Bhatia, Riina (Espoo (FI) VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland)
Shaping Post-Growth Futures with STI Policies?
Authors: Riina Bhatia, Nina Rilla, Mika Nieminen, Matti Pihlajamaa
Keywords: Post-Growth, Innovation Policy, Sustainability, New Value Creation
Abstract
Recently, increasing attention has been paid to the type and role of economic growth in sustainability transitions. While some argue the need for green growth, others place emphasis on moving towards post-growth economies. Traditionally the green growth debates have emphasized the role of green and sustainable innovations for achieving sustainability and decoupling economic growth from carbon emissions and material consumption (Asafu-Adjaye, et al., 2015). Rather contrary some scholars argue for post-growth solutions emphasizing the need for a controlled and democratically planned downscaling of ecologically destructive and socially unnecessary production and consumption (Hickel, 2020; Parrique, et al., 2019; Jackson, 2016; Durand, Hofferberth, and Schmelzer, 2024).
At the same time the relationship between innovation policy and economic growth has historically been symbiotic. Increased economic growth and followed welfare have been the major normative premises for justifying investments into research and innovation. Recent openings of transformative, mission- and challenge-oriented innovation policies address the need to move beyond this one-sided goal (Haddad et al., 2022; Schot & Steinmüller, 2018; Mazzucato, 2021; Lindner 2021). Despite this, the ideas of the new openings still seem to operate largely within the current socio-political and socio-economic systems. Many studies are based on assumptions on market economy mechanisms, profit-making and the ability to scale up innovations (whether green, inclusive, sustainable) to substitute unsustainable practices. In doing so, arguably, recent openings in the innovation policy debates do not yet address the question of the compatibility of economic growth and ecological and social sustainability (Moore, 2016). To this end, literature on varieties of capitalism and post-growth suggest alternative forms of innovation as pathways to sustainability (Pansera and Fressoli, 2020). Such forms of innovations investigate e.g., frugal, bottom-up and social innovation, no-low and medium technology, not-for-profit organizations (community, commons and open-source), and alternative forms of value creation as pathways to sustainability (Kerschner et al., 2018).
In this track we ask, is the economic growth, as the major historical premise for innovation policy, compatible with the desire to address sustainability challenges? Is the relationship between them unsettled or do we need both models? What does post-growth mean for innovation policy or is it unrealistic? What would be innovation policy in and for post-growth economies? What role does innovation policy play in post-growth futures? Is there a role for innovation policy in post-growth planning?
We welcome both theoretical and empirical papers approaching these questions from multiple perspectives. They can be related to (but are not limited to) the following topics:
• Background assumptions and logic of different innovation policy approaches
• Potential tensions or compatibilities between various innovation policy approaches
• Innovation and innovation policy from a post-growth perspective
• Studies on post-growth innovations and alternative innovations for socio-economic change
• New value creation models for transformative and post-growth economies
• Impact assessment of transformative and post-growth innovations
• Perspectives beyond Europe and Global North
• Inclusion & diversity in new innovation policy approaches
• Post-growth imaginaries