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Many mountainous regions in Europe, including their tourism sectors, show a high degree of economic specialization. The ski tourism industry forms part of the long-standing economic success of the French Alps. Over the past 20 years, snowmaking has become a key feature of ski tourism, but future climate change will decrease its effectiveness as an adaptation solution to natural snow cover reduction. However, the ski tourism industry does not seem to be intent on stopping its investment in snowmaking, which raises the question of its dependence on this technology. In this study, we employ the path development framework to examine how snowmaking development has oriented decision-making to ensure the future of the French ski tourism industry. We analysed 38 in-depth semi-directive interviews and key financial figures from the French alpine ski tourism industry. Our results show that technical progress and specific investments in snowmaking have deeply transformed the management of ski resorts. Our finding is that snowmaking spurred ski lift operators to pursue specialization in the ski tourism industry. However, because of its ambivalent effects on the ski tourism industry, we view snowmaking development both as path extension and as path contraction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

National and corporate leaders have pledged to act to limit global temperature rise to 20C, and achieve net zero emissions (NZE) primarily through the installation of renewable energies (RE) such as solar and wind. This paper focuses on corporate efforts in the renewable space particularly batteries, hydrogen and hardto-decarbonize sectors such as steel. However, unless the influence and use of fossil fuels is simultaneously lowered, REs will continue to meet only a fraction of the world's energy needs. The strategies of fossil energy firms to further entrench their dominant position are analyzed and pathways are proposed to scale back their stranglehold. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Organizational neuroscience is recognized in organizational behavior literature as offering an interpretive framework that can shed new light on existing organizational challenges. In this paper, findings from neuroscience studies concerned with adaptive behavior for ecological fitness are applied to explore industrial adaptive behavior. This is important because many companies are not able to manage dynamics between adaptability and stability. The reported analysis relates business-to-business signaling in competitive environments to three levels of inference. In accordance with neuroscience studies concerned with adaptive behavior, trade-offs between complexity and accuracy in business-to-business signaling and inference are explained. In addition, signaling and inference are related to risks and ambiguities in competitive industrial markets. Overall, the paper provides a comprehensive analysis of industrial adaptive behavior in terms of relevant neuroscience constructs. In doing so, the paper makes a contribution to the field of organizational neuroscience, and to research concerned with industrial adaptive behavior. The reported analysis is relevant to organizational adaptive behavior that involves combining human intelligence and artificial intelligence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Agroecology is among the most promising options to alleviate the negative impacts of animal farming on the environment and build local food systems based on ethically acceptable production methods. So far, most of the research on agroecological animal production systems was conducted at farm scale, and the potential of agroecological principles addressing social dimensions and food system-level approaches has been underexplored. Here, we analyse how the whole set of agroecological principles was mobilised in five case studies on grassland-based, silvopastoral or integrated crop-livestock systems in Switzerland, Guadeloupe, French uplands, Bulgaria and Andalucía. Following a multilevel perspective, we propose a new eight-category framework to categorise barriers and enablers in these different socioecological contexts, and discuss the implications of these results for scaling out and scaling up agroecological niche innovations in animal production areas. Though we could observe activities related to each agroecological principle in each case study, the relative importance of each principle differed. For instance, in Switzerland, the focus was on ecological processes operating in multispecies mixtures, and therefore on mobilising principles of input reduction, synergy, soil health and biodiversity, while in Andalucía, a civil society organisation, a regional agricultural office, researchers, and farmers mainly mobilised transformational principles at the food system level, e.g. social values, connectivity and participation. Such contrasts highlight how agroecology allows different equilibria among principles, adapting to the needs of farmers and local communities. Inadequate infrastructure and lack of technology were frequently reported as barriers to agroecological transitions. Policy needs to go beyond the mere support of agroecological practices on livestock farms and adopt a systems approach looking downstream and upstream if it is to enable a large-scale agroecological transition with EU public policies. Market as an enabler was linked to direct sales and short distribution circuits, generating added value to the benefit of local communities. Most agroecological systems benefited from a positive image among citizens and consumers, but cultural barriers resulted from change in product characteristics, e.g. veal meat colour in dairy system that promote long-lasting cow-calf contact. All case studies were very advanced in the social dimensions of agroecology, and cooperation networks were always reported among the enablers for scaling out. The multiactor network approach fostered knowledge exchange