Sustainability transitions of urban food-energy-water-waste infrastructure: A living laboratory approach for circular economy

2022 ◽  
Vol 177 ◽  
pp. 105991
Author(s):  
Andrea Valencia ◽  
Wei Zhang ◽  
Ni-Bin Chang
Keyword(s):  
Circular Economy ◽  
Sustainability Transitions ◽  
Food Energy ◽  
Water Waste

scholarly journals Responsibility as a field: The circular economy of water, waste, and energy

2020 ◽  
Vol 38 (5) ◽  
pp. 866-884
Author(s):  
Federico Savini ◽  
Mendel Giezen
Keyword(s):  
Circular Economy ◽  
Environmental Governance ◽  
Legal Obligation ◽  
Sustainability Transitions ◽  
Climate Targets ◽  
Regulatory Frameworks ◽  
Policy Program ◽  
Conservative View ◽  
Utility Services ◽  
Water Waste

Responsibilities are a central matter of concern of environmental politics because they underpin regulatory frameworks of utility services. Yet, in scholarship concerned with sustainability transitions and governance, responsibility is reductively understood as a legal obligation or allotted task. Building on an institutionalist perspective, this paper conceptualized responsibility as a field of contention where actors negotiate, contest, and articulate what we define as subjectivist and collectivist responsibilities. Defining and using the concept of ‘fields of responsibility’, the paper analyzes how responsibilities (mis)match and contradict in controversial policymaking around the ‘circular economy’: a wide policy program for restructuring water, energy, and waste utility services and infrastructures in Amsterdam region. In so doing, it reveals the logic of contemporary environmental governance: in approaching climate targets, actors actively take on responsibilities while at the same time maintaining a conservative view of their role and responsibilities. We call these phenomena over-stretching and under-reaching.

scholarly journals Circling the square: Governance of the circular economy transition in the Amsterdam Metropolitan Area

2020 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 11-31
Author(s):  
Erwin Heurkens ◽  
Marcin Dąbrowski
Keyword(s):  
Built Environment ◽  
Production Process ◽  
Metropolitan Area ◽  
Circular Economy ◽  
Regional Scale ◽  
Regional Studies ◽  
Economic Policies ◽  
Sustainability Transitions ◽  
Closed Loops ◽  
Policy Debates

Circular economy (CE), the new ‘buzzword’ in urban and regional studies and policy debates, is about shifting from a linear production process towards a circular one in which the generation of waste is minimised, materials circulate in ‘closed loops’, and waste is not considered a burden but rather a resource that brings new economic opportunities. However, while there is a consensus on the need to facilitate a transition towards a circular economy, the governing of this endeavour remains extremely challenging because making a circular economy work requires cutting across sectoral, scalar, and administrative boundaries. Drawing on the sustainability transitions literature and the case of the Amsterdam Metropolitan Area, arguably one of the frontrunners on the strive towards a circular built environment and economy, the paper seeks to identify and understand barriers for CE transition at a regional scale. The findings underscore the multi-faceted nature of the challenge and offer lessons for the governance of emerging regional circular spatial-economic policies.

scholarly journals Planning of Food-Energy-Water-Waste (FEW2) nexus for sustainable development

2020 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Bowen Feng ◽  
Koen H. van Dam ◽  
Miao Guo ◽  
Nilay Shah ◽  
Stephen Passmore ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Food Energy ◽  
Water Waste

scholarly journals Agency in Circular City Ecosystems—A Rationalities Perspective

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (5) ◽  
pp. 2544
Author(s):  
Antero Hirvensalo ◽  
Satu Teerikangas ◽  
Noelia-Sarah Reynolds ◽  
Helka Kalliomäki ◽  
Raine Mäntysalo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Critical Theory ◽  
Urban Area ◽  
Circular Economy ◽  
Rational Action ◽  
Communicative Rationality ◽  
Sustainability Transitions ◽  
Relational Agency ◽  
Operating Space ◽  
Plural Rationalities

