A practical tool for analyzing socio-technical transitions

Abstract

Understanding socio-technical transitions, let alone managing them, is complicated. This is especially the case for many practitioners, who are commonly not well-versed in the language of transition studies but deal with transition problems on a daily basis. To make the academic knowledge on socio-technical transitions available to practitioners, we introduce the transition model canvas (TMC) as a tool for systematically mapping the key elements, and their interactions, of socio-technical transitions. Based on the business model canvas (BMC) from entrepreneurship and the multi-level perspective (MLP) from transition studies, the TMC is an accessible tool that allows transition practitioners, students, and educators to evaluate and accelerate socio-technical transitions. The proposed canvas also helps further diffuse transition thinking into society and improve the quality of socio-technical policymaking and strategy development.