Sustainability: a long-term journey René Kemp MERIT & TNO-STB

On sustainability Sustainability is about protection and creation Requirements of sustainability are multiple and interconnected Pursuit of sustainability hinges on integration Core requirements and general rules must be accompanied by context-specific elaborations: Diversity is necessary Surprise is inevitable Transparency and public engagement are key characteristics of decision making for sustainability Explicit rules and processes are needed for decisions about trade-offs and compromises The end is open

Key elements of SD strategy policy integration common objectives, criteria, trade-off rules and indicators information and incentives for practical implementation programmes for system innovation (Kemp, Gibson and Parto, 2004)

To sustain means to innovate

This is accepted by the Commission The Commission emphasises the role of policy at the EU scale, to generate major public and private investments in crucial sustainability-related areas – including the development and application of new, “environmentally-friendly” technologies – and more broadly to be catalyst for “institutional reform”, changes in corporate and consumer behaviour, and “innovative solutions” that create new, high-quality jobs (EC 2001b:2-3).

And by the OECD in its 4 policy priorities Making markets work for SD Strenghtening the decision-making processes for SD Fostering SD through science and technology Making their policies more coherent andmutually supportive, and opening markets in ways that ensure that the benefits from globalisation and technological advance are widely shared

But innovation is different things Policy innovation Technological innovation New sociotechnical systems that are interrelated

Example of system innovation Coal  Natural gas  Hydrogen?

SD is a non-ending process of adaptive change But: It is useful to view it as a transition process--to something more sustainable

A transition is the result of many changes and not a deterministic process (source: Butter et al., 2002)

Transition management …. is a deliberate effort to work towards a transition in a stepwise, adaptive manner, utilising dynamics and visions … in which different visions and routes are explored: system innovation and optimisation

Transition Management: bifocal instead of myopic Political margins for change State of development of solutions Societal goals Sustainability visions Transition management: oriented towards long-term sustainability goals and visions, iterative and reflexive (bifocal) Existing policy process: short-term goals (myopic)

The cyclical, iterative nature of transition management Evaluating, monitoring and learning Developing sustainability visions and transition-agendas Organizing a multi- actor network Mobilizing actors and executing projects and experiments

Mathematically transition management = current policies + long-term vision + vertical and horizontal coordination of policies + portfolio-management + process management. ... is bottom-up and top-down, using strategic experiments and control policies

Transition management in the Netherlands The energy transition

Sustainable energy economy: economically efficient (‘profit’) reliable (‘people’) minimal negative environmental and social impacts (‘planet’) Long term goals, combined with Concrete short term steps …and successes...

Areas of interest in the Energy transition Policy Renewal Biomass Sustainable Rijnmond New Gas Eff. Energy Chains

Biomass 20-40% of primary energy supply 2050 Biomass 20-40% of primary energy supply ‘Vision’ 2020 ‘Strategic goals’ 10-15% in power prod. 15-20% in traffic ‘Transition Paths’ C. Biofuels B. Pyrolysis A. Gasification Expv EOS Exp : experiments : R&D 2003 2 à 3 %

No definitive choice is made as to technological means Different routes are investigated Decisions are made in an interative way Support is temporary Each option has to proof its worth Technology choices are made at the decentralized level

What’s new about transition management? The orientation to transition goals (less short-termism) The orientation to learning and innovation (helps to overcome the preference for quick results, and policy reliance on technical fixes) Alignment of different policy domains (helps to deal with fragmented policies) Programmes for system innovation based on visions of sustainability Less domination by vested interests: opening up of policy process

Would this be something for the EU? The Commission expects much from sustainability assessment and good governance (-) Innovation is a strategic area for EU policy: Lisbon strategy, Innovation Action plan, ETAP (+) The Commission has demonstrated a willingness and capacity for engaging in transitions (single market, EMU, economic convergence) (+) ?

Transition management and other governance approaches Planning Incremental Politics Adaptive governance Interactive governance Multi-level governance

Transition policies and institutions Instruments of transition policy New institutions   Transition policies and institutions   Transition councils  Joint-decision making    Transition goals Transition agendas  Transition arenas Innovation policy ----------------------- ·  Innovation alliances ·  R&D programmes for sustainable technologies ·  User experiments ·  Alignment policies to transition goals   Science police --------------- · Assessment of system innovations · Knowledge about past transition ·  Policy analysis   Programmes for system innovation Sector policy ------------------------------ · niche management (procurement) · infrastructure for system innovation · longer term goals and visions  

Conclusion Transition management is not a “megalomaniac” attempt to control the future But an attempt at goal-oriented modulation: It is a “journey to a better world” in which system innovations are explored, gradually (alongside the route of system improvement)

Strategies for eco-innovation Making companies proactive Improving sustainability assessment by companies and customers Improving the system of innovation for eco-innovation Targeted policies for eco-innovations The use of market-based instruments Policy integration Kemp and Munch Andersen (2004)