between farmers, researchers and citizens, and allowed participants to share values. Long-term commitment from local practitioners is required so that co-designed solutions are implemented, which can strengthen the economic and social viability of animal production areas., (Copyright © 2024 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Why is hazardous pesticide pollution of water bodies in the EU not effectively limited by state regulation? Using the conceptual framework of unsustainable lock-ins by Karen Seto et al., we show that there are various "pesticide lock-ins" in Europe. We draw on semi-standardized interviews with decision-makers in the field of pesticide politics to formulate six lock-ins that describe how state actors fail to tackle this global environmental challenge. We outline infrastructural, institutional and behavioural lock-ins that are self-stabilizing and can be moved only through tremendous resources, time, or extraordinary windows of opportunity. • explains why state actors are not tackling pesticide overuse, despite stringent pesticide regulation in the EU; • uses novel ethnographic methods to survey problem perceptions in pesticide politics across sectors and governance levels; • shows how land use patterns, EU agricultural policy, regulatory apathy and regulatory capture, consumer norms as well as the exclusion of civil society contributes to dependency on agricultural chemicals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite three decades of political efforts and a wealth of research on the causes and catastrophic impacts of climate change, global carbon dioxide emissions have continued to rise and are 60% higher today than they were in 1990. Exploring this rise through nine thematic lenses—covering issues of climate governance, the fossil fuel industry, geopolitics, economics, mitigation modeling, energy systems, inequity, lifestyles, and social imaginaries—draws out multifaceted reasons for our collective failure to bend the global emissions curve. However, a common thread that emerges across the reviewed literature is the central role of power, manifest in many forms, from a dogmatic political-economic hegemony and influential vested interests to narrow techno-economic mindsets and ideologies of control. Synthesizing the various impediments to mitigation reveals how delivering on the commitments enshrined in the Paris Agreement now requires an urgent and unprecedented transformation away from today's carbon- and energy-intensive development paradigm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Processes of research evaluation are coming under increasing scrutiny, with detractors arguing that they have adverse effects on research quality, and that they support a research culture of competition to the detriment of collaboration. Based on three personal perspectives, we consider how current systems of research evaluation lock early career researchers and their supervisors into practices that are deemed necessary to progress academic careers within the current evaluation frameworks. We reflect on the main areas in which changes would enable better research practices to evolve; many align with open science. In particular, we suggest a systemic approach to research evaluation, taking into account its connections to the mechanisms of financial support for the institutions of research and higher education in the broader landscape. We call for more dialogue in the academic world around these issues and believe that empowering early career researchers is key to improving research quality.

Drawing on an analysis of the Walloon dairy sector, this paper aims at bringing novel insights on the coexistence issue in agrifood transition studies. Whereas most studies explore the coexistence of farm models, our study focuses on value chains, in particular on cooperatives. In the Walloon Region, new dairy cooperatives emerged, as substitute or as complement to the incumbent vertically integrated dairy cooperatives. This paper focuses on the coexistence of dairy cooperative models as enabler of transition toward product diversification. Dairy cooperatives are hybrid actors: economic agents on the market on the one hand, structure of collective agency on the other hand. Williamson's framework of New Institutional Economics acknowledges that the allocation of resources by cooperatives depends on governance processes and on the wider institutional context in which the cooperatives evolve. Within the broader frame of the Multi-Level Perspective, this approach allows to consider the socio-technical coherence in which the cooperatives evolve, the effects of this coherence on their pathways of development, and the complementarity of the cooperative models. This qualitative analysis builds on semi-directed interviews with actors of the Walloon dairy sector. The results outline distinctions between the new cooperative models and mainstream dairy cooperatives in market approach, definition of milk quality, distribution of added value, governance, and interactions with partners. Both models evolve within a distinct socio-technical coherence, holding, in the case of the mainstream dairy cooperatives, lock-ins to diversification related to the relationship with the farmer-members and the milk they produce in the industrial vertically integrated model. The new cooperative models circumvent these lock-ins through de-integration and externalization of initiatives, remuneration, and risk. They allow specific groups of actors—still related or unrelated to the mainstream dairy cooperative—to explore new market pathways in accordance with their potential, and to mutually agree on criteria qualifying milk. This research draws the picture of a possible reconfiguration of the dairy landscape toward a more diversified ecosystem of actors and invites to consider structures of governance in collective action as a cornerstone issue, because of their significant role in terms of enablement, coexistence, and complementarity throughout the transition process.

