Toward an Integrative Perspective on Social Learning in System Innovation Initiatives

Abstract

ABSTRACT. Sustainability transitions go hand in hand with learning. Theories in the realm of sustainability sciences mostly concentrate on diversity and learning outcomes, whereas theories from the educational sciences mostly focus on learning as an interactive process. In this contribution, we aim to benefit from an integration of these perspectives in order to better understand how different interaction patterns contribute to learning. We studied STAP, an innovation initiative of Dutch greenhouse growers. The Dutch greenhouse sector is predominantly focused on production and efficiency, which causes problems for its future viability. STAP aimed to make the sector more market-oriented while at the same time increasing its societal acceptability (societally responsible innovation). To that end, STAP focused on the development of integrated value chains (primary production, sales, trade) that can contribute to a transition towards a societally sensitive greenhouse sector. As action researchers, we collected extensive transcripts of meetings, interviews, and various other documents. We used an open coding strategy to identify different patterns of interaction and the learning outcomes produced by the initiative. We then linked the interaction patterns to the outcomes. Analysis suggests that seemingly negative attack-and-defend patterns of interaction certainly can result in substantial learning results, while seemingly positive synthetic interaction patterns, where participants strive to build on each other, can result in rather bland interaction without substantial outcomes. The results offer an empirical basis to our approach of linking learning interactions to learning outcomes, and it suggests that learning for sustainability can be enhanced by focusing on interaction patterns.

Reflexively stumbling towards sustainability : understanding social learning in regional governance networks

“…These findings match the argument often made by transition scholars (Loorbach, 2010;Kemp et al, 2007), who maintain that learning processes are at the core of transitions (see also Beers et al, 2016).…”

“…However, they have offered little on the way of conceptualising these learning processes, which makes it difficult to study and foster those (Beers et al, 2016). The concept of social learning is promising in this context (e.g.…”

“…Transition scholars (Kemp et al, 2009;Loorbach, 2010) argue that learning processes are at the core of transitions (see also Beers et al, 2016, Beers et al, 2014.…”

“…It requires learning aimed at innovation, based on new ways of perceiving ourselves and others, and the issues at stake (Brockbank and McGill, 2006). Social learning in multi-actor governance networks seems to be promising for sustainability transitions (Beers et al, 2016;Vinke-de Cruijf and Pahl-Wostl, 2016;Ison et al, 2013;Wals, 2007;Friedman 1987) because in an optimal situation it leads to changes in knowledge, relations and actions which may enable the creation of innovative solutions to shared problems.…”

AgroEcological Transitions : changes and breakthroughs in the making

“…In order to be able to separate learning as an outcome of interaction from reflexivity as the condition of a system innovation initiative, we take a discursive perspective on learning (see Beers et al 2014;cf. Edwards & Potter 2001).…”