Community strategy for sustainability transition: an evolutionary governance perspective
Kristof Van Assche, Monica Gruezmacher
We lean on recent developments in evolutionary governance theory (EGT) to develop a perspective on sustainability transition that highlights the importance of strategy, collective or community strategy, as merely policies or plans will not be enough. Transitions have to be navigated, policies have to be integrated, dependencies and reality effects of strategy have to be managed. We discuss the development of EGT, becoming more aware of material underpinnings of governance and governance for sustainability, and becoming more forward- looking, conceptualizing strategy as narrative, institution and collection of other institutions. We point at the always emergent character of governance, where entities at higher level develop their own logic, identity, and can stabilize themselves through institutions and other tools. This also implies a new understanding of the concept of the arena, where an arena can slowly become more than a meeting place, a meeting for decision-making, and can become an actor, capable of interacting and strategizing.