Information about

Berlin Conference 2001
”Global Environmental Change and the Nation State”

Berlin Conference 2002
"Knowledge for the Sustainability Transition: The Challenge for Social Science"

Problem perceptions and policy approaches: Market versus State Failure

Current patterns in the production and consumption of goods, energy and services still fail to meet basic requirements of environmental sustainability in both industrialised and developing countries. Although some indicators point to an increasing decoupling of economic growth from environmental degeneration, most observers agree that this is not sufficient for sustainable economic and environmental conditions. A more comprehensive industrial transformation towards sustainability is hence needed, in particular in the richer countries of the North. But what forms of governance are likely to pave the way for such transformation?

Some scholars view market failure as the chief cause of the problem. Therefore, they see the state as the appropriate actor with sufficient capacity and legitimacy to correct these failures. Others argue, however, that in addition to market failures, the limited capacities of governments to intervene in market activities are part of the problem. They claim that ‘state failure’ results from conflicting policy objectives for governments to protect the environment and to further economic growth and employment at the same time. As a result of this, new concepts and strategies have been proposed that try to get beyond this antagonism of market and state failure. Yet it is open if these strategies are likely to bring about the necessary changes.

Thematic Outline

The 2003 Berlin Conference aims to bring together new and innovative research — in particular with an empirical emphasis — that indicates possible pathways for the successful governance of industrial transformation processes, addressing

• History: What were the driving forces in cases of a successful management of industrial transformation or the stimulation of ecologically friendly innovations and markets?
   
• Foresight: What methods and which indicators are necessary and available to forecast future patterns of production in order to devise and implement appropriate policies as early as possible?
   
• Scope: Are efficiency improvements as a result of modernisation processes a sufficient condition for industrial transformation? What policies are required to stimulate more radical or disruptive policies?
   
• New Generation of Strategies and Instruments: In how far are evolutionary strategies such as strategic niche management, transition management or time strategies likely to bring about the necessary changes? Are the so-called 3rd generation instruments that build on collaboration and information likely to contribute to the required changes?
   
• Multi-actor and multi-level Governance: What institutions, actors, strategies, instruments are most likely to bring forward substantial changes in the relationships between societies and the natural environment and how can the different levels from global to regional be co-ordinated?