Managing Societal Transitions. Dilemmas and Uncertainties. The Dutch energy case-study

Abstract

System innovation offers a route for achieving sustainability benefits. This requires the management of processes of evolution and orientation of private and public actors to transition goals. Ideas about how to manage transition processes are worked out into a model for governance, called transition management. Transition management tries to orient existing dynamics towards transition goals chosen by society. Through its focus on long term goals of sustainability and its attention to dynamics it aims to overcome the conflict between long-term ambition and short-term concerns. Key elements are the formulation of a transition goal and the use of process management based on a philosophy of learning-by-doing and doing-by-learning. Actual policies and goals are evaluated in development rounds. Dutch environmental policy makers have adopted the model of transition management, developed by the authors, as a model for working towards a transition in energy, agriculture and transport. In this paper, the model of transition management is described and worked out for the case of a low-emission energy supply system.