Search

This paper identifies and examines the strategies and governance conditions by which ten European cities have started mainstreaming nature-based solutions (NBS) as innovative systemic solutions in urban planning. The three sets of mainstreaming strategies focus on how teams of policy entrepreneurs within the cities experimented with innovative governance processes and mechanisms to strategically develop procedures, knowledge, skills, and relationships to integrate (a) a systems’ approach to link NBS to policies, regulations, and departments across goals and sectors, (b) inclusive collaborations for localised interventions, and (c) reflexivity and learning about how they interact with the (institutional, ecological, social, etc.) contexts and create impacts. The strategies demonstrate how starting from NBS as a type of systemic innovation can help promote shifts in urban planning to address complex sustainability problems in cities, and how starting points and specific processes depend on a respective city’s contexts and needs.

This article responds to increasing public and academic discourses on social innovation, which often rest on the assumption that social innovation can drive societal change and empower actors to deal with societal challenges and a retreating welfare state. In order to scrutinise this assumption, this article proposes a set of concepts to study the dynamics of transformative social innovation and underlying processes of multi-actor (dis)empowerment.First, the concept of transformative social innovation is unpacked by proposing four foundational concepts to help distinguish between different pertinent ‘shades’ of change and innovation: 1) social innovation, (2) system innovation, (3) game-changers, and (4) narratives of change. These concepts, invoking insights from transitions studies and social innovations literature, are used to construct a conceptual account of how transformative social innovation emerges as a co-evolutionary interaction between diverse shades of change andinnovation. Second, the paper critically discusses the dialectic nature of multi-actor (dis)empowerment that underlies such processes of change and innovation. The paper then demonstrates how the conceptualisations areapplied to three empirical case-studies of transformative social innovation: Impact Hub, Time Banks and Credit Unions. In the conclusion we synthesise how the concepts and the empirical examples help to understand contemporary shifts in societal power relations and the changing role of the welfare state.

The Handbook aims to provide decision-makers with a comprehensive NBS impact assessment framework, and a robust set of indicators and methodologies to assess impacts of nature-based solutions across 12 societal challenge areas: Climate Resilience; Water Management; Natural and Climate Hazards; Green Space Management; Biodiversity; Air Quality; Place Regeneration; Knowledge and Social Capacity Building for Sustainable Urban Transformation; Participatory Planning and Governance; Social Justice and Social Cohesion; Health and Well-being; New Economic Opportunities and Green Jobs. Indicators have been developed collaboratively by representatives of 17 individual EU-funded NBS projects and collaborating institutions such as the EEA and JRC, as part of the European Taskforce for NBS Impact Assessment, with the four-fold objective of: serving as a reference for relevant EU policies and activities; orient urban practitioners in developing robust impact evaluation frameworks for nature-based solutions at different scales; expand upon the pioneering work of the EKLIPSE framework by providing a comprehensive set of indicators and methodologies; and build the European evidence base regarding NBS impacts. They reflect the state of the art in current scientific research on impacts of nature-based solutions and valid and standardized methods of assessment, as well as the state of play in urban implementation of evaluation frameworks.

This paper responds to the need in innovation research for conceptual clarity and solid theory on social innovation (SI). The paper conceptualizes SI as changing social relations, involving new ways of doing, knowing, framing and organizing, and theorizes transformative social innovation (TSI) as the process of SI challenging, altering, or replacing dominant institutions in a specific social-material context. Three advances towards TSI theory are proposed. First, we reflect epistemologically on the challenges of theory-building, and propose an appropriate research design and methodology. Middle-range theory is developed through iteration between theoretical insights and comparative empirical study of 20 transnational SI networks and about 100 associated initiatives. Second, we synthesize various innovation theories and social theories into a relational framework that articulates the distributed agency and institutional hybridization involved. Third, we formulate twelve propositions on the emergence of SI initiatives, on the development of SI ecosystems, on institutionalization processes, and on the historical shaping of SI. The paper ends with a critical assessment of the advances made, also identifying further challenges for TSI theory and practice., SCOPUS: ar.j, info:eu-repo/semantics/published

