DOI

Summary
The paper investigates current strives carried out by Germany, UK and the USA in the attempt to govern socio-technical change towards a more environmentally sustainable energy supply. In doing so, the publication adopts the transitions management (TM) concept, in order to compare how the unique features of each country affect the policy design. Proponents of the TM approach claim that it is not a “pre-defined and functionally prescriptive path, but a process of heterogeneous socio-technical path co-creation”. In this sense, TM makes use of complex systems concepts (sensitivity to initial conditions, path dependence, non-linearity, etc.) to elaborate analyses that are explorative, participatory, iterative and reflective of social learning processes. The paper presents the different technical and social issues faced by the countries analyzed and proposes a theoretical approach that is able to keep into account the needs, perspective and expectation of the main actors involved.

Relevance for Complex Systems Knowledge
Differently from other papers, this one does not make use of quantitative data, but it elaborates complex systems perspectives in a discursive manner. The complexity of socio-technical transitions is qualitatively portrayed by representing the political and technical issues involved in the promotion of renewable energies, together with the heterogeneous expectations, desire and behaviors of the main actors involved (i.e. consumers, organizations, communities, householders).

Point of Strength
It provides a comparative analysis explaining the need for ad-hoc policies taking into account the unique features of each nation;
It makes use of a bottom-up approach;
It presents socio-technical transition as a iterative, “trial-and-error”, bottom-up approach.