Adaptive Networks: the Governance for Sustainable Development
Year: 2006
Type: dissertation
Abstract: In this book, I reconstruct how policy makers, working together in what I term \\nadaptive networks, have enabled a breakthrough in thinking about sustainable \\nmobility in certain policy circles. I define the conduct of leading actors in these \\nadaptive networks as sustainable change management. Sustainable development \\nis conceptualized as a complex problem. No single person or organization can \\n\\xe2\\x80\\x98manage\\xe2\\x80\\x99 sustainable change autonomously. It is a joint concern and therefore a \\nmatter of effective governance \\xe2\\x80\\x93 a joint effort of several domains. Adaptive \\nnetworks are self-organizing groups of policy makers who enable joint factfinding \\nand visualizing a direction towards improvements, in this case sustainable \\ntransport. These policy makers combine two capabilities. First they are \\ninfluential in, and have knowledge about, different power networks. Secondly \\nthey try to break away from the existing policies in those power networks and \\ndevelop a joint understanding about new, more effective policies. They try to \\nalign the evolution of this process of rethinking with the behavior in their power \\nnetworks. In this perspective, breakthroughs stem from the co-evolution of \\npartly conflicting ideas and interests. Change managers in adaptive networks act \\non their personal initiative. Power networks are not able to reward their initiatives, \\nunless the new ideas they create have been accepted to a considerable \\ndegree.
Author: Sibout Nooteboom
Language: English
Subfield: Public Administration
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2104553748