Title: Institutions for Social Learning Towards Sustainable Development
1Institutions for Social Learning Towards
Sustainable Development
- Bernd Siebenhüner Oldenburg University
2Growing Awareness on Knowledge and Learning
- Policy learning
- Sabatier (1987, 1988) Advocacy coalition
framework - E. Haas (1990) When Knowledge is power
- P. Haas/Adler (1992) Epistemic communities
- Mitchell et al. (2006) Information and/as
influence - Policy diffusion
- Rose (1999, 1994) Lesson drawing
- Tews/Busch (2004) Diffusion of environmental
policy innovations across different countries - Social learning
- The Social Learning Group (2001) Societies learn
to manage acidification, climate change and ozone
depletion - Adaptive co-management
3Defining Social Learning
- Social learning can be understood as
- a process of change on the level of a society or
collective actors - that is based on newly acquired knowledge, a
change in predominant value structures, or of
general belief systems - which results in observable outcomes.
4Approaching collective actors
- No coherent use of the term actor in social
sciences - Actor-centred institutionalism composite actors
that have the capacity for intentional action
(Scharpf, 1997) - Separate or collective control over action
resources - Capabilities to employ resources in strategic
action - Examples social/political movements, political
associations, corporate actors - Management studies Organisations as systems of
coordinated and controlled activities (Argyris
Schön, 1996) - agreed-upon procedures for making decisions in
the name of the collectivity, - individuals that have the authority to act for
the collectivity - boundaries between the collectivity and the rest
of the world
5Defining collective actors
- Collective actors build on
- Membership patterns
- Common objectives
- Coordinated individual actions
- Collectively shared routines
- Authority to act for the collectivity
- Boundaries between the collectivity and the
envrionment
6Forms of Learning
- Adaptation
- change in routines induced by external processes
that do not include changes in the cognitive
frameworks of the collective actor and its
members - Error correction
- Reflection
- change in routines through change in the
prevalent knowledge structure including the
prevalent cognitive frame and the objectives
7Key Influencing Factors
- Existence of effective learning mechanisms such
as regular evaluations, specific committees,
workshops etc. (Poper and Lipshitz, 1995,
Armstrong and Foley, 2003) - Organizational culture (Schein, 1985)
- Leadership to initiate and promote learning
processes (Glynn, 1996, Witt, 1998) - Contextual factors
8Case Study Business Firms
- Case studies of 6 German medium-sized and large
corporations - Selection criteria
- Sustainability related changes in product or
process designs (successful/positive examples) - General sustainability strategies with observable
effects
9Case Study Business Firms (2)
- Medium-size businesses have a higher potential
for radical change than large companies - Reflexion and adaptation observed
10Case Study International Organizations
- Qualitative case studies in
- World Bank
- OECD
- IMO
- GEF
- Treaty secretariats of UNFCCC, UNCCD, CBD, Ozone
- Reflection with resulting change in the internal
structure UNEP, World Bank - Adaptation resulting in the development of an
environmental policy World Bank, GEF - Adaptation resulting in the adoption of new
policies UNFCCC, UNEP, UNCCD, CBD - No learning IMO
11Comparing Learning Processes
- Externally different conditions (orientation on
markets versus national governments) - Both types of organization show reflexive and
adaptive learning processes - Size (and autonomy) helps reflexive learning, but
inhibits implementation of results
12Influencing Factors Learning Mechanisms (1)
- Business firms
- target-driven learning mechanism
- formal communication (manual, trainings) and
top-down diffusion of new knowledge - well structured research development processes
drive learning and innovation - International organizations
- Task force with internal and external experts
(UNEP) - Evaluation department (World Bank)
- Staff retreats (World Bank, UNCCD)
- Workshops with experts (OECD)
- Project reviews (GEF)
- External review through governments/COP (CBD,
UNCCD)
13Influencing Factors Learning Mechanisms (2)
- Any learning process necessitates a learning
mechanism - Actors employ different learning mechanisms that
seem to suit them - Learning mechanisms differ with regard to the
inclusion of external knowledge - Business firms excluding external knowledge
- International organizations including external
knowledge (exception UNCCD Secretariat)
14Influencing Factors Organizational Culture
- No coherent pattern
- Business firms
- Culture matters for learning
- Large firms
- stakeholder demands are taken seriously
- companies in fear of loss of reputation
- elaborate sustainability reporting schemes
- Medium-size firms management commitment crucial
for sustainability culture - International organizations
- Homogeneity and heterogeneity of professional
cultures help learning
15Influencing Factors Leadership
- Business firms
- leadership played in most cases an important role
combined with a participatory culture of decision
making - Medium-size firms leadership of executive level
crucial - Large firms leadership executed by
sustainability units or RD departments - International organizations
- key role of leaders in UNEP and World Bank
- Reflexive learning necessitates leadership while
adaptation can take place without strong
leadership -
16Contextual Factors
- Business firms
- Stakeholder pressures in case of large firms
highly relevant - Markets often hindering than supportive of
sustainability initiatives - Legal requirements partly support sustainability
changes - International organizations
- Pressure from governments or NGOs
- More general policy processes UNCED and Joburg
dynamics - Pressure from within the UN systems
17Conclusions
- Successful learning of collective actors requires
adapted institutional arrangements for learning
(learning mechanisms) - Organisational culture of openness to change
necessary - Learning-oriented leaders at executive level are
called for in IOs and medium-sized companies in
large companies in med-level management
positions - Good learners seem to have sizeable external
effects
18Questions for Future Research
- Do these factors hold true also for other
collective actors? - How do different collective learners interact and
create a societal learning process? - How do different scales interact local, national
and global levels of learning? - How to improve methods and concepts of (social)
learning? - How does learning and knowledge relate to
political power and economic self-interest?
19Thank you!