Managing stakeholder knowledge for the evaluation of innovation systems in the face of climate change
Journal of Knowledge Management, Vol. 21 Issue: 5, pp.1013-1034
The aim of this paper is to frame the stakeholder-driven system mapping approach in the context of climate change, building on stakeholder knowledge of system boundaries, key elements and interactions within a system and to introduce a decision support tool for managing and visualising this knowledge into insightful system maps with policy implications.
This methodological framework is based on the concepts of market maps. The process of eliciting and visualising expert knowledge is facilitated by means of a reference implementation in MATLAB, which allows for designing technological innovation systems models in either a structured or a visual format. System mapping can contribute to evaluating systems for climate change by capturing knowledge of expert groups with regard to the dynamic interrelations between climate policy strategies and other system components, which may promote or hinder the desired transition to low carbon societies.
This study explores how system mapping addresses gaps in analytical tools and complements the systems of innovation framework. Knowledge elicitation, however, must be facilitated and build upon a structured framework such as technological innovation systems. This approach can provide policymakers with significant insight into the strengths and weaknesses of current policy frameworks based on tacit knowledge embedded in stakeholders. The developed methodological framework aims to include societal groups in the climate policy-making process by acknowledging stakeholders’ role in developing transition pathways. The system map codifies stakeholder input in a structured and transparent manner.
This is the first study that clearly defines the system mapping approach in the frame of climate policy and introduces the first dedicated software option for researchers and decision makers to use for implementing this methodology.
Authors
- Alexandros Nikas (School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, National Technical University of Athens, Athens, Greece)
- Haris Doukas (School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, National Technical University of Athens, Athens, Greece)
- Jenny Lieu (Science Policy Research Unit, University of Sussex, Brighton, UK)
- Rocío Alvarez Tinoco (Science Policy Research Unit, University of Sussex, Brighton, UK)
- Vasileios Charisopoulos (School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, National Technical University of Athens, Athens, Greece)
- Wytze van der Gaast (JIN Climate and Sustainability, Groningen The Netherlands)