Encouraging pro-environmental behaviour at work can result in a significant reduction in environmental problems. Research revealed that general environmental considerations such as biospheric values and environmental self-identity are important antecedents of private pro-environmental behaviour. Yet, the question remains whether such general environmental considerations also predict pro-environmental behaviour at work. We propose a parsimonious theoretical model (the VIP-model) in which biospheric values affect personal norms to behave pro-environmentally at work and pro-environmental actions via the environmental self-identity. A study involving a diverse sample of employees from different European organizations supported the VIP-model, showing that biospheric values and environmental self-identity influence personal norms, and that stronger personal norms encouraged various self-reported pro-environmental behaviours at work to some extent. The VIP-model yields promising, cost-efficient strategies to encourage pro-environmental behaviour at work.

This paper argues that there is currently a need for new theory on transformative social innovation that is able to provide empowering insights to practice, especially in terms of how social innovation interacts with transformative change processes. It identifies three ‘pitfalls’ that such theory-building needs to confront, and presents middle-range theory development, together with a focus on social relations and the processes of social innovation, as three elements of a theory-building strategy that responds to these pitfalls. In describing the implementation of this strategy in successive iterations between empirical case study research and integrative analysis, critical reflections are drawn on each of the three elements of the theory-building strategy. Taken together, these reflections underline the importance of maintaining a reflexive approach in developing new knowledge and theory on new social innovation. DOI: https://doi.org/10.31637/epsir.17-1.5

Scientists and policymakers recognize the need to address consumption and lifestyles in order to reconcile environmental and development agendas. Sustainability-oriented grassroots initiatives emerge bottom-up to create opportunities for sustainable lifestyles; yet no prior assessment has ascertained the efficacy of their members to reduce carbon footprints (CF) and enhance well-being. We compare the CF of non-members and members of grassroots initiatives in the domains of food, clothing, housing and transport. We further compare the groups by testing the influence of socio-economic variables that are typically associated with both footprint and well-being. Here we show that grassroots initiative members have 16% lower total carbon footprint, and 43% and 86% lower carbon footprints for food and clothing respectively, compared to their “non-member” regional socio-demographic counterparts. We find a higher adoption of some energy-saving behaviors for initiative members such as greater active travel distance and lower indoor temperatures in the winter, yet no significant differences in the CF of housing and transport. Interestingly, increases in income are not associated with increases in the total CF of members, while the influence of income is confirmed for the CF of the total sample. Instead, factors such as age, household size, and gender better explain the variation in the domain-specific CFs of initiative members. Finally, members show higher life satisfaction compared to non-members and are 11–13% more likely to evaluate their life positively. Our results suggest that initiative members uncover lifestyle features that not only enable lower emissions, but also reconcile emissions with income and well-being.

Cities all over the world are confronting intertwined environmental, social and economic problems and aim to become resilient to climate change and promote wellbeing for all their citizens. Nature-based solutions have been proposed as a promising policy approach to addressing urban problems for the potential they have to deliver multiple benefits and foster wellbeing for individuals and communities. However, the evidence for their multiple benefits is rather scarce and highly fragmented, and more robust frameworks for the monitoring and assessment of their impacts are needed to guide urban policy-making. This paper focuses on the current state of impact assessment of nature-based solutions in Europe and through a systematic review of the literature identifies four conceptual problems and three empirical gaps that impede the accumulation of solid evidence regarding of the impacts of different types of nature-based solutions for different social groups; as well as of the contextual conditions that contribute to their performance and delivery of multiple outcomes. Based on the identified mis-conceptualizations and gaps, we derive a series of principles that should guide the development of robust impact assessment frameworks for nature-based solutions. We discuss the policy implications of these gaps and principles. We conclude by making a series of recommendations that should inform the design of impact monitoring and evaluation frameworks in cities, in order to develop the comparative evidence base on the effectiveness of nature-based solutions. This, in turn, can inform urban decision-making on the appropriate design, implementation, and long-term regeneration of nature-based solutions, to ensure long-term delivery of important ecosystem services for different social groups. If you have any difficulty accessing this document, or you would like to know more about theConnecting Natureproject, pleaseemail marcus.collier@tcd.ie.

