The transition towards a sustainable and healthy food system is one of the major sustainability challenges of today, next to the energy transition and the transition from a linear to circular economy. This paper provides a timely and evidence-based contribution to better understand the complex processes of institutional change and transformative social-ecological innovation that takes place in the food transition, through a case study of an open innovation and food transition network in The Netherlands, the South-Holland Food Family (Zuid-Hollandse Voedselfamilie). This network is supported by the provincial government and many partners, with the ambition to realize more sustainable agricultural and food chains, offering healthy, sustainable and affordable food for everyone in the Province of South-Holland in five to ten years from now. This ambition cannot be achieved through optimising the current food system. A transition is needed – a fundamental change of the food system’s structure, culture and practice. The Province has adopted a transition approach in its 2016 Innovation Agenda for Sustainable Agriculture. This paper provides an institutional analysis of how the transition approach has been established and developed in practice. Our main research question is what interventions and actions have shaped the transition approach and how does the dynamic interplay between actors and institutional structures influence institutional change, by analysing a series of closely related action situations and their context, looking at 'structure' and 'agency', and at the output-outcomes-impact of these action situations. For this purpose, we use the Transformative Social-Ecological Innovation (TSEI)-framework to study the dynamic interplay between actors and institutional structures influencing institutional change. The example of TSEI-framework application in this paper shows when and how local agents change the institutional context itself, which provides relevant insights on institutional work and the mutually constitutive nature of structure and agency. Above institutional analysis also shows the pivotal role of a number of actors, such as network facilitators and provincial minister, and their capability and skills to combine formal and informal institutional environments and logics and mobilize resources, thereby legitimizing and supporting the change effort. The results are indicative of the importance of institutional structures as both facilitating (i.e., the province’s policies) and limiting (e.g. land ownership) transition dynamics.
SMEs in South‐Holland: Digitally Mature? • High‐tech products (AgTech, (Aero)Space, Maritime‐Offshore, MedTech, Composites, Mechatronics • SMEs slow to digitalize • Industry 4.0 Toolkit helps?
The Dutch horticulture sector has to deal with challenges related to sustainability and advancing technology. Engaging professionals and (engineering) students by working together in learning communities (LCs) is an emerging approach to respond to ‘wicked problems’. In the Greenport West-Holland there are different types of these public-private collaboration initiatives. They work and learn together in LCs in order to innovate. Research has been done on how to start a LC, however it is not completely understood how it can (effectively) last. This research, funded by the province of South Holland, aims to gain insight into what it takes to engage participants of LCs in the longer term. Our research question is: What factors contribute to sustainable learning communities in the Greenport West-Holland? We interviewed public and private partners (n=10) of five LCs. All interviews were recorded, transcribed and analysed in Atlas Ti. Results show that collaboration between private and public parties is crucial in a sector in transition. Different disciplines come together: technical domains (e.g. robotization), horticultural knowledge, business and educational knowledge. The type of LC matters. The analysis revealed that to sustain the collaboration the LC should focus, among other things, on attracting people with drive and personal commitment to the shared ambition (instead of inviting organisations), should continually work on community building and show intermediate outcomes of actions and impacts. Identified preconditions for sustainable LCs are a good reputation and and long-term (financial) support.
Dit project omvat een verkennend onderzoek dat beoogt de technische route, de scope en de randvoorwaarden van de energietransitie op vakantieparken en campings in beeld te brengen. De sector voor vakantieparken en campings zal, net als alle andere sectoren, binnen dertig jaar nul-emissies van broeikasgassen moeten bereiken. De gemeente Goeree-Overflakkee en de Provincie Zuid-Holland zijn voornemens om een project op te zetten om de voor Goeree-Overflakkee belangrijke sector te helpen de energietransitie te maken. De gemeente en provincie willen graag antwoord op de vraag welke kennis en welke partijen nodig zijn om de duurzaamheidsdoelstelling zodanig in een beleidsproces te gieten dat de belangen van de vele stakeholders in deze sector samenkomen op een wijze dat de doelstelling gehaald wordt.This project entails an exploratory study that aims to map the technical route, scope and preconditions of the energy transition at holiday parks and campsites. The holiday park and camping sector, like all other sectors, will have to achieve zero greenhouse gas emissions within thirty years. The municipality of Goeree-Overflakkee and the Province of South Holland intend to set up a project to help this important sector on Goeree-Overflakkee to make the energy transition. The municipality and province would like an answer to the question of what knowledge and which parties are needed to put the sustainability objective into a policy process in such a way that the interests of the many stakeholders in this sector come together in a way that the objective is achieved.
