Year: 2006
Type: book
Abstract: Transition management (TM) approaches have generated considerable interest in \nacademic and policy circles in recent years (Kemp and Loorbach, 2005; Rotmans and \nKemp, 2003). In terms of a loose definition, a ‘transition can be defined as a gradual, \ncontinuous process of structural change within a society or culture’ (Rotmans et al, 2001, \np.2). The development of TM, much of which has occurred within the context of the \nNetherlands, may be seen as a response to the complexities, uncertainties and problems \nwhich confront many western societies, in organising ‘sustainably’ various aspects of \nenergy, agricultural, water, transport and health systems of production and consumption. \nProblems such as pollution, congestion, the vulnerability of energy or water supplies and \nso on are seen as systemic and entwined or embedded in a series of social, economic, \npolitical, cultural and technological relationships. \n \nThe systemic nature of many of these problems highlights the involvement - in the \nfunctioning of a particular system and any subsequent transition - of multiple actors or \n‘stakeholders’ across different local, national and international scales of activity. With this \nin mind, such problems become difficult to ‘solve’ and ‘solutions’ are seen to require \nsystemic innovation rather than individual or episodic responses. The point being that \n‘these problems are system inherent and… the solution lies in creating different systems or \ntransforming existing ones’ (Kemp and Loorbach, 2005, p.125). \n \nIn this paper we critically engage with and build upon transitions approaches to address \ntheir ‘applicability’ in the context of the UK. In doing this the paper addresses the \nprospective potential of transitions approaches, but also their relative neglect of places and \npublics. Through developing an argument which addresses the strengths and ‘gaps’ of \ntransitions approaches we also analyse the resonances and dissonances between three \nthemes – cities and regions, public participation and national hydrogen strategy – in the \ntransitions literature and the UK policy context.
Authors: Mike Hodson, Simon Marvin
Institution: University of Salford
Language: English
Subfield: Global and Planetary Change
Field: Environmental Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2304016333