No abstract

Innovations are important for sustainability transformations, yet often prove insufficient for replacing established unsustainable structures. The promotion of renewable energy, for example, has been insufficient for pushing coal out of the energy market. The prevalent “innovation bias” should be overcome by complementing innovation politics and research with a stronger occupation with the purposive termination of unsustainable technologies, products and practices. This article therefore introduces the concept of “exnovation” and discusses the need of, as well as different approaches for, the governance of exnovation processes.

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) adopted by the United Nations provide normative orientation for many national and regional governments as well as actors from industry and other parts of the civil society. There is a growing consensus that the corresponding transformation processes needed – e.g., in the field of production and consumption patterns (SDG 12) – have to be fostered by a corresponding institutional framework. Properly designed experiments that generate a learning system for all actors involved may be an important building block. Based on an interdisciplinary approach, we provide an overview of the various terminologies for experimentation currently discussed in the social sciences, derive common criteria for a broader approach to the concept of “regulatory experimentation” in reflexive governance structures and present a novel conceptual framework for analysing empirical studies of regulatory experiments.

In 2006, the EU adopted the REACH Regulationthe world's most demanding chemicals regime so far. Even before it entered into force, the European Commission declared its ambition to make REACH a global standard, and several authors see a potential for far-reaching influence via the 'California effect', as conceptualized by David Vogel. Economic preconditions are indeed fulfilled with the chemicals industry being highly globalized, the EU as an attractive export market and REACH applying to imports. Following Vogel, firms exporting to the EU might have an incentive to lobby for similar requirements in their country. This article examines whether American chemical producers do, indeed, push for EU-like provisions in the debate on US policy reform. While there is some influence on the US, it is shown that REACH does not (yet) trigger a 'California effect'. The business case does not seem to be strong enough.

Why has the German energy transformation been more successful than the attempted transformation to organic agriculture? Through an analysis of the drivers and barriers of both processes, this article identifies key factors that explain the difference in outcome. It becomes clear: transformation strategies should aim to create regulatory frameworks that make it attractive to invest in sustainable alternatives.This article compares the drivers and barriers of two sustainability transformations in Germany: the energy transformation (“Energiewende”) and the attempted transformation towards organic agriculture which has, so far, been less successful. It is based on two case studies rooted in transformation research. While there is rapidly growing literature on energy, there are far fewer analyses of agricultural transformations. Moreover, single case studies dominate. The cross-case comparison presented in this article is a step towards filling this gap. Particularly in their initial stages, the two transformation processes shared similarities: both systems had been coming under pressure due to environmental crises, grassroots movements and niche developments of sustainable alternatives. However, changes to the regulatory system framework made investments in renewable energy more attractive than in organic agriculture, where the profitability of the transformation is still reduced by significant subsidies for conventional agriculture. Moreover, the energy transformation has benefitted from technological improvements and falling costs, an early coalition of supporters, including business actors, and more recently from a broader societal and political consensus.