Where does the green economy grow? The Geography Of Nordic Sustainability Transitions (GONST)

Målet med forskningsprosjektet er å få en bedre forståelse av hvordan grønn vekst utfolder seg i ulike nordiske regioner og om og hvordan deres respektive utviklingsbaner er betinget av eksisterende industrielle, institusjonelle og styringssammenhenger.

For å adressere dette målet vil forskningen bli styrt av følgende forskningsspørsmål:

Hvorfor har noen regioner grønn vekst, mens andre et forsinket?
Hvilke stedsspesifikke faktorer støtter opp under fremveksten av grønn vekst i nordiske regioner?

The aim of the research project is to gain a better understanding of how transitions towards green growth unfold in different Nordic regions and whether and how their respective development paths are conditioned by their pre-existing industrial, institutional and governance contexts. To address this objective, the research will be guided by the following main theoretical research question:
Why do some regions forge ahead in terms of transition processes towards green growth while others lag behind?
Translated into the empirical context of this project, the main research question is:
What place specific factors condition the emergence of green growth in Nordic regions?

The project will seek to answer these questions through a mix of quantitative and qualitative methods. Extant research in sustainability transitions is primarily based on qualitative methodologies. This proposal makes a substantial methodological contribution by conducting on extensive quantitative analysis of determinants of green growth paths in Nordic regions (WP2-3), complemented by qualitative studies on the role of institutional change and policy learning (WP4-5) which become integrated in a final synthesis providing a comprehensive account of new path development for green growth in Nordic regions (WP6).
In the quantitative part (WP2-3), we will provide a systematic quantitative comparison of all regions in the Nordic countries. We will assess the importance of regional characteristics in terms of both human capital and technological specialisation for the greening of the economy. This is important since we here take an economy-wide perspective, and it is well-known (going all the way back to Pavitt, 1984) that the significance of these factors for innovativeness vary considerably across industry types.
In the qualitative part (WP4-6), we will analyse 8 Nordic regions, focusing on the role of actors, networks and institutions. We will investigate the extent to which new green paths emerge in regions where the established (yet non-sustainable) regime is poorly represented. Importantly, the project will seek to account for the diversity in Nordic regional green pathways. This requires attention to low-carbon technologies with different technological characteristics, which may lead to green growth in both urban and more peripheral regions. The empirical research (interviews etc.) for the case studies will be organised horizontally across WP4-6, i.e. interviews in the same region relating to different work packages will be planned with the aim of minimising travel expenses. 4 Nordic regions (Region Skåne, The North Denmark Region, the Tampere Region and Trøndelag), which have all shown a com-mitment to green growth, are predefined case study regions (see letters of endorsement). 4 other regions will be selected based on initial results from the quantitative analysis in WP2-3. Case studies of regions are selected on the basis of evidence of them being able to develop new low-carbon pathways. Selection will also be done on geographical features, like urban contexts (diversified/specialized, organisationally thick/thin) and specific green policies. Particular attention is devoted to the tension between forces of niche-based renewal and regime-based conservation.