[Abstract] This paper contributes to public and academic discussions on empowerment and social innovation by conceptualizing the mechanisms of empowerment from a social psychology perspective, and empirically exploring how people are empowered through both local and transnational linkages, i.e. translocal networks. Section 2 conceptualizes empowerment as the process through which actors gain the capacity to mobilize resources to achieve a goal, building on different power theories in relation to social change, combined with self-determination theory and intrinsic motivation research. Based on that conceptualization, empirical questions are formulated to be asked about cases under study. Section 3 then provides an empirical analysis of translocal networks that work with social innovation both at the global and local level. A total of five networks are analyzed: FEBEA, DESIS, the Global Ecovillage Network, Impact Hub and Slow Food. The embedded cases-study approach allows an exploration of how people are empowered through the transnational networking while also zooming in on the dynamics in local initiatives. In the final section, conceptual and empirical insights are synthesized into a characterization of the mechanisms of translocal empowerment, and challenges for future research are formulated.

Understanding the diversifying role of civil society in Europe’s sustainability pathway is a valid proposition both scientifically and socially. Civil society organisations already play a significant role in the reality of cities, what remains to be explored is the question: what is the role of civil society in the future sustainability of European cities? We first examine the novelty of new forms of civil society organization based on a thorough review of recent case studies of civil society initiatives for sustainable transitions across a diversity of European projects and an extensive literature review. We conceptualize a series of roles that civil society plays and the tensions they entail. We argue that, civil society initiatives can pioneer new social relations and practices therefore be an integral part of urban transformations and can fill the void left by a retreating welfare state, thereby safeguarding and servicing social needs but also backing up such a rolling back of the welfare state. It can act as a hidden innovator—contributing to sustainability but remaining disconnected from the wider society. Assuming each of these roles can have unintended effects, such as being proliferated by political agendas, which endanger its role and social mission, and can be peeled off to serve political agendas resulting in its disempowerment and over-exposure. We conclude with a series of implications for future research on the roles of civil society in urban sustainability transitions.

Pro-environmental behaviors have been analyzed in the home, with little attention to other important contexts of everyday life, such as the workplace. The research reported here explored three categories of pro-environmental behavior (consumption of materials and energy, waste generation, and work-related commuting) in a public large-scale organization in Spain, with the aim of identifying the most effective policy options for a sustainable organization. Agent-based modeling was used to design a virtual simulation of the organization. Psychologically informed profiles of employees were defined using data gathered through a questionnaire, measuring knowledge, motivations, and ability. Future scenarios were developed using a participatory backcasting scenario development methodology, and policy tracks were derived. Dynamic simulations indicated that, to be effective, organizational policy should strengthen worker participation and autonomy, be sustained over time, and should combine different measures of medium intensity for behavior change, instead of isolated policies of high intensity.

Large organizations are responsible for a significant amount of GHG emissions. This trend will even increase over the next 100 years. An issue for environmental research is the investigation of the factors promoting or hindering the transition to more sustainable energy behaviors in the workplace. This study is part of a larger project, funded under the EU-FP7 program, called “Low Carbon at Work” (LOCAW). We present the results of a qualitative study assessing the existing everyday behaviors in two large-scale organizations: an Italian-based multinational renewable energy producer, and a Spanish public university (The University of A Coruna). Data obtained by interviews with key-informers and focus groups were content analyzed, using ATLAS.ti. Results indicate many commonalities and some differences between the two case studies. Working in a green anergy company leads individuals to be more sensitized about environmental issues, although a core thematic category refers to the concept that energy-related behaviors “rely on individual feeling”. Data from the University of A Coruna suggest this organization has the right values and objectives, but it does not always adequately implement organizational policies to support sustainable energy use among students and employees. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

Organizational Identification, social norms and norm transmission are investigated. Organizational identification was found to be a predictor of norm transmission. Results varied depending on whether or not transmission was to subordinates. Regression trees were used to explore the existence of subgroups/interactions.

