How to achieve
a paradigm shift?
The Transition Model
A Transition Super- Lab achieves a paradigm shift in the approach a region accomplishes a climate neutral transition by following the 4 steps of the TRANSFORMER Transition Model based on the open innovation process.
Click on a specific step to gain more insights!
Strengthening local transition capacity
This first step is a preparatory stage that helps each TSL to create a fertile ground for the transition by consuming the capacities of the local ecosystem and by using common knowledge & understanding of the problems to be solved.
What is the most important ‘topic’ of the region for a fundemental regional transformation?
Transition challenge of TSLs refer to the main difficulty and obstacle faced by the region during its transition period from fossil-fuel-based to zero-carbon local economies. Sometimes this challenge resulted from the need of the region for economic and social transformation and is already predefined in European, national and/or regional strategic plans. However, often transition strategies don´t exist or although they exist, there are different, more urgent transition needs and challenges that are not addressed in the strategic plans due to political reasons and lobbying. Thus, the TSLs need to define their transition challenge based not only to the existing strategic plans but also considering the real needs of the region.
& map their relationships
Who are the stakeholders/civil society groups that can contribute to reach the transition vision?
A coalition is a temporary alliance or partnering of groups in order to achieve a common purpose or to engage in joint activity. Coalition building is seen as the process by which parties (individuals, organizations, or nations) come together to form a coalition. Forming coalitions with other groups of similar values, interests, and goals allows members to combine their resources and become more powerful than when they each acted alone.
Coalition building starts in this first step of the transition process and continues throughout the whole process including the
identification and engagement of the transition-related stakeholders from the quadruple helix stakeholders in the TSLs activities among others. Based on the vision and the pilot use cases, each TSL creates a unique roster of key stakeholders from the public sector, private sector, academia and civil society. For defining the list of stakeholders, it is important to define the geographical area of implementation of the use cases or the geographical area for which impact can be created from use cases implementation or impact can be assessed.
Stakeholders’ relationships should be also mapped in this stage. Usually, their current relationships are considered but it is critical to explore also their potential relationships in the context of achieving the transition (“Don’t think about what you are doing but also about what you will be able to do for achieving TSL’s vision).
The “veto” players need to be identified at this stage. As veto player we may define the stakeholder whose decision has more impact in the achievement or the non-achievement of the goal of a use case. As a game theory term “a veto player is a stakeholder whose utility maximization objective has the most prominent impact on the outcome of a conflict”.
What future do you want for your region? Where does the region need to go?
A vision for Transition Super-Labs is an ideal representation for the future of the region that captures a common understanding of the desirable and transformative direction towards a sustainable society. Vision development is an essential element of the TSL process. It is crucial for achieving long-term transformation because it provides a clear set of goals, direction and alignment and collaboration among the key stakeholders.
& subgoals to reach the vision
What are the options for the future? What are feasible pathways?
A scenario can be defined as a structured framework comprising various feasible pathways aimed at achieving an envisioned vision. It involves considering different possibilities and assessing the potential pathways to determine the most suitable approach. Pathways are specific routes of actions taken to reach the vision with a structured approach. These are defined before the pilot use cases.
What does your region need to have for being transition ready?
In order to efficiently guide regions toward transition, it is important to understand how mature a region already is in deploying innovation and achieving a speedy and successful transition towards climate neutrality. Towards this aim, a region needs to use the a TRANSFORMER Transition Readiness Self-Assessment Tool for measuring its transition readiness through a set of dedicated qualitative questions related to various elements of an ecosystem such as governance & fusion, openness & greenness, transparency and cross-sectorial collaboration, regulations and economy, infrastructure, technology & tools and civil society and stakeholders.
What does your region need to do for accelerating transition readiness?
Through the TRANSFORMER Transition Readiness Self-Assessment Tool, a region will be able to identify its strong and weak points. The identification of the weak points will help the region to focus on the areas that require more attention and improvement during the transition process towards climate neutrality.
to test how pathways/subgoals can be reached
What are the ‘pilot uses cases’?
Pilot use cases are identified as co-created concrete project ideas to achieve climate neutrality and promote systemic transformation. Pilot use cases are developed and implemented with a focus on a regional transformation.
Gearing transition capacity
In this step the TSLs continue the coalition building activities trying to increase cross-sectorial ecosystem capacity towards innovative sustainable sectors.
Why is it important to redefine the stakeholders/civil society group?
Although the stakeholders to be involved have been identified in the first step of the process, it is considered essential to redefine the group of stakeholders that are relevant with the multi leverage ‘’pilot use cases’’. Relevance of stakeholders could be defined as following: Important to secure feasibility, involved at pilot use case implementation, veto stakeholder, impacted by the implementation, transition facilitator. A stakeholder can participate to more than one pilot use case group.
What are the most suitable ‘’pilot use cases’’?
TSLs should select the most suitable pilot use cases among the ones identified in the first step. The selection is based on the following criteria:
▪ Contribution to the goal of climate neutrality (according to agreed visions and scenarios)
▪ Potential for systemic transformation
▪ Regional character beyond merely local solutions and expected value for the region
▪ Experimental and innovative approach (may refer to the pilot use cases’ content or the development process)
▪ Potential for co-creation during the development phase (beyond the initial phase of definition and selection)
▪ Cross-sectorial approach
How feasible are the selected pilot use cases?
