This week the International Sustainability Transitions Conference takes place at Sussex University, hosted by the Science Policy Research Unit (SPRU). The event kicks off on the afternoon of 25 August and runs till the end of the week.
Transitions and transformations are a major component of the STEPS Centre’s work, and are the theme of our new book The Politics of Green Transformations. We ask how ‘green’ transformations can be democratic and inclusive, and how they can be realised in multiple places and in many different ways – from high-level negotations to localised action.
Here’s a run-down of STEPS involvement in this year’s conference. If you’re at the event, come along and talk to us; if not, we’ll be joining in the #IST2015 Twitter hashtag. You can see the full programme on the IST conference website.
Thursday 27 August
Structuration and agency
9.00 in Room G31
Andy Stirling and Saurabh Arora will be presenting ‘From multiple levels to entangled streams: dynamics of structuration and agency in sociotechnical transformations’ in session E5.
Transformations in global governance for sustainability (plenary follow-up)
14.15 in room G22
- Chair: Frans Berkhout
- Discussants: Melissa Leach, Ioan Fazey, Adriana Allen
Read: The Politics of Green Transformations
Urbanisation and the Nexus
14.15 in room G31
STEPS members Fiona Marshall and Saurabh Arora will be presenting on ‘The nexus as an ecology of practices in urban transitions’ in session G4.
Low carbon transition in China: prospects, politics and practices
16.45 in Room G36
Convenors: Adrian Ely, Sam Geall, Ping Li, David Tyfield, Frauke Urban, John Urry
- Low carbon innovation in China: from overlooked opportunities and challenges to transitions in power relations and practices – David Tyfield, Adrian Ely, Sam Geall
- Genetic modification and agro-ecology: exploring political contestation around agricultural transitions in China – Adrian Ely and Sam Geall
- Pathways towards renewable energy in China: Solar transitions in the making – Frauke Urban and Sam Geall
- Low carbon e-mobility transition in China: Stasis and dynamism – Dennis Zuev, Ping Li, David Tyfield, John Urry
Read: Low Carbon Innovation in China (affiliate project)
Friday 28 August
Thinking with history about transitions
9.00 in Room 115
Convenors: Valeria Arza, Mariano Fressoli, Anabel Marin, Patrick van Zwanenberg
- A history of technology networks and the Lucas Plan – Adrian Smith
- Technology for autonomy and resistance. The appropriate technology movement in South America – Mariano Fressoli, Elisa Arond
- Building sustainable pathways on the periphery: Latin American thought on structuralism, development and the environment in the 1970s – Patrick van Zwanenberg, Anabel Marin, Valeria Arza
Read: Grassroots innovation: historical and comparative perspectives (project)
Nuclear power discontinuity
11.00 in Room G36
Phil Johnstone and Andy Stirling will be presenting findings from the STEPS affiliate project “Discontinuation Governance (DiscGo)” in a presentation entitled ‘Exploring discontinuity through a comparison of German and UK nuclear power trajectories’ in session J5.
Sustainability transitions in the making: from analysis to action
13.30 in Room 115
Convenors: Adrian Ely, David Tyfield, Micha Narberhaus, Anna Birney
Natural resource industry transitions in Latin America
14.30 in Room 115
Anabel Marin and Patrick van Zwanenberg of our STEPS America Latina research hub will be presenting on “Socio-technical transitions, structural change and development: transforming natural resource-based industries in Latin America?” in session L7
Sustainability transitions and wider transformative change, historical roots and future pathways
14.30 in Room G22
Research panel convened by Andy Stirling (discussant: Johan Schot)
- Pathways in and out of maize production in Kenya – John Thompson
- Pathways approaches to waste and food services in Peri-urban Delhi – Fiona Marshall, Pritpal Randhawa, Pranav Desai, Ravi Agrawal
- Energising communities: a critical perspective on grassroots innovation pathways – Adrian Smith
- Seeds and sustainability in China: the role of regulation in transformative pathways – Adrian Ely
Read:
Pathways in and out of maize (project)
Pathways to environmental health in transitional spaces (project)
Grassroots innovation: historical and comparative perspectives (project)
Rethinking regulation: seeds in China (project)
Public participation, public engagement and transitions
14.30 in Room G31
Chair: Rob Byrne
Book: The Politics of Green Transformations
Multiple ‘green transformations’ are required if humanity is to live sustainably on planet Earth. Recalling past transformations, this book examines what makes the current challenge different, and especially urgent. The book is published by Earthscan Routledge in the Pathways to Sustainability book series.
The book includes chapters from Erik Millstone, Andy Stirling, Matthew Lockwood, Adrian Smith, Adrian Ely, Mariana Mazzucato, Stephen Spratt, Hubert Schmitz, Ian Scoones, Melissa Leach and Peter Newell.
Order the book at a 20% discount online: use code DC361
Read: The Politics of Green Transformations