Transition management as a model for managing processes of co-evolution towards sustainable development

TLDR

Sustainable development demands changes in socio‑technical systems and societal values that co‑evolve with technology, and transition management may represent the sought‑after third way that blends incremental adaptation with long‑term planning. The article presents a practical model for managing co‑evolutionary processes, namely transition management. Transition management is a multilevel governance model that steers co‑evolution through visions, transition experiments, and iterative cycles of learning and adaptation. The model enables societies to transform gradually and reflexively, breaking free from entrenched practices through co‑evolutionary steering, as demonstrated by the Dutch waste‑management transition.

Abstract

Sustainable development requires changes in socio-technical systems and wider societal change – in beliefs, values and governance that co-evolve with technology changes. In this article we present a practical model for managing processes of co-evolution: transition management. Transition management is a multilevel model of governance which shapes processes of co-evolution using visions, transition experiments and cycles of learning and adaptation. Transition management helps societies to transform themselves in a gradual, reflexive way through guided processes of variation and selection, the outcomes of which are stepping stones for further change. It shows that societies can break free from existing practices and technologies, by engaging in co-evolutionary steering. This is illustrated by the Dutch waste management transition. Perhaps transition management constitutes the third way that policy scientists have been looking for all the time, combining the advantages of incrementalism (based on mutual adaptation) with the advantages of planning (based on long-term objectives).