Pathways and harbours for the translocal diffusion of sustainability innovations in Europe

Abstract

Sustainability challenges require experimenting with various types of sustainability innovations. Local and regional context conditions influence their diffusion. Our research question is: what are pathways for the transfer of sustainability innovations to other locations, and how do local and regional conditions enable this transfer? We use the notion of ‘harbours’ to conceptualise the combination of these conditions. In a comparative case study in four city-regions, analysing 48 experiments, we find that technological innovations travel easier around the globe compared to social innovations. For social innovations, the transferred knowledge has a more tacit character and the innovations are strongly embedded in the local cultural and institutional context. Signifiers may enable their translocal diffusion. Moreover, the results suggest that innovations are ‘translated’ rather than replicated. We find some important local and regional context conditions enabling transfer: cultural conditions, vibrant environments (such as festivals), networks and the presence of enabling regional actors.