Sustainable Coastal Development: Justice, Transitions and the Blue Economy

Dear Colleagues,

While the body of research on socio-technical transitions has grown rapidly in recent years, this literature can be characterised as having an underdeveloped understanding of important aspects of sustainability. To date, issues of uneven development and social inequality have not featured as a core focus of transitions studies. Spatially uneven development patterns, predicated on the availability of resources, arable land, water and energy, as well as institutions and political capital (amongst other factors) influence present day prosperity as well as future development potential. It is now becoming increasingly clear that the potential for sustainability transitions also differs spatially, due to mismatches in resources, institutional capacity, investment potential, etc. In addition, the low-carbon transition raises the prospect of further lock-in of socio-economic deprivation, as those on the lowest means not only continue to face energy poverty issues but are at risk of exclusion from becoming active participants in local energy generation activities and associated wealth generation. The low-carbon transition therefore poses some fundamental questions: Are there vulnerable groups, exposed by transition and policy instruments of transition? How can existing and emerging social needs and welfare requirements be integrally related to real-world environmental limits? What does economic opportunity look like for communities constrained by sustainability imperatives? How can governance responses overcome issues of inertia and path-dependency as well as challenges of scalar and spatial mismatches to deliver sustainable prosperity? This Special Issue invites contributions which examine the sustainability implications of uneven transition processes, which investigate spatially and socio-spatially differentiated impacts of current trends of dynamic change and transition, and/or interrogate the agency and ability/inability of stakeholders to shape transition dynamics. Contributions which engage with the implications of socio-technical transitions for social sustainability are encouraged. This Special Issue particularly welcomes practical case studies and studies of community-driven and community participation in real-world transitions.

Dr. John Morrissey
Dr. C. Patrick Heidkamp
Dr. Trivess Moore
Guest Editors

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• socio-technical transitions
• transitions in practice
• pragmatism and action research
• socio-spatial unevenness
• uneven development
• just transitions
• policy responses to transition
• innovation in policy and planning
• community participation
• community driven transitions