TY - JOUR

T1 - Learning through evaluation

T2 - A tentative evaluative scheme for sustainability transition experiments

AU - Lüderitz, Christopher

AU - Schäpke, Niko

AU - Wiek, Arnim

AU - Lang, Daniel J.

AU - Bergmann, Matthias

AU - Bos, Joannette J.

AU - Burch, Sarah

AU - Davies, Anna

AU - Evans, James

AU - König, Ariane

AU - Farrelly, Megan A.

AU - Forrest, Nigel

AU - Frantzeskaki, Niki

AU - Gibson, Robert B.

AU - Kay, Braden

AU - Loorbach, Derk

AU - McCormick, Kes

AU - Parodi, Oliver

AU - Rauschmayer, Felix

AU - Schneidewind, Uwe

AU - Stauffacher, Michael

AU - Stelzer, Franziska

AU - Trencher, Gregory

AU - Venjakob, Johannes

AU - Vergragt, Philip J.

AU - von Wehrden, Henrik

AU - Westley, Frances R.

PY - 2017/12/15

Y1 - 2017/12/15

N2 - Transitions towards sustainability are urgently needed to address the interconnected challenges of economic development, ecological integrity, and social justice, from local to global scales. Around the world, collaborative science-society initiatives are forming to conduct experiments in support of sustainability transitions. Such experiments, if carefully designed, provide significant learning opportunities for making progress on transition efforts. Yet, there is no broadly applicable evaluative scheme available to capture this critical information across a large number of cases, and to guide the design of transition experiments. To address this gap, the article develops such a scheme, in a tentative form, drawing on evaluative research and sustainability transitions scholarship, alongside insights from empirical cases. We critically discuss the scheme's key features of being generic, comprehensive, operational, and formative. Furthermore, we invite scholars and practitioners to apply, reflect and further develop the proposed tentative scheme - making evaluation and experiments objects of learning.

AB - Transitions towards sustainability are urgently needed to address the interconnected challenges of economic development, ecological integrity, and social justice, from local to global scales. Around the world, collaborative science-society initiatives are forming to conduct experiments in support of sustainability transitions. Such experiments, if carefully designed, provide significant learning opportunities for making progress on transition efforts. Yet, there is no broadly applicable evaluative scheme available to capture this critical information across a large number of cases, and to guide the design of transition experiments. To address this gap, the article develops such a scheme, in a tentative form, drawing on evaluative research and sustainability transitions scholarship, alongside insights from empirical cases. We critically discuss the scheme's key features of being generic, comprehensive, operational, and formative. Furthermore, we invite scholars and practitioners to apply, reflect and further develop the proposed tentative scheme - making evaluation and experiments objects of learning.

KW - Transdisciplinary studies

KW - Analytical-evaluative framework

KW - Real-world laboratories

KW - Sustainability assessment

KW - Sustainability transformation

KW - Sustainability transition experiments

KW - Transition labs

KW - Sustainability transformation

KW - Analytical-evaluative framework

KW - Transition labs

KW - Real-world laboratories

KW - Sustainability assessment

KW - Sustainability transition experiments

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84995542947&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1016/j.jclepro.2016.09.005

DO - 10.1016/j.jclepro.2016.09.005

M3 - Journal articles

AN - SCOPUS:84995542947

VL - 169

SP - 61

EP - 76

JO - Journal of Cleaner Production

JF - Journal of Cleaner Production

SN - 0959-6526

ER -