The malleability and unpredictability of regional transitions: a systematic approach for reflection and learning

The ‘region’ has increasingly become an entry point for inducing a transition towards sustainable food provision, environmental quality for living and recreation, and/or economic competitiveness. Regional projects and strategies have assembled politicians, entrepreneurs, civil society organisations, and researchers in joint endeavours, with ambitious names such as Food Valley, Energy Valley, Health Valley, or Greenports. This report labels such endeavours as ‘regional transitions’. A common feature of regional transitions is that forces are bundled in a region to strengthen local economies in a context of international trade and competition. This fits in national and European policies which assume that local economies can be strengthened by technological innovation (Rutten and Boekema, 2007). Regional transitions however include more than ‘just’ a technical innovation with its necessary logistics and infrastructure. The question how connections between people (stakeholders involved) and organisations arise and grow may be much more crucial in regional transitions