The rate of transition to a circular economy would largely be influenced by how successfully sustainable niche innovation can be developed and adopted. This paper measures and evaluates the ...effectiveness of employing a triple helix-based system intermediary as a policy tool for nurturing a niche innovation network in line with circular economy transition. This was achieved through a complete social network analysis of a national industrial biotechnology innovation network, in which the organization functioning as network manager was innovatively structured as a triple helix-based system intermediary. Through unique access to the entire national industrial biotechnology niche network, a large set of primary data was collected on 13 types of relational ties related to innovation between all 64 public sector, industry and academic niche network member organizations. The impact of the triple helix-based system intermediary on the level of cohesion, presence of cohesive subgroups and centralisation of the niche network was empirically measured. As such, the effectiveness of the intermediary in undertaking key nurturing activities of building the network, facilitating shared learning and raising expectations were evaluated. This allowed for the most comprehensive empirical study to date on a niche innovation network and the role of system intermediaries in circular economy transition. The results of the analysis demonstrate the profound nurturing effect that the introduction of a triple helix-based system intermediary has had on the network. In particular, the results appear to confirm the effectiveness of the intermediary with regards to increasing knowledge and resource flows amongst triple helix institutions as well as between regime and niche actors.
•System intermediation is necessary for nurturing circular economy oriented niche innovation networks.•Niche network cohesion, clustering and centralisation increased from presence of triple helix-based system intermediary.•Triple helix system intermediary expanded niche network, raised expectations and increased shared learning.•Triple-helix system intermediary can broker structural holes between niche and wider regime.
Increasing concerns over climate change have prompted rapid growth of renewable energy over the past few decades, particularly wind energy. However, as the installation of wind farms rises, so will ...the need for decommissioning and analysis of the environmental impacts associated with decommissioning. This paper investigates how Environmental Impacts Assessments (EIA) identify, estimate and manage potential impacts of decommissioning. EIAs from 12 onshore and offshore windfarms consented between 2009 and 2014 in England and Scotland were analysed and compared. Attributes of these windfarms' Environmental Statements (ES) were scored under six categories: decommissioning in EIA stages, definitions of decommissioning, amount of analysis, depth of analysis, impacts identified, and proactive planning. Onshore windfarms generally tended to investigate the impacts of decommissioning less than offshore windfarms, even those which gained consent in the same year. The investigation of the impact of decommissioning improved for windfarms consented in the latter years of the study period. Across the ESs there was a lack of analysis of potential impacts from decommissioning in their own right: not simply as a reversal of the construction process. The impacts of different end of life scenarios were not analysed in any of the ESs studied. There is evidence to suggest the presence of windfarms, especially offshore, could in some cases be environmentally beneficial for certain species. However, the ecological impact of removing offshore structures at the end of life is unknown and is currently not investigated nor predicted in EIAs. Understanding the potential implications of full or partial removal of marine structures, or alternatives to decommissioning, could ensure that appropriate mitigation is considered at an early stage by both developer and consenting authority. That being said, it is also important to update the assessment of potential impacts over the life of the project as more information on the environment is gathered and end of life plans develop.
•Onshore windfarms assess environmental impact of decommissioning less than offshore.•More in-depth investigation of decommissioning impact for windfarms consented later.•Decommissioning impacts not assessed independently: always compared to construction.
In the coming years, an important number of offshore wind turbines will reach the end of their initially planned service life. In a wind turbine end-of-life scenario, owners can decide between ...extending the life of the asset, repowering the site or decommissioning. This decision-making process is affected by important sources of uncertainty, especially in offshore environments. The limited experience makes the decommissioning procedure challenging, as it is still largely unexplored. This work assesses the current state of knowledge about the challenges surrounding the decommissioning process of an offshore wind farm. The four main challenges encountered are identified and analysed in detail, namely the regulatory framework, the overall planning of the process, the logistics and vessels' availability, and the environmental impacts confronted. Ultimately, this paper aims at stimulating the dialogue among stakeholders and raising the awareness of adequately regulating and preparing the upcoming decommissioning of offshore wind farms in Europe.