Australia faces seemingly impossible barriers to transitioning to agroecology. Nonetheless, many possibilities for a distinctively Australian agroecology exist. Some Australian farmers have helped create methods for rehydrating landscapes, while Indigenous peoples are reclaiming crops and farming methods well-adapted to Australia's diverse regions.To appraise the prospects for agroecological changes in Australia, I modify in two ways the Multi-Level Perspective framework widely used in transitions research. First, I elaborate the notion of lock-ins that impede systemic change.Looking at Australia reveals an array of socio-ecological lock-ins that matter alongside the more familiar political economy lock-ins. These include settler colonialism, climate/environmental change, and scientific & technological priorities. Second, I add 'massification' (or the growth of a movement supporting change toward agroecology) as one possible process for overcoming these lock-ins. I work through several key drivers of the process of taking agroecology to scale to show how agroecological transition might happen. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Processes of research evaluation are coming under increasing scrutiny, with detractors arguing that they have adverse effects on research quality, and that they support a research culture of competition to the detriment of collaboration. Based on three personal perspectives, we consider how current systems of research evaluation lock early career researchers and their supervisors into practices that are deemed necessary to progress academic careers within the current evaluation frameworks. We reflect on the main areas in which changes would enable better research practices to evolve; many align with open science. In particular, we suggest a systemic approach to research evaluation, taking into account its connections to the mechanisms of financial support for the institutions of research and higher education in the broader landscape. We call for more dialogue in the academic world around these issues and believe that empowering early career researchers is key to improving research quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Despite efforts to address the global forest crisis, deforestation and degradation continue, so we need to urgently revisit possible solutions. A failure to halt the global forest crisis contributes to climate change and biodiversity loss and will continue to result in inequalities in access to, and benefits from, forest resources. In this paper, we unpack a series of powerful myths about forests and their management. By exposing and better understanding these myths and what makes them so persistent, we have the basis to make the social and political changes needed to better manage and protect forests globally.

