Facilitating the decline of unsustainable urban infrastructure. Two kinds of process bring sustainable socio-technical practices into the mainstream: those supporting adoption of alternatives (much studied already), and those facilitating decline of superseded practices (seriously neglected so far). Exposing that second and less visible side of the coin, this research aims to develop a more holistic and balanced theory than current advocacy-based accounts of urban infrastructure change, and insi ....Facilitating the decline of unsustainable urban infrastructure. Two kinds of process bring sustainable socio-technical practices into the mainstream: those supporting adoption of alternatives (much studied already), and those facilitating decline of superseded practices (seriously neglected so far). Exposing that second and less visible side of the coin, this research aims to develop a more holistic and balanced theory than current advocacy-based accounts of urban infrastructure change, and insights into the 'interface' between discarding the old and adopting the new. To complement theory, it aims to offer the first empirical study of processes that weaken old paradigms. Outcomes are expected to include a new research agenda and a practitioner toolkit for addressing institutional barriers to sustainability transitions.Read moreRead less
The actor and institutional dynamics in emerging socio-technical transitions. The project addresses the translation of environmental resource policies to widespread practice in the face of institutional inertia. The outcome informs the design of policy mechanisms for enabling the emergence and mainstreaming of alternative resource technologies and consolidates Australia's leadership in urban water resource management.