•Case study land use planning frameworks were evaluated using the Malawi Principles.•The cases present a reasonable interpretation of the ecosystem approach.•Poor consideration of biodiversity and ...environmental limits is a key concern.•There is an opportunity for further democratisation of land use planning processes.
Global land use change continues to undermine the capacity of ecosystems to sustain ecosystem service (ES) flows. Much attention in policy and research has therefore been given to concepts, tools and processes for sustainable land use planning, including consideration of ES and the ecosystem approach. However, there are limited empirical cases or evaluations of ecosystem approach based planning from which lessons can be drawn. The aim of this research therefore was to identify and evaluate existing case study planning frameworks that have the potential to operationalise the ecosystem approach. Based on the Malawi Principles, a new suite of evaluation criteria was developed. This was used to assess case study documentary evidence and evaluate the extent to which the 12 Malawi Principles had been considered. The evaluation also assessed the planning methods/approaches used by the case studies and their potential to help translate the Malawi Principles into land use planning outcomes. Finally, a SWOT analysis was used to structure the main findings. Our results show that the Malawi Principles have been considered across the case studies “fully” or “partially” in 64% of instances suggesting, therefore, that the case studies present a reasonable interpretation of the ecosystem approach. However, poor consideration of biodiversity and environmental limits across the cases highlights the risk of land use management decisions continuing to contribute to the degradation of natural capital.
Strategic environmental assessment's (SEA's) capacity to profile significant environmental effects is thought to help make public-sector decision-making more sustainable. Acknowledgement is growing ...that 'learning', that links to but transcends individual assessments, is a key source of SEA effectiveness. Such learning is largely positioned as wholesome, moral, as 'good'. The Scottish Parliament went further than the European Commission to require all public bodies to engage with SEA. More than 14 years of evidence - including from the Scottish Government SEA Database (an online registry), a survey and interviews - provides a unique opportunity to study the role of learning in SEA. The paper argues that application of SEA requires systematic reinforcement and maintenance of learning. But the learning fostered by SEA is not guaranteed to prioritise or protect 'environment' - for that to happen SEA must also be embraced as disruptor of the prioritisation of economic goals.
The problems of plastic pollution are increasing and have been linked to sustainability efforts. Some communities have tried to tackle this issue by implementing ‘plastic free’ initiatives, such as ...the ‘Plastic Free Community’. Community initiatives foster change and encourage improved environmental outcomes; however, it is unclear if ‘plastic free’ initiatives have the capacity to ‘snowball’ into further sustainable behaviors or if they are a ‘distraction’ from more pressing environmental issues. This study presents the behavioral changes, snowball and distraction effects from the first Scottish mainland ‘plastic free community’ initiative. The pilot study of ‘Plastic Free Anstruther’ (Scotland) identifies self-transcending values and locus of control as important drivers for change, but adoption of single-use plastic alternatives and a ‘single use’ mindset resulted in a limited ‘snowball’ effect. Future ‘Plastic Free Community’ initiatives should focus on encouraging more circular approaches and individual behavior change to reduce waste and improve environmental outcomes. While the initiative resulted in greater awareness of wider environmental issues, additional incentives for individual and business pro-environmental behavior could further improve economic, social and environmental sustainability.
This work presents results from an investigation on the students' perspective of the use of scenario‐based (SBL) e‐learning and their performance in a first‐year core chemical engineering module in a ...Scottish university. SBL is a pedagogy that promotes active learning by bringing to the classroom practical and industrial experience. When combined with online delivery, SBL can be used to increase students' engagement in large cohorts. The scenario developed and used in this work was delivered via the Scenario‐Based Learning Interactive tool. A survey was used to capture students' insights on the activity and the use of the software. These data were then analyzed in combination with students' exam performance. Two cohorts with around 100 students each participated in this study over 2 years (with 91% response rate in the evaluation questionnaire). They indicate that students fully engaged with this form of learning as it links module content with real industrial applications. There is, however, a significant difference between female and male students in terms of the enjoyment they derived from the computer‐based activity with male students preferring the activity over tutorials with opposite results for females. There is no relationship between the perceived level of difficulty of the scenario and the exam performance in either cohort. The majority of students identified that they developed their problem‐solving and analytical skills through doing the scenario activity. In general, the students found the software difficult to use which suggests the need to explore other tools for the delivery of scenario‐based activities.
