Developing Boundary-Spanning Capacity for Regional Sustainability Transitions—A Comparative Case Study of the Universities of Augsburg (Germany) and Linz (Austria)

Abstract

Abstract:The potential of universities to become 'change agents' for sustainability has increasingly been highlighted in the literature. Some largely open questions are how universities get involved in regional sustainability transitions and how that affects their role in these processes. This paper argues that universities need to develop a boundary-spanning capacity, which enables them to transcend disciplinary as well as sectoral boundaries in order to adopt a developmental role in regional sustainability transitions. It is investigated how universities develop this capacity within a particular regional context, using the method of a transition topology. Comparing how the relationships of universities with their surrounding regions developed in Augsburg (Germany) and Linz (Austria), the paper shows why these processes are place-specific. A university's boundary-spanning capacity develops over time and differs according to the actors involved. The primarily bottom-up driven process in Augsburg was thematically quite broad and involved diverse actors. In Linz, the top-down initiated process was fragmented and more narrowly focused. Individual value-driven actors that made use of their personal networks played an important role in both regions.

Alliances of Change Pushing Organizational Transformation Towards Sustainability across 13 Universities

“…The contribution of universities to sustainable development is seen, for example, in developing strategic long-term visions and goals [2], in bridging different types of knowledge through inter-and transdisciplinary approaches [3,4], as well as assuming a boundary spanning role between science and society [5]. The role as 'change agent' [6,7] comes not without challenges.…”

“…Much research has been undertaken regarding the what of organizational transformation, including (1) the integration of sustainability in university management practices [10,11]; (2) corporate social responsibility, sustainability reporting, and accounting [12][13][14]; (3) teaching and education for sustainable development [15][16][17]; (4) generation and advancement of scientific knowledge and other forms of knowledge [18,19]; (5) boundary spanning, participation in regional sustainability initiatives, and networking [2,5,20]; and (6) applying sustainability as an overall concept for universities as in, for example, the 'sustainable university' [4,9].…”

Urban transformative capacity: From concept to practice

“…Acknowledge, strengthen, and shape the crucial role of intermediaries and local academia Transformation and sustainability science scholars acknowledge for the mutual alignment occurring between multiple actors and organizations in complex system changes, suggesting the need for boundary-spanning collaboration, trust-building, goal-coordination, and knowledge co-production (Voß et al 2006;Lang et al 2012;Romero-Lankao et al 2018). Formal and/or informal intermediary organizations or individual brokers which effectively promote and develop such connecting activities are therefore widely recognized as critical for urban transformations (Ernstson et al 2010;Hamann and April 2013;Hodson et al 2013;Pflitsch and Radinger-Peer 2018;Kivimaa et al 2019). Moreover, especially universities have been attributed a great potential as intermediaries in urban contexts, given their multi-and interdisciplinary expertise and spatial embeddedness (Trencher et al 2014a, b).…”

Strengthening local economy – an example of higher education institutions’ engagement in “co-creation for sustainability”

“…According Pflitsch, Radinger-Peer (2018), HEIs can play different roles in regional sustainable transition; they use two dimensions to distinguish these roles -depth and autonomy:…”