Project Description
There has been a growing interest by policy makers and academics in the development of the green economy, defined by UNEP (2011: 16) as an economy that is “low carbon, resource efficient, and socially inclusive [where] growth in income and employment should be driven by public and private investments that reduce carbon emissions and pollution, enhance energy and resource efficiency, and prevent the loss of biodiversity and ecosystem services”. From a policy maker’s perspective, the green economy is increasingly seen as a source of new growth and jobs (While et al. 2011). Regions and cities have begun to position themselves as leaders in the green economy and as destinations for new forms of investment. However, we have a limited understanding of how these developments are occurring over space, nor do we have much purchase on the ways local and regional governments are promoting their green economies or related institutional and governance shifts (Gibbs and Lintz, 2015). Space is important here, not just in terms of providing ‘containers’ for the green economy, but also in order to explore how such developments in turn affect particular cities and regions.
The proposed project builds upon and extends the PI’s research into the interface between economic development and the environment. This research, which has focused on the role of space and place in transitions research, suggests that cities and regions are key locations from which green economy transitions may develop (Gibbs and O’Neill, 2014a, 2014b). Such locations can be classified as ‘transition regions’ constituting sub-national administrative areas, with policies and support mechanisms in place to support green industries, especially for regional innovation processes (Cooke, 2011). This project will deliver new insights into the processes of transition towards green regional economies, through exploring how regional actors aim to bring about such transitions and how the processes of transition in turn affects those places. Thus green economic development may change the nature of places through, for example, widespread adoption of renewable energy technologies, developing community-based economic initiatives or through their self-promotion as key green economy locations. In exploring these issues the project will deliver new theoretical insights into socio-technical transitions research, which has so far lacked spatial context (Truffer and Coenen 2012). In addition to these academic insights, the project will also provide policy makers with much-needed guidance on developing green economy strategies. The project will conduct empirical research through interviews with practitioners and stakeholders in four regions. These will encompass two regions at the forefront of developing the green economy – the city-region of Portland, Oregon and the Province of Styria, Austria – and two regions aspiring to green economy leadership – the East of England, UK and Flanders, Belgium.