Abstract
In recent years, research, society and industry recognize the need to transform the agri-food system towards sustainability. Within this process, sustainability experiments play a crucial role in transforming the structure, culture and practices. In literature, much attention is given to new business models, even if the transformation of conventional firms toward sustainability may offer opportunities to accelerate the transformation. Further acceleration could be achieved through collaboration of multiple actors across the agri-food system, but this calls for a systems approach. Therefore, we developed and applied a new sustainability experiment systems approach (SESA) consisting of an analytical framework that allows a reflective evaluation and cross-case analysis of multi-actor governance networks based on business and learning evaluation criteria. We performed a cross-case analysis of four agri-food sustainability experiments in Flanders to test and validate SESA. Hereby, the key factors of the success of collaboration and its performance were identified at the beginning of a sustainability experiment. Some of the key factors identified were risk sharing and the drivers to participate. We are convinced that these results may be used as an analytical tool for researchers, a tool to support and design new initiatives for policymakers, and a reflective tool for participating actors.
Highlights
Research, society and industry all acknowledge the need to transform various socio-technical systems towards more sustainable systems
We developed and applied a new sustainability experiment systems approach (SESA) consisting of an analytical framework that allows a reflective evaluation and cross-case analysis of multi-actor governance networks based on business and learning evaluation criteria
We developed an implementation methodology to apply SESA into practice mostly based on reflexive monitoring in action [81] which had already proven its applicability in systems approaches [82,83]
Summary
Society and industry all acknowledge the need to transform various socio-technical systems (e.g., energy, mobility, food, and housing) towards more sustainable systems. Various definitions and terminology about experiments already exist such as sustainability experiments (e.g., [7]), transition experiments (e.g., [8]), socio-technical experiments (e.g., [11]), governance experiments (e.g., [4]) or niche experiments (e.g., [6]). Despite this variation, all experiments have some common characteristics, e.g., a high risk of failure, being small-scale, local or regional, practicing radical innovation, being practice-based and learning-by-doing [7,8]
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