Learning for Sustainability Transition through Bounded Socio-technical Experiments in Personal Mobility

Brown, Halina Szejnwald; Vergragt, Philip J.; Green, Ken; Berchicci, Luca

doi:10.1080/09537320310001601496

Cited by 140 publications

(116 citation statements)

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“…In line with the niche approach, as well as the work of Brown et al (2003) and Brown & Vergragt (2008), learning in projects is the starting point of the analysis. The three criteria of direct effects of pilot projects are convergent learning, organizational adjustments, and repeated use.…”

Section: Direct Effects Of Pilot Projectsmentioning

confidence: 94%

“…A pilot project is bound in place and by a particular set of participants, and these boundaries are quite clear to the relevant actors. For this reason, Brown and her colleagues prefer to refer to such activities as "bounded sociotechnical experiments" (Brown et al 2003;Brown & Vergragt, 2008). Furthermore, the actual application of the technology requires a tangible form of cooperation, since a diversity of actors must come to some kind of agreement to proceed (van Mierlo, 2002).…”

Section: A Framework For Analyzing Innovation In and Around Pilot Promentioning

confidence: 99%

“…What does that mean from a learning perspective? Most literature on learning in niches and innovation projects focuses on what is called second-order learning, which is distinct from first-order learning (Hoogma et al 2002;Brown et al 2003;Smith, 2007;Brown & Vergragt, 2008;van Mierlo et al 2010b). First-order learning involves gaining experience about how to do things better within the framework of pre-existing goals and assumptions; it alone would not contribute to regime change.…”

Section: Direct Effects Of Pilot Projectsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In this article, learning is the key concept for understanding niche developments from a micro-level perspective. I propose to address learning by probing into a protected niche, and even further down to the level of single pilot projects, to clarify whether and how it is possible to deliberately foster learning in and around such projects to stimulate niche development with the ultimate aim of contributing to regime change (cf., Brown et al 2003). It is assumed that the success or failure of pilot projects in the sense of learning is neither merely reliant on external prerequisites-such as subsidy programs, pressure from policy measures, and so forth-nor simply dependent on the characteristics of the novelty and the way it is applied in the project.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Convergent and divergent learning in photovoltaic pilot projects and subsequent niche development

Mierlo

2012

Sustainability: Science, Practice and Policy

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A proposed strategy to facilitate the use and development of radical new sustainable technologies is the creation of niches. Learning in these niches and the social embedding of learning experiences can stimulate changes in existing sociotechnological regimes. Pilot projects in which new technologies are used may form part of these niches. This article describes the results of a Dutch research project involving photovoltaics on learning within pilot projects and subsequent actions of the participating parties. The central questions are whether and how internal processes, such as open and creative negotiations, foster learning and how such learning relates to subsequent niche developments. The study suggests that pilot projects could encourage both convergent and divergent learning, depending on whether participants' learning experiences and expectations of the new technology start to align. Although the two types of learning can coexist, they seem related to different process conditions. The implication of these findings is that the management of pilot projects to contribute to regime change involves strategic choices about stimulating either the opening or the closing of the novelty's interpretative flexibility.

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Section: Direct Effects Of Pilot Projectsmentioning

confidence: 94%

Section: A Framework For Analyzing Innovation In and Around Pilot Promentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Direct Effects Of Pilot Projectsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Convergent and divergent learning in photovoltaic pilot projects and subsequent niche development

Mierlo

2012

Sustainability: Science, Practice and Policy

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“…According to these theories, the introduction of radical innovations requires the creation of partially protected socio-technical experiments (Kemp et al 1998, Hoogma et al 2002Brown et al 2003;Van den Bosch 2010). Protection allows incubation and maturation of radical socio-technical configurations by partly shielding them from the mainstream market selection environment.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

The Role of Socio-Technical Experiments in Introducing Sustainable Product-Service System Innovations

Ceschin

2015

The Handbook of Service Innovation

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Product-Service System (PSS) innovations represent a promising approach to sustainability, but their implementation and diffusion is hindered by several cultural, corporate and regulative barriers. Hence, an important challenge is not only to conceive sustainable PSS concepts, but also to understand how to manage, support and orient the introduction and diffusion of these concepts. Building upon insights from transition studies (in particular the concepts of Strategic Niche Management and Transition Management), and through an action research project, the chapter investigates the role of design in introducing sustainable radical service innovations. A key role is given to the implementation of socio-technical experiments, partially protected spaces where innovations can be incubated and tested, become more mature, and potentially favor the implementation and scaling up process.

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Innovation Methods

Reinders

Halman

Buijs

et al. 2012

The Power of Design

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Product design and creation can been regarded as an 'innovation journey', biased by unforeseen setbacks along the road. In fact, real and sustainable innovation success should rather be viewed as 'by-products along the journey' than as end result. If one takes a closer look to the contingencies during such a journey, retrospective attributions of success to certain approaches or persons will prove to be misleading; such rash "attributions reinforced top managers' belief that managing innovation is fundamentally a control problem when it should be viewed as one of orchestrating a highly complex, uncertain and probabilistic process " (van de Ven et al. 1999, 59). An innovation journey should be imagined as a journey into unknown waters or an uncharted river (van de Ven et al. 1999, 212). This metaphor helps "to develop an empirically grounded model of the innovation journey that captures the messy and complex progressions" while travelling (212/3). Consequently, according to van de Ven and colleagues, "innovation managers are to go with the flow-although we can learn to maneuver the innovation journey, we cannot control it" (213).

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Learning for Sustainability Transition through Bounded Socio-technical Experiments in Personal Mobility

Cited by 140 publications

References 10 publications

Convergent and divergent learning in photovoltaic pilot projects and subsequent niche development

Convergent and divergent learning in photovoltaic pilot projects and subsequent niche development

The Role of Socio-Technical Experiments in Introducing Sustainable Product-Service System Innovations

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