As climate policy needs to address all feasible ways to reduce carbon emissions, there is an increasing focus on demand-side solutions. Studies of household carbon footprints have allocated emissions during production to the consumption of the produced goods, and provided an understanding of what products and consumer actions cause significant emissions. Social scientists have investigated how attitudes, social norms, and structural factors shape salient behavior. Yet, there is often a disconnect as emission reductions through individual actions in the important domains of housing and mobility are challenging to attain due to lock-ins and structural constraints. Furthermore, most behavioral research focuses on actions that are easy to trace but of limited consequence as a share of total emissions. Here we study specific alternative consumption patterns seeking both to understand the behavioral and structural factors that determine those patterns and to quantify their effect on carbon footprints. We do so utilizing a survey on consumer behavioral, attitudinal, contextual and socio-demographic factors in four different regions in the EU. Some differences occur in terms of the driving forces behind behaviors and their carbon intensities. Based on observed differences in mobility carbon footprints across households, we find that the key determining element to reduced emissions is settlement density, while car ownership, rising income and long distances are associated with higher mobility footprints. For housing, our results indicate that changes in dwelling standards and larger household sizes may reduce energy needs and the reliance on fossil fuels. However, there remains a strong need for incentives to reduce the carbon intensity of heating and air travel. We discuss combined effects and the role of policy in overcoming structural barriers in domains where consumers as individuals have limited agency. This is a submitted manuscript of an article published by Elsevier Ltd in Global Environmental Change, 14 July 2018

Neoliberalism is a powerful narrative that has shaped processesof urban economic development across the globe. This paperreports on four nascent ‘new economic’ narratives whichrepresent fundamentally different imaginaries of the urbaneconomy. Experiments informed by these narratives challengethe dominant neoliberal logic in four key dimensions: What is thepurpose of economic development? What are the preferreddistributive mechanisms? Who governs the economy? What isthe preferred form of economic organisation? The emergence ofthese experiments illustrates that cities are spaces wherecounter-narratives canemerge and circulate. Acknowledgingtheexistence of these alternative visions opens up a wider set ofpossibilities for future urban transitions.

While we can find much evidence to suggest that environmental psychology has strengthened itself as a social institution, as Proshansky advocated some 30 years ago, this concluding chapter critically reviews continued shortcomings and strategies to overcome these.

Previous research in this journal has analyzed publication trends in the top political science journals in France. An inventory of published articles in the Revue Francaise de Science Politique and Politix since 1970 has provided information on methodological preferences and sub-field coverage, thus allowing for meaningful comparisons with trends in American political science. This essay identifies the scholarly output of the teaching and research institutions of French political science and examines the methodological requirements of the graduate programs of political science departments in France. French Politics (2006) 4, 124-134. doi:10.1057/palgrave.fp.8200095

A naturalistic sessional evaluation of routine outcomes of psychotherapy from a range of theoretical orientations including transactional analysis, using standardised measures for depression, anxiety, general distress and working alliance, was conducted across completed therapy interventions by 113 therapists with 263 clients within an academic institution in the UK and across stages of therapy by 10 therapists with 26 clients in three independent clinics in Spain. Outcomes in both countries demonstrated clinical gains but it was found that such evaluation methodology was more easily applied within a training institute than in private practice; it also appeared to better fit the UK professional climate of evaluation. Suggestions are made concerning the introduction of such research in future.

This chapter introduces 12 categories of societal challenges that NBS can address (Section 4.1). These are conceptually mapped against the UN Sustainable Development Goals. For each of the 12 societal challenge areas, Section 4.2 outlines and lists indicators to evaluate the performance and impact of NBS. It reviews the different types of NBS, gives examples of each NBS type, and lists the indicators related to the particular societal challenge in a series of tables. Associated methodologies are compiled in the related Appendix of Methods. To help navigate, the indicators are classified as structural, process-based or outcome-oriented. Structural indicators are particularly useful during the NBS planning process and can help identify where resources may be lacking or highlight policy and/or procedural gaps that require attention. Process-based indicators can provide information about the value or impacts of the collaborative processes that underpin NBS (co-creation, co-implementation and comanagement). The outcome-oriented indicators are useful to understand NBS performance by establishing an understanding of baseline (pre-NBS) conditions and following changes to these conditions after NBS implementation. We distinguish between recommended and additional indicators. Recommended indicators are considered the most important ones to monitor NBS impact. Additional indicators can provide highly valuable information, depending on local context and particular data needs. The chapter concludes with a reflection on the importance of critical thinking to select the right indicators for a holistic assessment of NBS and the development of emerging indicators (Section 4.3).