As soon as the pilot use cases are selected, their feasibility aspects should be examined. The TSLs should collect the necessary data in order to be able to assess if the pilot use case is worth exploring further. The feasibility study should consider technical aspects including the availability of necessary technology, infrastructure requirements, data availability, compatibility with existing systems, and potential technical challenges or limitations. Along with the technical aspects, the operational feasibility of the pilot use case should be examined, meaning the availability of skilled personnel and the organizational readiness for change. The economic viability of the pilot use case should be also tested at this stage. Through cost-benefit analysis, the TSL would be able to assess both the short- and long-term costs and benefits. By examining potential sources of finances, the financial sustainability of the examined pilot use case can be ensured. At this point, the TSLs should also identify legal/regulatory and socio-economic factors (e.g., citizens acceptance & political support) that may impact the pilot use case implementation as well as define the timeframe horizon.
for stakeholders and conflict resolution
How to keep the stakeholders engaged?
As the participation of stakeholders in the TSL activities is voluntary, TSL should ensure the creation of a value proposition for each of them specifying in parallel the role of each stakeholder in the transformation process. Some examples of roles are the following: tools & data for building common understanding creation, capacity for conflict solving, implementer, conditions creator, one stakeholder mobilizing many other stakeholders in a field.
Additionally, in this cross-sectorial transition, TSLs cannot follow the same procedure for stakeholders’ engagement and management. The role of the “leader” stakeholder able to “govern” other stakeholders needs to be also defined as a category and it is important to define their role in the transition process success.
Accelerating transition through innovation
In this phase TSL stakeholders should collaborate in developing innovative solutions that will alleviate barriers and accelerate transition.
Why is important to define “Quick wins”?
The definition of ‘’Quick wins’’ is a critical stage in this step of the transition process as they build momentum with stakeholders providing an immediate, visible improvement or positive outcome that can be achieved relatively easily and quickly (e.g., a feasibility study). The achievement of positive results quickly builds confidence among the parties involved, and it is more likely for them to actively participate and contribute towards the successful implementation of the pilot use case. In cases of long-term use cases, ‘’Quick wins’’ serve as milestones that require minimal effort and resources and can be implemented without extensive planning. However, they highlight progress ensuring long-term commitment and keeping stakeholders engaged through the whole process towards the achievement of the larger goal. Achieving quick wins enhances the credibility of the project, encouraging further investment in necessary resources, such as funding, personnel and infrastructure. or technology, or effort
towards the transition achievement. Finally, ‘’Quick wins’’ create feedback loops through useful input, and areas for improvement can be identified. Through this iterative strategy, the pilot use cases can be continuously refined increasing the likelihood of long-term success.
Why adopt an international solution?
The adoption of international innovative solutions can accelerate the transition towards climate neutrality as the TSL benefit from global best practices, proven methods, technologies and innovative ideas that may not be readily available within the local context. Moreover, by adopting and adjusting solutions that have been successfully implemented in other countries/regions mitigate the implementation risks. The successful implementation of global solutions to local environments simulates collaboration and knowledge sharing among countries, organizations, and research institutes. This cooperation promotes collaborative problem solving, the transfer of expertise and joint research and development activities. New ideas and solutions could be raised as a result of these joint activities.
Why involve external investors?
The identification of external investors that can support the implementation of the pilot use cases when the traditional local resources are insufficient is considered critical. Bridging the funding gaps during the implementation enhances the credibility and legitimacy of the process and builds confidence among other stakeholders. Moreover, the external investors bring valuable expertise and knowledge from similar climate-related projects, have the power to drive market transformation ensuring the success and viability of the pilot use cases and open new opportunities for partnerships and collaborations that enhance scalability and replicability aspects.
What are the actions that should be implemented for achieving the pilot use cases?
An action plan is a document that lists various measures necessary to realize the vision set by the TSLs and is directly linked with the pilot use cases. A complete action plan should follow the structure below:
▪ List all the tasks that need to be accomplished during the implementation of real-life test experiments and prioritise them
▪ Put a price tag on the implementation
▪ Agree on stakeholders’ responsibilities
▪ Define a timeline
▪ Identify a financing plan
Scaling-up transition
For a transition process to be effective and successful, it is important to secure innovative policy response to maximize implementation and impact of the solutions and achieve full adoption by the citizens.
How to define emblematic transition projects?
As emblematic innovative transition projects are defined:
▪ Large scale projects, or
▪ Projects that have high transformative impact, or
▪ Projects characterized by their potentiality for scalability and replication
Defining emblematic projects in a transition process is crucial as they stand out as a pioneering example of innovation in the process of transition inspiring and motivating stakeholders and civil society. They serve as concrete illustrations of the transition’s vision and goals, aims and targets. Additionally, by implementing emblematic projects, the TSLs can gain valuable knowledge to be used for the refinement and improvement of future actions.
How to maximize impact?
The successful implementation of the previous steps of the transition process ensures the scalability of the use case implementation and the maximization of their impact. Some critical steps that can contribute towards this direction is the development of alleviation policies for the weak points as they were identified during the transition readiness assessment, the identification of legal incentives and the suggestion of new legal transition policies and structural changes.
Is the transition process successful for your region?
This last step includes:
▪ Perform Evidence-based use case Impact Assessment to ensure the sustainability of transition.
▪ Collect data for each step of the transition process in order to quantify various elements that will help us assess at what level the milestones have been achieved (to what extent the structural changes were achieved?)
▪ Assess the usefulness of the tools used in each transition step in alignment with the roadmap and the toolkit