We investigate the role external change agents (e.g., consultants), play in stimulating corporate sustainability investments. Using data on more than 5,300 energy efficiency investment decisions by 462 firms, we find that firms that draw more strongly on external change agents seize significantly more sustainable investment opportunities. We show that external change agents are more effective in stimulating investments if they broadly search for investment opportunities and are more strongly involved in the implementation of change initiatives. Moreover, surprisingly, we do not find that using internal change agents in parallel with external agents enhances the effectiveness of external change agents. Our findings have important implications for the literature on corporate sustainability as they point to external change agents as an important means of steering firms onto more sustainable pathways. Additionally, we shed light on the conditions under which external change agents can be used to most effectively overcome organizational path dependencies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The digital transformation of agriculture is widely presented as a path to sustainability and a win-win strategy that benefits the environment, farmers, and consumers alike. However, recent studies show how the digital economy is characterized by monopoly structures, market concentration and corporate power that determine patterns of control over digital technology, distribution of benefits and value creation from data. In the field of agriculture, there is a lack of empirical research on lock-ins that examines in detail the logic of these effects, the actors, and the power dynamics behind them. Yet such insights are exactly what is needed to better understand the effects and to break unsustainable lock-ins towards more sustainable agri-food systems. Drawing on the literature on the political economy of food and agriculture, and on studies of innovation and sustainability transitions, this article aims to fill this research gap. Based on an empirical case study in Germany, it identifies systemic, technological, data, legal, soft, and discursive lock-ins that reinforce existing power relations and farmers' dependence on corporate agro-industrial farming models. It concludes that sustainable transformations in agriculture require a disruption of the identified lock-ins at multiple levels. • Digital agriculture is shaped by corporate power and multiple lock-in effects. • The study enhances the understanding of lock-ins in digital transformations. • Systemic, technological, data, soft, and discursive lock-in effects are identified. • These lock-ins reinforce dependence of farmers from agro-industrial farming models. • It concludes that sustainability transformations require a disruption of the lock-ins. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• We advance resistance as a lens to analyse power and agency in adaptation. • We identify overt and covert popular resistance in 56 adaptation studies. • Resistance can mirror adaptation power or structural and historical conditions. • Adaptation resistance occurs globally, not least to relocation and participation. • Sociological resistance informs debates on vulnerability and today's climate politics. Climate adaptation is not a neutral or apolitical process, but one that ignites social resistance. Government responses to risks of floods, droughts, or hurricanes – even those using a language of participation – might follow historical development pathways, strive to maintain the status quo, and directly or indirectly serve elite interests. Little attention has been paid to how people defy or resist top-down adaptation processes, overtly or covertly, in particular cultural, historical, and legal contexts. Drawing on sociological thought on popular resistance, this paper systematises research on people's resistance to climate adaptation by scrutinising the sites, repertoires, and consequences of such resistance. We identified overt and covert resistance in 56 scientific adaptation articles, which concentrated on 5 'sites' of resistance: Rural livelihoods, Urban informal settlements, Islands, First Nations, and Institutional landscapes. The findings imply that resistance to adaptation occurs globally, and not least in the context of relocation processes and participatory adaptation. We show how a resistance lens can help understand contemporary political behaviours, shed light on dynamic and compound vulnerability, and'unlock' more context-sensitive and even transformative adaptation. Meanwhile, resistance and popular movements are not only progressive, and there might be conceptual barriers to moving from resistance to transformation or reconciling resistance with actions by or with the state. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The spatiotemporal pattern of gradual institutional transformation since 1978 has formed a model of “administrative urbanization” and driven the progress of restructuring urbanization in China, called Chinese-style urban spatial restructuring (USR). The USR exhibits apparent path dependencies and lock-ins, and so needs to be understood within a comprehensive historical context. In China, USR is an institutional progressive system formed under a myriad of complicated driving forces, such as less Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and more SOEs–SCs–NWUs referring to state-owned enterprises, shareholding cooperatives dominated by government, and non-produced work-units in inland. Therefore, USR needs to be clearly analyzed in order to understand the spatiotemporal urbanization. This paper makes two arguments, the first being that even in light