Muddling through with climate change targets: a multi-level governance perspective on the transport sector

Marsden, Greg; Ferreira, António; Bache, Ian; Flinders, Matthew; Bartle, Ian

doi:10.1080/14693062.2014.905823

Cited by 45 publications

(39 citation statements)

References 37 publications

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“…Thus, considerations with regard to the very practical process of implementation that go more into the nuts and bolts of processes-the devil in the detail-may serve to identify orientations for broader sustainability, environmental integration, and climate change adaptation-and mitigation-research. For instance, they could broaden the focus beyond, e.g., systematization of adaptive capacities, to discussion of enablers in a general sense, consider broader conceptual overviews of the steps to be taken or best-practice guides in the light of practical implementation difficulties, and consider statements on the need to progress into transformation with regard to the multiple impediments to practical incremental work (e.g., [95,99]). Considerations, in particular, apply to process assumptions that relate to a more ideal or archetypical simplified manner of conceiving implementation processes.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Why Organization May Be the Primary Limitation to Implementing Sustainability at the Local Level: Examples from Swedish Case Studies

Keskitalo

Andersson

2017

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Abstract:Much of the effort to address environmental issues at the local level has focused on defining principles and aims rather than addressing the operational difficulties of implementation. Drawing upon insights from sustainability scholarship, this study reviews two cases: the development of a Swedish standard for implementing sustainable development at municipality, county council, and regional levels, and attempts by a small rural municipality to establish a process towards implementing the Aalborg Commitments. The research illustrates the specific organizational and managerial complexity of these case study experiences. It concludes that an organizational focus on integration and mainstreaming deserves particular attention to achieve broader sustainability, or related environmental or adaptation goals. The results, in particular, highlight the role that integrated management systems can play for sustainability work at the local level.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Why Organization May Be the Primary Limitation to Implementing Sustainability at the Local Level: Examples from Swedish Case Studies

Keskitalo

Andersson

2017

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“…This paper emerges from a broader study of the governance of carbon emissions from transport in Great Britain (Marsden et al, 2013;Marsden et al 2014). The wider study aims to understand relationships between approaches to carbon reduction from transport taken by different actors and the underlying governance structures in different parts of the UK.…”

Section: Methodology and Datamentioning

confidence: 99%

Carbon reduction and travel behaviour: Discourses, disputes and contradictions in governance

et al. 2014

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Prospects for mitigating climate change require decarbonisation of the energy sector over relatively short time periods, coupled with significant changes to the way we consume energy. This is particularly true in the transport sector given the current levels of transport related greenhouse gas emissions, the heavy dependence on fossil fuels, and the uncertainty surrounding transition pathways to ultra-low carbon vehicles. There are policy responses aiming to reduce carbon emissions by changing travel behaviour, but prominent approaches share a common theme of seeking to change behaviour by focusing on the individual and their choices. These are the object of critics who maintain that effective change requires collective action at social, economic and cultural levels. This paper questions whether decision-makers are relying on these choice-based approaches to change travel behaviour and, if so, how effective they expect them to be. We address this through analysis of over 50 interviews with policy stakeholders in England and Scotland. We find dominant policy approaches do focus on individual choices, but significantly it is not because decision makers have faith in their effectiveness. These approaches persist in policy on carbon reduction for two reasons. One is appeal to a politically powerful, but incoherent, discourse of individualism. The second is that decision-makers do not want significant behavioural change. There is an imperative of economic growth and a firm belief that a strong economy is linked to higher traffic levels, and that to reduce the demand for travel is to risk economic damage. We argue that these beliefs about the relation between travel demand and prosperity are narrowly defined and contestable for empirical and normative reasons. If there is to be a significant change in the approach to intervening in travel demand there is an urgency to engage in the politics of behaviour change a meta-level behaviour change challenge.

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“…While backcasting studies show a need for radical change, research on societal development shows that change happens slowly and incrementally (Hatzopoulou and Miller, 2008;Marsden et al, 2014). Thus, if implementable scenario studies are desired, there could be a need to modify the methodology.…”

Section: Backcastingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sociotechnical system studies of the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions from energy and transport systems

Olsson¹

2015

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Sociotechnical system studies of the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions from energy and transport systems Linda Olsson, 2015 Cover design: Per Lagman/LiU-Tryck Printed in Sweden by LiU-Tryck, Linköping, Sweden, 2015 ISBN: 978-91-7519-082-2 ISSN: 0345-7524 AbstractIt is agreed that greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from energy and transport systems must be reduced. Technical means exist to reduce GHG emissions from these sources. However, these emission-reduction measures are not implemented to a high enough degree. In this thesis, it is assumed that this is because the reduction of GHG emissions from energy and transport systems is a wicked problem. Unlike a tame problem, which has an unambiguous definition and a finite number of welldefined solutions, a wicked problem is difficult to define, and its solutions are often intertwined with the problem. The "wickedness" of a wicked problem lies in the extreme difficulty of solving the problem, rather than in the problem itself.In this thesis, the wicked problem of reducing GHG emissions from energy and transport systems is studied by applying a sociotechnical systems approach to the introduction of renewable vehicle fuels, the production and use of biogas, the introduction of electric vehicles, and the sustainability of district heating. In addition, this thesis discusses how energy issues are approached in different contexts, and what implications different actions can have on GHG emissions.The analysis shows that a sociotechnical approach to energy systems analysis can offer insights with regard to how system boundaries are handled within GHGemission assessments and energy and transport policy. By problematising the use of system boundaries in GHG-emission assessments, this thesis explains how attempts to reduce GHG emissions could add to the wicked problem of GHG-emission reductions from energy and transport systems. GHG-emission assessments can give very different results depending on system boundaries. While these results can be used in attempts to solve this wicked problem, they can also contribute to complicating it. As solutions to wicked problems are mainly found in policy, the use of system boundaries in policy is studied. Results show that narrow system boundaries in energy and transport policy can hamper sustainable development of energy and transport systems. The use of wider system boundaries could facilitate approaches to solve the wicked problem of reducing GHG emissions from energy and transport systems by making the consequences and effects of policy actions more clearly visible.i ii SammanfattningDet är välkänt att energi-och transportsystemens utsläpp av växthusgaser måste minska. Tekniska förutsättningar för att minska utsläppen av växthusgaser från användning av energi och transporter existerar. Ändå genomförs inte åtgärder för att minska utsläpp av växthusgaser i tillräcklig utsträckning. I föreliggande avhandling antas detta bero på att minskandet av utsläpp av växthusgaser från energi-och transportsystem är ett 'wicked problem'. ...

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Muddling through with climate change targets: a multi-level governance perspective on the transport sector

Cited by 45 publications

References 37 publications

Why Organization May Be the Primary Limitation to Implementing Sustainability at the Local Level: Examples from Swedish Case Studies

Why Organization May Be the Primary Limitation to Implementing Sustainability at the Local Level: Examples from Swedish Case Studies

Carbon reduction and travel behaviour: Discourses, disputes and contradictions in governance

Sociotechnical system studies of the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions from energy and transport systems

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