Subprogramme 2: Diffusion of Innovations
The research in this subprogramme focuses on the way in which organizations cluster and how leadership emerges in order to foster innovation and diffusion.
Examples of projects
- How citizens’ initiatives reshape urban planning
PhD: Saskia Bisschops
Supervisors: Dave Huitema, Joop de Kraker and Raoul Beunen
Citizens’ initiatives are often characterized as vital for the transition to sustainable urban development. Despite the widespread enthusiasm for citizens’ initiatives little is known about their impact on the ‘rules of the game’ of urban planning. This project aims to unravel how ideas on a more prominent role for citizens’ initiatives are institutionalized in planning policies. The empirical focus is on the comprehensive Dutch Environment and Planning Act, which is expected to come into force in 2021, holding the promise to ensure a more prominent role for citizens. We use a mixed methods approach (in depth case-study, documentary analysis, interviews and a survey) to provide a fine-grained, empirically grounded understanding how planning reform processes evolve over time in continuous interaction between policy-makers, citizens’ initiatives and other stakeholders.
Output
Bisschops, S., & Beunen, R. (2019). A new role for citizens’ initiatives: the difficulties in co-creating institutional change in urban planning. Journal of environmental planning and management, 62(1), 72-87.
Bisschops, S. & Hollemans, D. (2018). Participatie: discrepantie tussen wet en praktijk. Rooilijn. Tijdschrift voor wetenschap en beleid in de ruimtelijke ordening, 51(5), 380-386.