of recent trends towards strong local authority, USR is still dominated by the central government party. Secondly, we developed a model that identifies the path-dependency of SOEs–SCs–NWUs' location and relocation, state's institutional reform, and actor (re)locating-led lock-ins and regionally gradient lock-ins from the process of USR for Lanzhou, China, which is one of the largest inland cities in the country. Given USR of coastal cities is more frequently studied, this study provides a key step in understanding the role of local and central government agencies in USR of China's large inland cities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study analyses social, economic and political “lock-ins” for understanding community resilience and land degradation. The study focuses on lock-ins from within communities, using four case study communities in Italy affected by land degradation. The analysis highlights the complex interrelationships between various lock-ins, and suggests that the communities are on declining resilience pathways that may lead to increasing difficulties in addressing land degradation issues in future. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Purpose – Erroneous perceptions of relevance contribute to business projects not being successful. Although the importance of relevance is recognized in the project management literature, thus far there has not been a formal framework for addressing erroneous perceptions of relevance. The purpose of this paper is to introduce a framework for identifying and counteracting erroneous perceptions of relevance. Design/methodology/approach – The research comprised review of the literature relating to factors that contribute to, and methods that counteract, erroneous perceptions of relevance. Findings – Contributory factors to erroneous perceptions of relevance include cultural cognition, path dependencies, lock-ins, fads, and hype. Mediating factors include priming and questioning, counterfactual reasoning, and optimal stopping. Research limitations/implications – A classification of erroneous perceptions of relevance is introduced Type III (inept positive) errors, Type II (false negative) errors, and Type I (false positive) errors. This terminology has the advantage of already being known to academics through statistical hypothesis testing, and to practitioners through process capability studies. Practical implications – The introduction of a framework for identifying and counteracting erroneous perceptions of relevance can better enable practitioners to make the selection of relevant concepts and technologies for projects – a capable process. Originality/value – The originality of this research note is that it provides a framework that can be applied to increase objectivity in perceptions of relevance. The value of this research note is that it introduces a framework for identifying and counteracting erroneous perceptions of relevance before the application of methods such as cost-benefit analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The cumulative causation in the relation between labour productivity and output growth, known as Verdoorn's Law, is empirically tested using data from 109 EU12 regions during the period 1977–2005. Several specifications of Verdoorn's Law are put forward in this paper, which attribute the process of cumulative causation to a series of factors, including manufacturing agglomeration, spatial interaction, and responses to the problems of growth. The findings suggest that, although cumulative causation holds over this period, the slowdown of its pace is, nonetheless, apparent post 1992. Revisions in responses (e.g. policy) along with further research are thus recommended. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

One of the most intriguing questions in economic geography is why some regional economies manage to renew themselves, whereas others remain locked in decline. To tackle this question, the idea of resilience has emerged building upon concepts derived from ecology, psychology, disaster studies and elsewhere. This conceptual paper aims at critically assessing whether regional resilience contributes to our understanding of regional economic adaptability, in particular, and its potential contribution to evolutionary economic geography, in general. It concludes that, due to three main shortcomings, its contribution is relatively limited. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Cho M. and Hassink R. Limits to locking-out through restructuring: the textile industry in Daegu, South Korea, Regional Studies. The restructuring of old industrial areas is a relatively new phenomenon in the newly industrializing countries of East Asia, such as South Korea. Of the few theoretical concepts that try to explain the decline of such old industrial areas, evolutionary economic geography, in general, and the lock-in concept, in particular, are promising ones. This paper shows that the impact of locally induced lock-ins can be regarded as relatively strong in the textile industry region of Daegu, South Korea, and that due to this strong lock-in, renewal has been relatively unsuccessful. [image omitted] Cho M. et Hassink R. Les limites de l'enclavement par la restructuration: l'industrie du textile a Daegu, en Coree du Sud, Regional Studies. La restructuration des anciens districts industriels est un phenomene relativement recent dans les Nouveaux Pays Industrialises de l'Asie de l'Est, tels la Coree du Sud. De rares notions theoriques qui cherchent a expliquer le declin de tels districts industriels, la geographie economique evolutionniste en general et la notion d'enclavement en particulier sont prometteuses. Cet article