Reflecting on a collaborative approach to a regional sustainability transition: Dingle Peninsula 2030

Abstract

This paper uses a reflective method to gather findings with relation to a collaborative governance approach for the sociotechnical transition to a low carbon society in a regional context. As top-down and bottom-up approaches to sustainable transitions have proven insufficient in bringing about the necessary changes required to meet the demands of climate action, more collaborative approaches between local communities, national public bodies and research organisations are warranted. Within this, there is a need to understand the dynamics of collaborative governance for participants in the process. Through a process of reflective practice, this paper outlines the networks, personal capacities, organisational capacities, benefits and challenges of collaborative governance partnerships for sustainable transitions from the perspective of individuals within a collaborative committee working on a regional transition project on the Dingle Peninsula, Co Kerry, Ireland. Alongside this, some solutions to challenges outlined through reflection are highlighted. This research paper highlights the need for the incorporation of reflective practice within collaborative governance for the socio-technical transition to a low-carbon society.

The diffusion of sustainability and Dingle Peninsula 2030

“…This transdisciplinary configuration is grounded within the local community, whilst also having capacity at a national level. From a research perspective the Dingle Peninsula 2030 initiative has been investigated with relation to social network analysis (Boyle et al, 2021a), the engaged research approach deployed (McGookin et al, forthcoming), the collaborative governance structure (Boyle et al, 2021b), and participatory methods for energy system modelling (McGookin et al, 2022).…”

“…On from this, they operate in a communicative role; "as traditional boundaries between actor groups are being eroded or redefined, intermediaries would appear to play an important role in communicating across cultures of compliance (state), of competition (market) and of collaboration (civil society)" (Moss, 2009(Moss, , P.1492. In relation to Dingle Peninsula 2030, the intermediate role is not the primary function, but the capacities of the collaborative grouping (Boyle et al, 2021b) enable it to be performed. This fits within the literature on intermediation whereby the intermediate role is played in balance with other roles and interests (Kanda et al, 2020).…”

The diffusion of sustainability and Dingle Peninsula 2030

“…Our own use of the 'diffusion of sustainability' as a heuristic device for capturing the emergence of novel innovations in sustainability transitions is built upon the SDGs. An SDG framing is used to not only represent social innovations but can look towards technological/infrastructural innovations (SDG 7, 9), environmental/ecological innovations (SDG 6, 13, 14, 15), and institutional/governance innovations (SDG 16,17). The SDGs have been criticised for being hard to quantify, implement and monitor [32].…”

Walking, talking, [Re-]imagining socio-ecological sustainability: Research on the move/moving research

“…From an interdisciplinary perspective, more conventional quantitative approaches like community energy audits conducted by engineers have been augmented by qualitative research approaches adapted by sociologists like Participatory Research, Social Network Analysis and Community Mapping (Boyle et al, 2021). From a transdisciplinary perspective, cross fertilisation and intersections with other research projects like Imagining 2050 , programmatic and pedagogical innovations like the University Wide Module: Sustainability and an interest among staff in the Department of Sociology and Criminology, University College Cork in the development of non-conventional methods and innovative pedagogies converged in the opportunity to broaden and deepen our collaboration.…”

“…The discussion about sustainability competencies (Arrobbio and Sonetti, 2021; Caniglia et al, 2018; Cebrián and Junyent, 2015; Wiek et al, 2011) extended by the United Nations has provided a framework for understanding the needs and capacities required by students for dealing with the challenges of the 21 st century. The use of certain types of pedagogies and teaching and learning approaches and strategies fosters the competencies or skills necessary to deal with sustainability, such as critical and creative thinking, problem-solving skills, action competence, collaboration and futures thinking, therefore creating empowered and globally-responsible citizens and professionals who can become active change agents (Cebrián and Junyent, 2015: 2771).…”