MIoIR recently had the pleasure of welcoming Dr Florian Kern, Head of the Research Group on Ecological Economics and Environmental Policy at the Institute for Ecological Economy Research (IÖW) in Berlin, and Chair of the Sustainability Transitions Research Network.

Supporting sustainability transitions through policy mixes

The notion of ‘policy mixes’ has gained traction within innovation studies since the early 2000s, referring to what researchers and policymakers recognised as increasingly complex portfolios of innovation policy measures, often involving multiple types of policy instrument, originating from multiple different actors and levels of governance (Flanagan et al, 2011). Within sustainability transitions research, policy mixes have come to be seen as crucial to the trajectory of transition processes, as complex webs of interacting policies can help or hinder transition processes, and a growing body of work has sought to adopt and adapt the idea within transitions research over the last decade (Kivimaa and Kern, 2016; Rogge and Reichardt, 2016; Kern et al, 2019; Kaljonen et al, 2024).

Dr Kern set out how work on policy mixes has developed within sustainability transitions research, which has incorporated insights from work on transformative policy, system failures, and, crucially, directionality. Consistent with the field’s wider inclinations, transitions research on policy mixes is often longitudinal, investigating the processes through which policies emerge, with attention given to path dependencies and policy layering. Policy mixes for transitions also attend to the decline, phase-out or ‘exnovation’ aspect of transition processes, rather than focusing exclusively on innovation and the construction of new systems. Major questions underpinning such work include: what does an ‘optimal’ policy mix look like for transitions? Can such mixes be designed, and if so how? And how can we better understand how policies emerge in the real world, particularly in multi-level settings and between the multitude of actors involved?

Dr Kern also relayed findings from several projects within which policy mixes were a core component, including in connection with European food policy and German hydrogen production. This included a discussion of policy mapping, involving the identification of relevant policy materials and analysis in terms of actors, instrument types and the impact on transition dynamics, as well as work to relate such policy mapping exercises to analyses of the strategies of different actors within the system.

Empirical work on real-world policy mixes indicates that they often fall short of what is needed, whether in terms of consistency, coherence, or credibility. Dr Kern’s work drew attention to a variety of shortcomings of existing policy mixes, including their reliance on incrementalist (rather than transformative) measures, a lack of instruments aimed at influencing the actions of influential corporate actors, the absence of cohesive overarching visions or sense of directionality, and the limited attention given to destabilising business as usual ways of operating. Furthermore, even the best laid policy plans can be derailed by world events, the volatile macro-political climate, or forms of ‘backlash’, reinforcing the need to adopt longitudinal approaches which can accommodate forms of feedback.

The ensuing discussion and Q&A session spanned a range of topics, including questions of how to sensibly scope analysis of policy mixes, the possibilities for ‘policy patching’, the roles of different actors as drivers of policy coherence, and avenues for further work, such as the need for more ex post analyses of policy mix outcomes, and how to treat policy mix in political contexts other than liberal democracies.

ECR Discussion Panel

The discussion continued in a subsequent session with early career and doctoral researchers, as well as several senior MIoIR colleagues, in which Dr Kern discussed his own career path, the evolution of sustainability transitions as a field, and the STRN as a growing and increasingly professionalised organisation. Dr Kern highlighted numerous opportunities to engage and network in person with scholars in the field – a critically important component of early career development – in the shape of the Network for Early Career Researchers in Sustainability Transitions (NEST) (which will host its 2025 Conference in Brighton in May), the International Sustainability Transition Conference (IST) (next happening in Lisbon in June), as well as recurring methods schools that occur within the network. Dr Kern also cited the benefits of having a ‘home’ for publishing transitions research in the form of the journal Environmental Innovations and Societal Transitions (EIST), which has built up a good reputation, has a good impact factor, and also provides substantive feedback on submissions. Before closing, the group also discussed the career possibilities for transitions researchers in non-academic environments, including in consulting, NGOs, parts of the civil service, and certain segments of industry.

The MIoIR extends its sincere thanks to Dr Kern both for his presentation and for his insights into academic careers and the field of sustainability transitions research, and we look forward to future encounters through the STRN and in other fora.

About the author:

John Andrews is a doctoral researcher at Alliance Manchester Business School working on sustainable food system transitions, with a focus on veganism and ‘alternative proteins’. He is particularly interested in the intersection of sustainability transitions and social movement studies.

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