Transition towards Circular Economy: what are events in the Dutch dairy sector
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2021-07-13
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en
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The earth's life support system will increasingly be jeopardized by the traditional model of consumption and production. Shifting from the current unsustainable linear economy to a circular economy would significantly reduce the negative impact on the economy, society, and the natural environment. The intensive dairy sector contributes to producing adverse environmental effects. Therefore, this sector needs a transition to circular agriculture. Transition studies explore systemic socio-technical changes, but to fully understand a pathway in these transitions, the concept of events needs to be investigated more in-depth. The meaning of events and their role in unfolding transition pathways is still unclear: there is a knowledge gap. This study aims to understand and operationalize the concept of events transitioning towards a CE in the Dutch dairy sector. From empiricism, an answer is generated to the following central question: 'What is the role and meaning of events in the development of transition patterns in the Dutch dairy sector of the agri-food system?'. This research clarifies the concept of events in transitions and provides theoretical embedding of this event concept in transition literature. By means of a case study, interviews with respondents in the Dutch dairy sector are conceived and desk research is performed. In this way, actions in the transition to CE over the past ten years are established. By applying the colligation process from historical sociology, actions are generalized to events and mechanisms underlying the changes can be explained by creating a narrative. The Multi-Level Perspective is the basis of this research that reflects how transition pathways unfold. These events are plotted in the MLP, showing that events are interlinked across different levels of the MLP in sequences that mainly form a top-down constellation in this transition. This research shows that events can be seen as the cumulative consequences of a colligation of successive temporally related actions and reactions to a central theme with the exact nature and impact on the existing socio-technical regime. An event is a complex construct formed by the analyst that occurs at a certain level in society and is time-bound. An event may recur in time, and encourage another event, making events unpredictable and unique. The events generated in the transition to CE, at the different levels, indicate that not enough intense tensions are created from the landscape level, not enough stress is developed in the regime that causes instability and competitive niche developments are left behind. These are not fully developed when the landscape level exerts pressure. As a result, the transition to CE in the Dutch dairy sector is yet not forthcoming. To investigate this transition even more in-depth, follow-up studies are recommended.
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Faculteit der Managementwetenschappen