The sustainability transition involves more than just new technologies and fossil-free solutions. In a recent scientific article, researchers examine how adaptability, empowerment, and locally available resources can promote sustainable practices.
When studying sustainability transitions, the focus often tends to be on new technologies. Therefore, researchers at KTH have instead chosen to focus on older sustainable practices, such as cycling. This is explored through three ways that broaden cycling: electric bikes, bike-sharing systems, and bicycle repair workshops.
A Broader Perspective on Cycling
The researchers analyzed how well-integrated these practices are in society and their impact on “conviviality.” This term usually refers to community and enjoyment, but in this context, it also encompasses adaptability, accessibility, and resource use.
The study shows that electric bikes and bike-sharing systems, as they are designed today, have a somewhat lesser impact on “conviviality” due to their reliance on larger technical systems, the need for charging, and limited accessibility. Bicycle repair workshops, on the other hand, which are open and non-commercial spaces where visitors can fix their bikes themselves and with the help of others, are based on principles of inclusion and empowerment, which strengthen “conviviality.” However, the researchers emphasize that these different practices can complement each other and together expand cycling in society.
“Conviviality” Overlooked in Environmental Analyses
In the article, the researchers argue that public actors should work toward creating technical systems where users have influence and control.
– In the rush toward fossil-free solutions, certain other values sometimes get overshadowed, such as who has power and control over new “sustainable” technologies and systems, says Karin Bradley, one of the researchers behind the study.
This perspective can also be used to assess the effects of new products and systems, such as lab-grown meat, electric planes, or autonomous vehicles, says Karin Bradley.
– It captures both how an innovation can reach new groups and promote new uses, but also the extent to which the innovation fosters “conviviality” – something that is sometimes overlooked in environmental analyses, which today often focus on greenhouse gas emissions, says Karin Bradley.
ARTICLE:
Read the whole article here in Sustainability: Science, Practice and Policy here:
Mainstreaming sustainable practices without losing conviviality? An assessment framework based on cycling.
CONTACT:
Karin Bradley
Professor, Department of Urban Planning and Environment, KTH
karin.bradley@abe.kth.se