Interactions between Niche and Regime: An Analysis of Learning and Innovation Networks for Sustainable Agriculture across Europe

Abstract

Purpose: This paper aims to reveal, and contribute to an understanding of, the processes that connect learning and innovation networks in sustainable agriculture to elements of the mainstream agricultural regime. Drawing on the innovations and transition literature, the paper frames the analysis around niche-regime interaction using the notion of niche-regime compatibility.

Design/Methodology/Approach: 17 Learning and Innovation Networks for Sustainable Agriculture (LINSA) engaged in agricultural food production, non-food and rural development were analyzed. In line with the project's transdisciplinary approach data were collected in a series of participatory workshops.

Findings: Five modes of LINSA-regime interaction are distinguished based on compatibility. The level of LINSA-regime compatibility influences the extent of the diffusion of LINSA ideas and practices into the regime. However, interaction processes within these modes reveal multiple and diverse connections between LINSA and regime entities suggesting a more complex relationship exists.

Practical implications: A range of connecting processes and activities (for example, certification, exemption from regulation, facilitation of networking) can bring about effective LINSA-regime interaction and could be externally supported.

Originality/Value: Empirical evidence from 17 case studies provides valuable insights from a number of different contexts across Europe. By directing analysis of interaction at the level of LINSA (niche project), rather than at the macro level, the study offers an original perspective. It suggests that the transition to sustainable agriculture might be understood as a complex of interactive processes leading to a series of adaptive changes, rather than as regime change.     

The mathematics problem: the construction of a market-led education discourse in the Republic of Ireland

Educational change in the neoliberal state is permeated by the effects of forces from outside the field of education itself. The process of governmentality welcomes, indeed demands, the participation of those non-state actors valorised by neoliberalism as well as government agencies dedicated to the advancement of such groups. Inevitably, the concerns of such organisations become central to how the state sees education. This article traces the assembly of national and international agents from industry, business and special interest groups around the concept of ‘knowledge economy’. It treats this assemblage as an apparatus (dispositif), examining how the construction of an economic problem is brought to bear on the demand for educational change, and how this construction of the problem is used to shape public opinion in order to prepare the public for a radical change of direction. Confining itself to the reform of mathematics education introduced in the Republic of Ireland in 2010, this article traces the emergence of a mathematics discourse focused on market-led education. It interrogates the construction of ‘the mathematics problem’ or ‘crisis in maths’ and argues that the discourse of the present construction is economic in nature, centring as it does on human capital production and market-led reform.     

Global blue carbon accumulation in tidal wetlands increases with climate change

Coastal tidal wetlands produce and accumulate significant amounts of organic carbon (C) that help to mitigate climate change. However, previous data limitations have prevented a robust evaluation of the global rates and mechanisms driving C accumulation. Here, we go beyond recent soil C stock estimates to reveal global tidal wetland C accumulation and predict changes under relative sea level rise, temperature and precipitation. We use data from literature study sites and our new observations spanning wide latitudinal gradients and 20 countries. Globally, tidal wetlands accumulate 53.65 (95%CI: 48.52–59.01) Tg C yr⁻¹, which is ∼30% of the organic C buried on the ocean floor. Modeling based on current climatic drivers and under projected emissions scenarios revealed a net increase in the global C accumulation by 2100. This rapid increase is driven by sea level rise in tidal marshes, and higher temperature and precipitation in mangroves. Countries with large areas of coastal wetlands, like Indonesia and Mexico, are more susceptible to tidal wetland C losses under climate change, while regions such as Australia, Brazil, the USA and China will experience a significant C accumulation increase under all projected scenarios.     

Determinants of success during triathlon competition

Eleven male triathletes were studied to determine the relationships between selected metabolic measurements and triathlon performance. Measurements of oxygen uptake (VO2), pulmonary ventilation (VE), and heart rate (HR) were made during submaximal and maximal 365.8 m freestyle swimming (FS), cycle ergometry (CE), and treadmill running (TR). Submaximal workloads were 1 m/s for swimming, 200 W for cycling, and 201.2 m/min for running. The mean VO2 max (l/min) was significantly (p less than .05) lower during FS (4.17) than CE (4.68) or TR (4.81). Swimming, cycling, and running performance times during the Muncie Endurathon (1.2 mile swim, 56 mile cycle, 13.1 mile run) were not significantly related to the event-specific VO2 max (ml/kg/min): -.49, -32 and -.55, respectively. The VO2 max expressed in l/min was found to be significantly (p less than .05) related to cycling time (r = -.70). A significant (p less than .05) relationship was observed between submaximal VO2 (ml/kg/min) during TM and run performance time (r = .64), whereas swimming and cycling performance times were significantly (p less than .05) related to submaximal VO2 max (l/min), r = .72 and .60, respectively. The percentage of VO2 (%VO2 max) used during the submaximal tests was significantly (p less than .05) related to swimming (.91), cycling (.78), and running (.86) performance times. Time spent running and cycling during triathlon competition was significantly (p less than .05) related to overall triathlon time, r = .97 and .81, respectively. However, swimming time was not significantly related (.30) to overall triathlon time. This study suggests that economy of effort is an important determinant of triathlon performance.     

The 21st Century: The Century of the American Research University

Higher education in America has experienced periodic “inflection points” that have served to significantly alter the higher education landscape and dramatically change the focus and actions of the American research university community. We are on the leading edge of a new inflection point that could be—despite prevailing economic challenges—an opportunity for higher education to meet and address some of the great challenges facing our nation, such as economic competitiveness, health care and health care delivery, and environmental sustainability. These are challenges higher education is, in fact, uniquely suited to address.