Sustainable technological development: the making of a Dutch long-term oriented technology programme

How to kick off system innovation: a Rotterdam case study of the transition to a fuel cell transport system

“…The method relates and builds upon existing methods, but combines different elements into a new approach. The developed methodology includes elements of back-casting [13,14], roadmapping [15] and scenario methods. Similar to existing methods, heterogeneous stakeholder participation is a crucial element of the methodology, and a long-term vision is taken as a starting point.…”

Past and future of backcasting: The shift to stakeholder participation and a proposal for a methodological framework

“…Such a view of reality is not a scenario or a product of forecasting, but should be seen as a solid picture that can be accepted by the technological spokesmen right now.' Furthermore, Vergragt and Jansen [27] emphasised, like Dreborg [15] in Sweden, the link with CTA [21], including the broadening of technology development processes with sustainability aspects and the participation of social actors like public interest groups in addition to the traditional participants in such processes. Elsewhere, Vergragt and van der Wel emphasise also achieving implementation and follow-up [28, p. 173].…”

“…Vergragt and Jansen [27], inspired by the Swedish practice, mentioned backcasting as part of the philosophy of the STD programme. They described the basic idea [27, p. 136] as 'to create a robust picture of the future situation as a starting point, and start to think about which (technical and other) means are necessary to reach this state of affairs.…”

“…Participatory backcasting has been applied in the Netherlands since then, first at the governmental programme for STD that ran from 1993-2001 [3,27] and in its EU funded spin-off, the research project 'SusHouse' that ran from 1998 to 2000 [4,5]. Both initiatives focused on achieving sustainable need fulfilment in the far future, using a backcasting approach that included broad stakeholder participation, future visions or normative scenarios, and the use of creativity for moving beyond present mind sets and paradigms.…”

Performative policy studies: realizing “transition management”

“…This allowed a growing policy movement to construct a theoretically supported proposal for a new environmentally targeted innovation policy (Vergragt and Jansen 1993). Technological innovation, and the public support associated with it, was mobilised to promise a shift in industrial production and consumption towards more benign patterns -and this without recalling failed attempts at state-directed technology development.…”