cherche a demontrer que l'on pourrait considerer l'impact des enclavements locaux comme relativement fort dans l'industrie du textile situee dans la region de Daegu, en Coree du Sud, et que, par la suite, la reprise par un fort enclavement a grosso modo reussi. Anciens districts industriels Restructuration Enclavements Industrie du textile Daegu Coree du Sud Cho M. und Hassink R. Die Grenzen des Locking-out durch Umstrukturierung: die Textilindustrie in Daegu (Sudkorea), Regional Studies. Die Umstrukturierung alter Industriegebiete ist ein relativ neues Phanomen in den neu industrialisierten Landern von Ostasien, wie z. B. Sudkorea. Unter den wenigen theoretischen Konzepten, mit denen der Niedergang solcher alter Industriegebiete zu erklaren versucht wird, sind das der evolutionaren Wirtschaftsgeografie im Allgemeinen und das Lock-in-Konzept im Besonderen am vielversprechendsten. In diesem Beitrag wird gezeigt, dass sich die Auswirkung von lokal induzierten Lock-ins in der Textilindustrieregion von Daegu (Sudkorea) als relativ stark bezeichnen lasst und dass aufgrund dieses starken Lock-ins die Erneuerung ein relativer Misserfolg war. Alte Industriegebiete Umstrukturierung Lock-ins Textilindustrie Daegu Sudkorea Cho M. y Hassink R. Los limites de la dependencia a traves de la reestructuracion: la industria textil en Daegu, Corea del Sur, Regional Studies. La reestructuracion de las viejas zonas industriales es un fenomeno relativamente nuevo en los paises recien industrializados del este de Asia, como es el caso de Corea del Sur. De los pocos conceptos teoricos que pretenden explicar el declive de estas viejas zonas industriales, la geografia de la economia evolutiva en general y el concepto de dependencia en particular son factores prometedores. En este articulo demostramos que las repercusiones de la dependencia localmente inducida pueden considerarse relativamente solidas en la region industrial de Daegu en Corea del Sur, y que la renovacion ha tenido relativamente poco exito debido a esta fuerte dependencia. Viejas zonas industriales Reestructuracion Dependencia Industria textil Daegu Corea del Sur [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While resilience is a major concept in development, climate adaptation, and related domains, many doubts remain about how to interpret this term, its relationship with closely overlapping terms, or its normativity. One major view is that, while resilience originally was a descriptive concept denoting some adaptive property of ecosystems, subsequent applications to social contexts distorted its meaning and purpose by framing it as a transformative and normative quality. This article advances an alternative philosophical account based on the scrutiny of C.S. Holling's original work on resilience. We show that resilience had a central role among Holling's proposals for reforming environmental science and management, and that Holling framed resilience as an ecosystem's capacity of absorbing change and exploiting it for adapting or evolving, but also as the social ability of maintaining and opportunistically exploiting that natural capacity. Resilience therefore appears as a transformative social-ecological property that is normative in three ways: as an intrinsic ecological value, as a virtue of organizations or management styles, and as a virtuous understanding of human–nature relations. This interpretation accounts for the practical relevance of resilience, clarifies the relations between resilience and related terms, and is a firm ground for further normative work on resilience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The European Union has set strict recycling targets for municipal solid wastes, but the implementation of circularity is still hindered by a variety of present set-ups. This paper addresses the recycling transitions and their complex nature in Austria, Sweden and Finland and points out the differences that are connected to the level of success in recycling. Furthermore, this study identifies present lock-ins in the waste management regime to provide an understanding on the factors preventing further development towards a recycling society. This is done by analysing different waste policy documents and interviews of national waste experts. The study employs the multilevel perspective (MLP) framework that is a commonly used approach in sustainability transitions research. The results highlight the variety of social, political, technical and economic elements, but also the connections between them that result in a stable regime. The pathways to achieve the recycling society differ between Austria, Sweden and Finland. National waste policy, the division of responsibilities, the variety of infrastructure and collection systems in waste management, the level of general awareness, public-private co-operation and the quality of waste data act as key characteristics that reflect the success in the recycling transition. Identified lock-ins for recycling seem to be slightly stronger in Finland compared to Austria and Sweden, while some of the lock-ins are the same in all countries, such as incineration capacity, malfunction of markets of recyclables or lack of product design for recyclability. • The pathways to a recycling society differ between Austria, Sweden and Finland. • Pressure for recycling has been explicit in Austria at the landscape level. • There are more identified lock-ins in Finland compared to other countries. • Clear responsibilities, a variety of practices, public awareness and quality of data reflect success. • Bottom-up approaches could be utilised in solving the frictions between public and private actors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]