1. Politics and governance in sustainable socio- technical transitions Schloss Blankensee, Berlin 19-21 September 2007 John Grin, Adrian Smith and Jan-Peter Voss Willkommen!

2. Some numbers … 76 abstracts received; 16 papers accepted; 365 pages written; 128.000 words 37 participants; 15 countries Systems analysts; political scientists; sociologists; STS; historians; geographers; engineers; business studies Five journals interested in producing a Special Issue – coherence and quality!

3. Objectives Assumption: Sustainability requires structural change to the ‘socio-technical systems’ underpinning many domains of social practice An encounter between socio-technical analysis for governance and political analyses of governance Broaden dialogue in and around ‘sustainability transitions’ literature and, through lively debate, try and develop mutual understanding and generate new insights Three themes: - Engaging with system innovations - Building legitimacy for system innovations - Institutional dynamics and system innovations

4. Process 15-20 minutes per presentation Similar period for discussion on each paper General discussion on theme led by discussants Part of an ongoing process, with more events in the future … framing the governance challenges more clearly and mapping out future research

5. Theme 1: Engaging with system innovations How do agents try to overcome the complexities of socio-technical transformations and deliver strategies for structural change? How does power and agency permeate socio-technical systems and their transformation; how do actors seek to exercise counter-veiling power? How comprehensively do the dynamics of political systems and policy processes effectively construct the socio-technical ‘system’, determine problem definitions, and affect interventions for change?

6. Theme 2: Building legitimacy for system innovations If new cross-cutting and interactive fora are needed for integrated problem treatment, how do these relate to established institutions of democracy? How can deliberative processes contribute to a more effective knowledge base for systems innovation? What are the bases of legitimacy for different knowledge claims about socio- technical systems and for discourses about pathways to sustainability?

7. Theme 3: Institutional dynamics and system innovations If the introduction of new practices is mediated by established institutions, how can these be changed in order to allow for genuine policy innovation? How do institutional path-dependencies constrain more reflexive and deliberative governance fora, and how might they be overcome? What examples of institutional innovation might offer appropriate lessons for the sustainable governance of socio-technical systems?

8. Session 1: How did we get here? Objective: set the scene & map out some issues Introduction and reflections from some pioneers Two cases of application – Finland and Flanders Some political considerations … Dinner