a framework for impact assessment for mission-oriented innovation policies. A formative toolbox approach

Bottom‐up dynamics in circular innovation systems: The perspective of circular start‐ups

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