Version 1.1 [Abstract] The purpose of this deliverable (D3.2) of the TRANSIT research project is to report on the development of a ‘first prototype’ of a middle-range theory of transformative social innovation. The ‘prototype’ is presented here in the form a framework for Transformative Social Innovation, which at this point (in the research process) consists of a theoretically-grounded conceptual framework for TSI together with a set of propositions about the dynamics of TSI, that have been developed based on the findings of the first phase of empirical research in the project. This project has received funding from the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme for research, Grant agreement n. 613169

"Introduction. Considering that buildings are responsible for more than 40% of energy consumption, energy situation is critical and European legislative framework is more and more restrictive, a good way to reconcile economy logics with sustainability ones seems to be the “bearable” management of the existing building estate. This is possible by monitoring building performances and energy consumptions, and by evaluating management strategies and users’ behaviours. This paper presents a web platform apt to operate such procedures. This tool started from the English CarbonBuzz, elaborated by Aedas and University College of London, and evolved into a new version apt to meet the Italian situation and detect “proofs” of the actual effectiveness of design solutions.. Theoretical background. The environmental degradation and life quality low standards signal that the well-balanced relation between building and dwelling is jeopardized. If dwelling represents the aim (according to Heidegger, literally the way men live), building is the artificial action men take to transform natural environment in relation to life demands (Losasso, 2005). The actions men take to shape their habitat are ruled and steered by technological processes that, processing matter, energy and information give back products and “organisms” in which incoming and outgoing matter and energy flows act. A new operational approach considers that reliable data are combined with the attention paid to the evaluations given by users (Gupta e Chandiwala, 2010). The study of users’ perceptions and behaviours supplies designers, and then producers, with meaningful feedback that enable them to detect solutions meeting users’ requirements better and reducing the gap between expected and actual building performances. The users’ participation to the process takes them to build a stronger link with the premises, a sense of belonging and consequently to feel responsible and keep congruent behaviours (Risser et al., 2006). Italy, compared to other countries such as the UK, lacks a suitable benchmarking, aimed at monitoring comparative performances, and Post Occupancy Evaluation protocols, apt to evaluate building performances after a time from their occupancy. The real transition to a green building economy can become effective only overcoming the mere sustainable design (a necessary but not sufficient condition) and aiming for a sustainable dwelling (Dall’O’, 2011).. Methods. Starting from the English platform, the Italian version modified and implemented some aspects that were different. Though they both respected the general principles in accordance with European directives, some peculiarities regarding: national rules, climatic and geographic conditions, building and equipment systems, management and way of living buildings took to elaborate specific parameters for the design and in use phase (towards a specific year of reference). A methodology for collecting the data was devised and applied to some buildings of Roma Tre University, in order to test the first version of the platform. A technical classification, based on some building aspects and on the energy certifications at design stage, was made. These data were confronted with effective energy consumptions bills, surveys and enquiries involving managers and users.. Results . An early database of the case studies was created; morphology, technology, system and management variety allowed to carry out a double control: on the one hand to compare parameters of consumption with CO2 emissions in a sample of buildings with the same end use; on the other hand to compare design and in use data, concerning the monitoring of effective bills for the single building. By these analyses, in a more in depth phase, it is possible to distinguish the energy end uses and to understand where and how to take action in order to improve buildings efficiency, as well as to involve actively users by crowd sourcing procedures, complementary to other interview methods. . Conclusions. The research enables both teams, English and Italian, to draw conclusions regarding the methodology to detect energy consumptions systematically, the implementation of environmental mitigation measures, the consideration of needs and behaviours of users, just for their being at the core of the design and evaluation process. . Reference. Gupta R. e Chandiwala S., Understanding occupants: feedback techniques for large-scale low carbon domestic refurbishments, in “Building Research & Information”, 38:5, 530-548,2010. Losasso M., “La dimensione sostenibile nel progetto architettonico”, in M.Losasso, a cura di, Progetto e innovazione, CLEAN 2005,p.30. Risser R., Schmeidler K., Steg L., Forward S., Martincigh L., Assessment of the quality of life in cities. Environmental conditions and mobility, in: Urbani Izziv, vol. 17,No. 1-2/06,The forgotten modernism of cities. . "