Pursuing a Circular Economy in the Danish Waste Sector : Scale and Transition Dynamics in Transformative Innovation Policy
(2022)- Abstract
- The overall aim of this thesis is to advance the conceptual understanding of transformative innovation policy through empirical research focusing on the transition towards a circular economy in the Danish waste sector. Under this broad aim, the thesis is more specifically concerned with exploring issues relating to the geography of transformative innovation policy as well as transition dynamics and agency in socio-technical system change. Three overarching research questions guide the thesis. First, how does the theoretical assumption that transformative innovation policy is best pursued at the subnational scale correspond with current developments in the multi-scalar organization of Danish waste management aimed at stimulating the... (More)
- The overall aim of this thesis is to advance the conceptual understanding of transformative innovation policy through empirical research focusing on the transition towards a circular economy in the Danish waste sector. Under this broad aim, the thesis is more specifically concerned with exploring issues relating to the geography of transformative innovation policy as well as transition dynamics and agency in socio-technical system change. Three overarching research questions guide the thesis. First, how does the theoretical assumption that transformative innovation policy is best pursued at the subnational scale correspond with current developments in the multi-scalar organization of Danish waste management aimed at stimulating the promotion of a circular economy Second, how can the understanding of transition dynamics and agency be developed to explicitly account for variation in the structural characteristics of sectors? And third, how do empirical insights from the Danish waste sector
illustrate and illuminate this alternative understanding of transition dynamics and agency?
In addressing these questions, the thesis makes two key contributions. First, based on analysis of the spatial organization of Danish waste management, this thesis develops a novel conceptual approach to the multi-level governance of transformative innovation policy. This conceptual approach is based on a constructivist notion of scale, which emphasizes the potential transformative power of rescaling and the need to develop a dynamic and variated approach to the spatial organization of transformative innovation policy. Second, this thesis
develops a conceptual approach for studying transition dynamics that takes the structural characteristics of socio-technical systems and their influence on agency into account. This approach is influenced by and illustrative of empirical insights from the Danish waste sector, which is characterized by an elaborate structural setup, currently experiencing growing misalignment due to the advancement of circular economy policies and regulation. (Less) - Abstract (Swedish)
- Det övergripande syftet med denna avhandling är att främja den konceptuella förståelsen av transformativ innovationspolitik genom empirisk forskning med fokus på omställningen till en cirkulär ekonomi i den danska avfallssektorn. Under detta breda syfte handlar avhandlingen mer specifikt om att utforska frågor relaterade till geografi i transformativ innovationspolitik samt såkallad övergångsdynamik (eng. transition dynamics) i sociotekniska systemförändringar. Avhandlingen adresserar tre övergripande forskningsfrågor. Först, hur överensstämmer det teoretiska antagandet att transformativ innovationspolitik bäst bedrivs på regional/kommunal nivå med den aktuella utvecklingen inom den flernivåstyrning (eng. multi-scalar organization) av den... (More)
- Det övergripande syftet med denna avhandling är att främja den konceptuella förståelsen av transformativ innovationspolitik genom empirisk forskning med fokus på omställningen till en cirkulär ekonomi i den danska avfallssektorn. Under detta breda syfte handlar avhandlingen mer specifikt om att utforska frågor relaterade till geografi i transformativ innovationspolitik samt såkallad övergångsdynamik (eng. transition dynamics) i sociotekniska systemförändringar. Avhandlingen adresserar tre övergripande forskningsfrågor. Först, hur överensstämmer det teoretiska antagandet att transformativ innovationspolitik bäst bedrivs på regional/kommunal nivå med den aktuella utvecklingen inom den flernivåstyrning (eng. multi-scalar organization) av den danska avfallssektorn som avser att stimulera främjandet av en cirkulär ekonomi? För det andra, hur kan förståelse för övergångsdynamik utvecklas så att den tar höjd för strukturella variationer inom olika sektorer? Och för det tredje, hur kan empiriska insikter från den danska avfallssektorn illustrera och belysa denna alternativa förståelse av övergångsdynamik?