The concept of agency is increasingly used in the literature on sustainability transitions. In this paper, we add to that discussion by arguing that the concept of rationality opens new avenues to theorizing relational agency in transitions toward a circular economy. To this end, we compare rationality conceptions from management (e.g., collaboration and competition) with critical theory perspectives on rationality (e.g., instrumental and communicative rationality). This leads us to develop a typology matrix for describing plural rationalities underpinning relational agency. We illustrate this typology using excerpts from an in-depth case study of an ongoing city-coordinated ecosystem that develops a smart technology-enabled urban area based on the principles of circularity. The first contribution of this interdisciplinary paper is to offer a rational perspective on theorizing the antecedents of relational agency in circular economy transitions, where communicatively rational action enables agency and change. Secondly, our paper contributes to the literature on circular cities through conceptualizing circular transition as simultaneous collaboration and competition. Thirdly, our paper introduces a dyadic perspective on rationality to the literature on coopetition and provides an operating space from which professionals can navigate, depending on the type of coopetitive situation.

scholarly journals Planning of Food-Energy-Water-Waste (FEW2) nexus for sustainable development

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bowen Feng ◽  
Koen H. van Dam ◽  
Miao Guo ◽  
Nilay Shah ◽  
Stephen Passmore ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Supply And Demand ◽  
Clean Energy ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
Environmental Indicators ◽  
Waste To Energy ◽  
System Level ◽  
Food Energy ◽  
Energy Technologies ◽  
Business As Usual ◽  
Water Waste

Abstract It is critical for reliable infrastructure planning to address the Food-Energy-Water-Waste (FEW2) nexus at system level. This paper presents the applicability of the systematic modelling platform resilience.io across water, energy and waste sectors with focus on waste-to-energy pathway, aiming to establish the optimal FEW2 nexus based on economic and environmental indicators. A rich array of technology options, including water production facilities, clean energy technologies and waste-to-energy conversions are evaluated to meet the demand of water and energy (mainly gas and electricity), and the treatment requirement of waste and wastewater. A case study of Hunter Valley, the largest region in Australia, is presented in this study, featuring the supply and demand context of developed countries. A full set of scenarios, including business-as-usual (BAU), water and wastewater, power plant decommission, waste-to-energy and policy intervention, is created to present FEW2 nexus from the perspective of individual nodes and the whole system. The results signal the benefits of biogas and syngas generation from anaerobic digestion and gasification for waste-to-energy pathway, alongside findings in water and energy sectors. The outcome of this analysis can then form the foundation of regional planning involving relevant stakeholders, with the modelling tools supporting scenario evaluation and collaborative learning to reach consensus in view of different performance indicators.

scholarly journals Trading Radical for Incremental Change: The Politics of a Circular Economy Transition in the German Packaging Sector

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Machteld Simoens ◽  
Sina Leipold
Keyword(s):  
Waste Management ◽  
Circular Economy ◽  
Environmental Politics ◽  
Regulatory Change ◽  
Sustainability Transitions ◽  
Incremental Change ◽  
Packaging Waste ◽  
Lock In

Understanding environmental politics is crucial for sustainability transitions. We study the transition politics of the shift to a circular economy in the German packaging sector, particularly the curious case of the 2019 German Packaging Act. While the policy was born out of the unanimous wish for radical regulatory change, all stakeholders evaluate the outcome as incremental. Applying the Discursive Agency Approach and drawing upon stakeholder interviews and documents, we show that stakeholders’ perceived fear of radical changes are critical for transition politics. This fear created a lock-in of two narratives proposing conflicting organizational designs of packaging waste management. While the narrative lock-in could be resolved by trading radical for incremental change, it left many conflicts and challenges unresolved. Our findings suggest that stakeholders’ fears not only prevent radical regulatory change but also create incremental change that may intensify unresolved conflicts and, thus, further weaken the stakeholders’ capacity for future transition politics.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document