Small islands are territories that are subject to different environmental, economic and social problems and pressures. Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) is a systematic approach that ...integrates sustainability issues into policies, plans and programmes promoting the participation of different stakeholders including the communities. In this research an integrative review is performed to identify, explore and discuss the academic outlook on sustainability in small islands and SEA in their decision-making context. The study is justified by the pressing need to find suitable responses for integrating sustainability into small islands through the decision-making process. The review was conducted through academic literature that focused on sustainability and environmental assessment in islands from the last 15 years. The documents were analysed through a content analysis based approach where they were coded with pre-determined categories according with the 14 priority areas identified in the Barbados Programme of Action and the three additional priority areas from the Mauritius Strategy for addressing the special challenges faced by Small Islands Developing States. From the review it is understood that it is still not clear what sustainability is for small islands or what is the best approach to achieve it. However, three key arguments, linked with SEA, emerged from the discussion on how to enhance sustainability in these territories (i) change in decision-making paradigm, (ii) good governance and community empowerment and, (iii) resilience. SEA can help to put forward these three “sustainability enhancers” since SEA approaches addressed them, yet, it is necessary to develop or rethink a framework for SEA in these territories, promote SEA research for small islands and stimulate capacity-building.
•Most focused sustainability related issues are tourism, energy and coastal resources.•SEA can help enhance sustainability in small islands by addressing specific issues.•Changes in the decision making paradigm, governance and resilience must be considered.•It is necessary to rethink and develop a framework for SEA in these territories.•Further research and capacity-building to promote SEA in small islands is needed.
Small islands provide an opportunity to influence the debate on Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) towards sustainability, due to their specific natural and human features. The research goal ...was to understand how sustainability might be advanced through SEA in small islands, supported by the development of a conceptual framework and recommendations for its implementation. The framework developed provides for the identification of clusters of concepts linking SEA with sustainability in small islands, identified as being key actors, island cooperation and information exchange networks, and small islands SEA-specific issues. These clusters of concepts are interlinked through the actors in a continuous loop of learning and improvement process. The implementation of the framework is recommended based on different key factors, which derived from the conceptual framework: awareness for decision-makers; empowerment and ownership of practitioners and intermediate decision-makers; small islands cooperation and exchange networks; SEA specific issues for small islands; and, small islands specific stakeholders' engagement (local knowledge). The application of the framework developed was conceptualized for the Azores and Orkney archipelagos due to their well-established SEA systems, with similar legal background – the European Union SEA Directive (Directive 2001/42/EC). In the Azores, the SEA system may promote an easier transition towards new models of thinking, but more challenges are expected for Orkney practitioners and decision supporters which may need to use creative solutions to overcome them. Overall, this research concludes that a mind-set changing capacity is needed, enhancing future practice and influencing different stakeholders for the need of specific small islands approaches. The proposed framework should be adopted as a dynamic tool and adjusted iteratively with practice.
•Explored three key arguments for sustainability in small islands linked with SEA.•Showed the importance of the development of small islands exchange networks.•Encouraged community empowerment and practitioners' ownership in small islands SEA.•Highlighted the need for a systematic engagement and training for the integration of islanders' knowledge.
Strategic environmental assessment (SEA) is undertaken in more than 60 countries worldwide. Support to the SEA process can range from formal legal requirements to voluntary 'ad hoc' approaches. In ...the cases where SEA is legally required, such as in Europe where the SEA Directive sets a framework for SEA legislation in 28 countries, practitioners may engage with SEA but in a reluctant way. This paper reports on a unique survey of 203 key people responsible for implementing the SEA legislative requirement in Scotland. The majority (53%) of the 187 practitioners who answered the hypothetical question 'If SEA was not compulsory, would you do it?' said 'Yes'. However, results suggest that the responses were much nuanced. Practitioners were asked to explicate their reasoning and, irrespective of whether the answer was 'yes' or 'no', common themes were evident in accompanying remarks. This paper enables reflection on reasons for acceptance or rejection of the SEA process by discussing: the perception that a similar process to SEA is already being done, the problem with lack of resources, the call for a 'leaner process' and the difficulties of undertaking SEA when conditions are already determined at a higher 'tier'.
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