Examining innovation for sustainability from the bottom up: An analysis of the permaculture community in England

Maye, Damian ORCID: 0000-0002-4459-6630 (2018) Examining innovation for sustainability from the bottom up: An analysis of the permaculture community in England. Sociologia Ruralis, 58 (2). pp. 331-350. doi:10.1111/soru.12141

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Abstract

This paper applies the transitions approach to a novel food production context, via an examination of the food production side of permaculture. More specifically, it examines attempts by the permaculture community in England to interact and influence the Agriculture Knowledge System of the mainstream agri-food regime. Strategic Niche Management and Communities of Practice theory are combined to examine the ways in which the permaculture community has evolved and has sought to develop its agro-ecology message and influence the agri-food regime. Evidence of second order learning and networking with stakeholders outside the community of practice is limited. A tension between internal activities that reinforce a boundary between the permaculture knowledge system and the wider Agriculture Knowledge System are evident. Some external activities designed to cross boundaries are noted. However, activities designed to translate permaculture ideas into mainstream agriculture have had limited success. There is some evidence of interaction and lateral linkage with sub-regimes to enhance capacity but this is usually in individual capacities. Examining the evolution of radical niche innovations such as permaculture thus reveals the way that beliefs, values and epistemologies make the process of sustainability transition challenging and complex, particularly when different knowledge systems clash with one another.

Item Type: Article
Article Type: Article
Additional Information: This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: Maye, Damian (2018) Examining innovation for sustainability from the bottom up: An analysis of the permaculture community in England. Sociologia Ruralis, 58 (2). pp. 331-350. ISSN 0038-0199, which has been published in final form at https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/soru.12141. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Self-Archiving
Uncontrolled Keywords: Grass-roots innovations; Rural-development; Sociotechnical regimes; Transitions; Agriculture; Networks; Food; Systems; Niche; Management
Subjects: G Geography. Anthropology. Recreation > GE Environmental Sciences
Divisions: Schools and Research Institutes > Countryside and Community Research Institute
Research Priority Areas: Place, Environment and Community
Depositing User: Anne Pengelly
Date Deposited: 01 Jul 2016 11:10
Last Modified: 04 Feb 2022 09:31
URI: https://eprints.glos.ac.uk/id/eprint/3681

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