Employing intermediaries to achieve freshwater quality improvements: lessons from catchment groups in Aotearoa New Zealand

Intermediaries of transition to sustainability: influences and perspectives

“…Currently, the literature points to the relevance of the mechanisms of organizational studies and information that collaborate to the cooperative dialogue between ecosystems and organizations (Smith et al, 2010;Kivimaa & Martiskainem, 2018;Mignon & Kanda, 2018;Kivimaa et al, 2019a). In this sense, intermediaries are an integral part of the eco-innovative support system (Fichter, 2013) and are also a positive influence on sustainability transition processes by establishing relationships between actors, activities, skills and resources (Kivimaa et al, 2019a;Kirk et al, 2022;Talmar et al, 2022). Wolf et al, (2021) define intermediaries as organizational or individual actors that exert a positive influence on sustainability transitions, connecting stakeholders, skills and resources.…”

“…In transitions, intermediaries connect, translate and facilitate information flows between different actors (Kirk et al, 2022). In addition, they fill structural deficiencies to allow for transitions, promote networking and investment in new businesses (Talmar et al, 2022).…”

“…Two studies aimed to assess intermediaries in the context of transitions to more sustainable food production systems. Gaitán-Cremaschi et al With an emphasis on transitions to more sustainable environmental systems, the study by Kirk et al (2022) sought to understand how intermediaries help communities achieve improvements in freshwater quality. From three case studies carried out in New Zealand, it is concluded that intermediaries can help improve freshwater quality if they have the time and resources to establish long-term relationships with communities and are able to combine their work with related policies.…”

“…In this context, intermediaries have the potential to play an important role in the sociotechnical sustainability transitions (Kirk, Robson-Williams, Fenemor & Heath, 2022;Talmar Walrave, Raven & Romme, 2022). They can, for example, contribute to the functions of the technological innovation system (Kanda, Río, Hjelm & Bienkowska, 2019).…”