Sustainability transitions: Insights on processes of niche-regime interaction and regime reconfiguration in agri-food systems

Bui, Sibylle; Cardona, Aurélie; Lamine, Claire; Cerf, Marianne

doi:10.1016/j.jrurstud.2016.10.003

Cited by 187 publications

(212 citation statements)

References 17 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

184

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…Local food initiatives generate "multiple-bottom line" outcomes [49] (p. 321). Most grassroots initiatives do not only develop technological innovations but also social and organizational ones, tailored to local settings, e.g., new forms of coordination, land provision, procurement and knowledge transfer that coevolve over time, leading to the collective construction of a vision of the desired type of systems and the role of different actors therein [21,34,72,75]. Compared with market criteria dominating conventional regimes, innovations for sustainability often perform poorly [61].…”

Section: From Individual Initiatives To Regime Reconfigurationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In so doing, the grassroots initiatives reconnect lived experiences to social and conceptual critique, demasking the structures that govern an issue such as sustainability and suggesting actions to overcome the dominance and to mobilize more transformational policy [20][21][22]61]. In due course, grassroots initiatives, with a specific starting point that corresponds to a single component of the socio-technical system, affect various components and thus local governance [75]. Thus, it is through bidirectional interactions that the initiatives may contribute to the transition of urban systems of provision [35].…”

Section: From Individual Initiatives To Regime Reconfigurationmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Grassroots Initiatives as Sustainability Transition Pioneers: Implications and Lessons for Urban Food Systems

2018

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Abstract:This review explores the current evidence on the role and success factors of grassroots initiatives in sustainability transitions, with special attention given to social innovations and the transformation of urban food systems, a field that is still rather scantly dealt with in literature compared to technological innovations in other sectors such as energy. In addition to their contributions to get the necessary transformation towards sustainable futures off the ground, the preconditions for grassroots initiatives to thrive are presented-as well as limitations regarding their possibilities and the challenges they face. Increasingly, the importance of civil society and social movements in facilitating societal transformation is recognized by both researchers and policy makers. Within their radical niches, grassroots initiatives do not have to adhere to the logics of the wider systems in which they are embedded. This allows them to experiment with diverse solutions to sustainability challenges such as local food security and sovereignty. By means of democratic, inclusive and participatory processes, they create new pathways and pilot a change of course. Nevertheless, upscaling often comes at the loss of the transformative potential of grassroots initiatives.

show abstract

Section: From Individual Initiatives To Regime Reconfigurationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: From Individual Initiatives To Regime Reconfigurationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Grassroots Initiatives as Sustainability Transition Pioneers: Implications and Lessons for Urban Food Systems

2018

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Co-evolving food niches and trends seem to arise in a rather diffused, fuzzy, and inhomogeneous process [8]. Food niches develop and experiment with new rules and practices that deviate from those of the agro-food system's regime [9], i.e., the intensive, conventional, industrial agro-food sector and its associated mainstream rules and practices [10,11]. As it seems difficult for niches to get a food sustainability transition started, we wanted to scrutinize the barriers and dynamics shaping the niches' development paths.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Change Agents’ Perspectives on Spatial–Relational Proximities and Urban Food Niches

Gugerell

Penker

2020

Sustainability

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Cities are breeding spaces for innovations in the agro-food sector with the potential to foster the development of local niche networks and a food sustainability transition. In this paper, we propose a conceptual framework for the context-related development of urban food niche organizations and their networks of change agents. With a qualitative analysis of three niche-establishing organizations and their networks, we address the lack of knowledge on spatial-relational dynamics shaping the development of niche organizations and their networks. The identified dynamics are structured along the connotations of geographic, cognitive, social and institutional proximity within the niche networks, to the to the dominant actors, rules, and practices of the urban food system's regime and to society. For each niche network, we defined a strategic orientation that might lead to a specific development path. Finally, we propose strategies on how cities may foster the development of niche organizations and their networks to highlight local opportunities of supporting a food system sustainability transition, i.e., increasing food literacy, enabling access to space, and engaging in networking.

show abstract

“…Nevertheless, new forms of cooperation are likely to be insufficient when they are not embedded with the plans of local politics. In their research on local food initiatives in France, Bui et al (2016) [47] have found that local food actors had a greater impact on the current agri-food system when their actions were linked to local authorities. To support the linking processes between public authorities and local food actors, food policy councils have been perceived as a vital element toward an enhanced local food supply.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Roadmapping to Enhance Local Food Supply: Case Study of a City-Region in Austria

et al. 2019

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Due to the current challenges of climate change, population growth in urban settlements and resource depletion, agri-food researchers have put an increasing emphasis on the sustainability transitions of food systems. In this regard, there has been an increasing interest in the local food supply of cities and their surrounding regions, as local food is considered to be a contributing factor toward more sustainable, resilient and just urban food systems. Based on this background, a roadmapping process was conducted to assess the status quo and to identify measures to enhance the local food supply in the city-region of Graz in Austria. We conducted semi-structured interviews with 47 stakeholders, analysed textual materials and calculated food carrying capacities. The obtained data served as input for a series of three workshops, where measures were derived. Our results suggest that cooperation among agri-food stakeholders should be facilitated by local decision makers in order to promote food from regional sources within the target area. Furthermore, smart technologies can help to scale-up local food supply schemes, and to track down food stocks and flows more efficiently. Besides, food policy councils and open food labs can help to incubate food product innovations and to support partnerships among agri-food stakeholders, including local small-scale farmers. In the future, engagement and empowerment processes with local food stakeholders should be addressed to enable transformational processes. Roadmaps can help to initiate such processes.

show abstract

Sustainability transitions: Insights on processes of niche-regime interaction and regime reconfiguration in agri-food systems

Cited by 187 publications

References 17 publications

Grassroots Initiatives as Sustainability Transition Pioneers: Implications and Lessons for Urban Food Systems

Grassroots Initiatives as Sustainability Transition Pioneers: Implications and Lessons for Urban Food Systems

Change Agents’ Perspectives on Spatial–Relational Proximities and Urban Food Niches

Roadmapping to Enhance Local Food Supply: Case Study of a City-Region in Austria

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About