Year: 2011
Type: article
Abstract: To achieve long-term sustainability a fundamental shift or transformation of a societal system is\nrequired. Research on how such fundamental transformative change processes –societal transitions develop is important for understanding their nature and the possibilities to influence them. The\nresearch objective of the present thesis is to add to our insights on the dynamics of societal transitions by an overall understanding of how societal systems behave over the course of a transition. As a first step, we conceptualize societal transitions as continuous cyclical processes that shift a societal system between stages of dynamic equilibrium. Driving Forces contribute to the shifting from one dynamic equilibrium to another. We propose a framework of Driving Forces of Transformative Change that include: (a) Formation forces, which represent the innovative potential of the societal system and include: Presence of a niche, Presence of a societal demand; Presence of new practices; (b) Support forces, which depict the actions of empowerment or blockage of change and the actions of settlement and institutionalization within a societal system. Support forces are: Standardization of practices, Provision of resources, and Exercise of power; and (c) Triggers, which shock or perturb the system and include those forces that are highly uncertain and whose appearance is uncontrollable. Triggers include Crises, Systemic Failures and Exogenous Events.
Author: Niki Frantzeskaki
Language: English
Subfield: Global and Planetary Change
Field: Environmental Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W1582657950