Grasping transformative regional development – Exploring intersections between industrial paths and sustainability transitions

Abstract

A comprehensive perspective of transformative regional development is pertinent considering complex present and future challenges such as the climate crisis. Particularly in face of ecological boundaries which manifest themselves in limited resources and result in social disputes, a realistic grip on transformative regional development is of utmost importance. To advance this field, we propose a research agenda that draws on the debates on regional industrial path development and sustainability transitions. We define two core dimensions: interrelations between several industrial paths and interrelations between regions and between spatial scales. We argue that both dimensions need to be considered against ecological boundaries and as embedded in social dynamics. We combine specific questions on these interrelations into a research agenda.

Are peripheral regions in troubled waters for sustainability transitions? A systematic analysis of the literature

“…Blažek et al, 2020; Gibbs and Jensen, 2022; Gudmundsdóttir et al, 2018), which raise the more general question about how to assess the success and failure of regional sustainability transition efforts, and in peripheral regions in particular. This would call for a reinvigorated agenda to analyse with more granularity the nexus and the relations between regional industrial path development, ecological outcomes and sustainability transitions (see also Chlebna et al, 2023).…”

Geographies of green industries: The interplay of firms, technologies, and the environment

“…Indeed, a growing number of scholars are calling for interdisciplinary collaboration in the study of green industries with attention to the complementarities of different theories. As discussed above, some scholars have attempted to enrich their primary perspective with another through synthesizing two theories at a time (see Boschma et al, 2017; Bouzarovski, 2022; Chlebna et al, 2023; Fastenrath and Braun, 2018). However, a framework that considers all three domains simultaneously is still lacking.…”

“…In evolutionary EG, recent advances have enriched this perspective by importing critical insights from transition studies, which have been strong in examining the conditions and processes shaping the emergence of a new green industry (Chlebna et al, 2023; Heiberg et al, 2020; Gibbs and Jensen, 2022). EG has been criticized for being “largely silent on the issues of how and where that novelty comes from, or why one form of novelty gets selected over another” (Martin and Sunley, 2006: 407).…”

“…In addition to self-reinforcing mechanisms, some forms of disruption or triggering events are necessary for a new industrial development path to be initiated (Steen and Hansen, 2018). Therefore, recent contributions (Chlebna et al, 2023; Gibbs and Jensen, 2022) point to the intersections between industrial path creation and transition studies to unpack the process through which actors mobilize resources to trigger the initiation of new paths. This process used to be vaguely charted and not conceptualized in much detail but usually explained as contingent outcomes in conventional evolutionary EG (Binz et al, 2016).…”