Exnovation: imagining sustainable transitions differently in Brussels
Notes de la rédaction
This is the press release related to the article from Ela Callorda Fossati, Solène Sureau, Bonno Pel, Tom Bauler and Wouter Achten, published on 5 December 2022. Read the article.
The recent turmoil in several Brussels neighbourhoods due to the implementation of the Good Move plan illustrates, among other things, the increasing tensions regarding the ecological transition agenda. This plan sets out the main policy directions for mobility in Brussels and includes measures to phase out the use of internal combustion vehicles by 2035. The idea of an “exit from” refers to a problem of exnovation, a concept which designates the deliberate exit from unsustainable socio-technical configurations of the economy. In the 174th issue of Brussels Studies, five researchers from Université libre de Bruxelles (Ela Callorda Fossati, Solène Sureau, Bonno Pel, Tom Bauler and Wouter Achten, environmental sciences and socio-environmental dynamics) who are convinced of the relevance of this concept, discuss the limits of current transition strategies based on supporting innovation niches and how the exnovation perspective differs from them. They present two emblematic international cases (phasing out of nuclear energy and internal combustion engines), before proposing a systemic and critical reading of the challenges of the Brussels Low Emission Zone in terms of exnovation.
By emphasising the eminently complex, conflicting and diverse nature of these “exit from” processes, exnovation does not simply describe or explain, but proposes a concrete and different way to consider the processes of transition towards the sustainability of socio-technical systems. As the authors explain, exnovation targets both well-established unsustainable regimes (e.g. the automotive regime) and new negative trends (e.g. the rise of SUVs). This perspective calls for the identification of systemic unsustainability problems and the consideration of exit strategies and the principles of democratic planning and social justice which drive them, as well as the uncertainty associated with appropriate policy mechanisms.
In the face of the climate emergency, rethinking the ideas which underlie current transition strategies seems all the more crucial, as the economic, social and democratic capacities of our societies seem to be weakening year after year, with increasing inequalities, poverty, health problems, etc. In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and the current energy crisis, stimulus packages are unfolding, with the risk that they will bail out carbon-intensive industries, competing with plans to invest in the carbon-free, circular and sustainable economy. In light of the cases presented in the article, the concept of exnovation seems to challenge some of the beliefs which underlie the governance of transitions and the role of the state in this context.
References
Callorda Fossati, E., Sureau, S., Pel, B. and Achten, W., “Exnovation: imagining sustainable transitions differently in Brussels”, Brussels Studies [Online], General collection, No 174, 5 December 2022. URL: https://journals.openedition.org/brussels/6327
Contact
Tatiana Debroux, Editor in chief:
tdebroux[at]brusselsstudies.be