När det gäller dessa frågor ger avhandlingen två viktiga bidrag. Först, baserat på en analys av den danska avfallshanteringen, utvecklar denna avhandling ett nytt konceptuellt förhållningssätt till flernivåstyrning av transformativ innovationspolitik. Detta konceptuella förhållningssätt bygger på ett konstruktivistiskt begrepp av skala (eng. scale). För det andra utvecklar denna avhandling ett konceptuellt förhållningssätt till att studera övergångsdynamik som tar höjd för strukturell variation inom olika sektorer.
(Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/bf767c23-000d-4da1-a6f4-b74e42e83ba6
- author
- Madsen, Stine LU
- supervisor
- opponent
-
- Professor Rohracher, Harald, University of Linköping
- organization
- alternative title
- Strävan efter en cirkulär ekonomi i den danska avfallssektorn : Scale och Transition Dynamics i transformativ innovationspolitik.
- publishing date
- 2022-12-14
- type
- Thesis
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- Transformative innovation policy, Scale, Transition dynamics, Waste management, Multi-scalar governance, Sustainability transition, circular economy
- pages
- 174 pages
- publisher
- Lund University (Media-Tryck)
- defense location
- Världen, Geocentrum I, Sölvegatan 10, Lund
- defense date
- 2022-01-27 13:00:00
- ISBN
- 978-91-8039-490-1
- 978-91-8039-489-5
- project
- STEPS – Sustainable Plastics and Transition Pathways, Phase 1
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- bf767c23-000d-4da1-a6f4-b74e42e83ba6
- date added to LUP
- 2022-12-13 22:13:28
- date last changed
- 2023-04-27 15:02:32
@phdthesis{bf767c23-000d-4da1-a6f4-b74e42e83ba6,
abstract = {{The overall aim of this thesis is to advance the conceptual understanding of transformative innovation policy through empirical research focusing on the transition towards a circular economy in the Danish waste sector. Under this broad aim, the thesis is more specifically concerned with exploring issues relating to the geography of transformative innovation policy as well as transition dynamics and agency in socio-technical system change. Three overarching research questions guide the thesis. First, how does the theoretical assumption that transformative innovation policy is best pursued at the subnational scale correspond with current developments in the multi-scalar organization of Danish waste management aimed at stimulating the promotion of a circular economy Second, how can the understanding of transition dynamics and agency be developed to explicitly account for variation in the structural characteristics of sectors? And third, how do empirical insights from the Danish waste sector<br/>illustrate and illuminate this alternative understanding of transition dynamics and agency? <br/><br/>In addressing these questions, the thesis makes two key contributions. First, based on analysis of the spatial organization of Danish waste management, this thesis develops a novel conceptual approach to the multi-level governance of transformative innovation policy. This conceptual approach is based on a constructivist notion of scale, which emphasizes the potential transformative power of rescaling and the need to develop a dynamic and variated approach to the spatial organization of transformative innovation policy. Second, this thesis <br/>develops a conceptual approach for studying transition dynamics that takes the structural characteristics of socio-technical systems and their influence on agency into account. This approach is influenced by and illustrative of empirical insights from the Danish waste sector, which is characterized by an elaborate structural setup, currently experiencing growing misalignment due to the advancement of circular economy policies and regulation.}},
author = {{Madsen, Stine}},
isbn = {{978-91-8039-490-1}},
keywords = {{Transformative innovation policy; Scale; Transition dynamics; Waste management; Multi-scalar governance; Sustainability transition; circular economy}},
language = {{eng}},
month = {{12}},
publisher = {{Lund University (Media-Tryck)}},
school = {{Lund University}},
title = {{Pursuing a Circular Economy in the Danish Waste Sector : Scale and Transition Dynamics in Transformative Innovation Policy}},
url = {{https://lup.lub.lu.se/search/files/131239424/Stine_Madsen_WEBB.pdf}},
year = {{2022}},
}