Towards sustainability in the port sector: The role of intermediation in transition work

Abstract

• Relies on survey data to explore intermediation and transition work in Norwegian ports. • Transition work contains both processual and outcome dimensions. • Intermediation emerges through relations with surroundings and port owners. • Intermediation is associated with more progressive transition work. • Quantitative approaches allow testing the empirical applicability of theoretical constructs. Intermediation has received substantial attention from transition scholars. Intermediaries play important roles in configuring, brokering, and facilitating transition efforts and operate in different parts of socio-technical systems. Their node position between transport and energy systems makes port authorities a potentially crucial intermediary in transitioning the many different sectors that intersect in ports. Ports are increasingly orienting their environmental endeavours towards energy issues and are pressured to reduce their global emissions. This paper explores intermediation in ports and investigates how intermediation connects to transition work. Based on a quantitative survey among 96 Norwegian ports, we find that ports engage in intermediation to varying extent, and that intermediation is associated with progressive transition work. The study complements previous research on intermediaries by conceptualising and quantitatively measuring transition work, allowing us to explore in what ways ports rely on intermediation in their sustainability endeavours.