Michael Søgaard JørgensenAalborg University, Copenhagen, Denmark · Center for Design, Innovation and Sustainable Transition, Department of Development and Planning
Michael Søgaard Jørgensen
MSc, PhD Dr hc
About
86
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1,659
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Citations since 2017
Introduction
Research in sustainable innovation and sustainable transition. Research in science, technology and democracy. Research in workplace development and democracy.
Additional affiliations
January 1989 - August 2012
Publications
Publications (86)
To reduce embodied emissions and waste in renovation projects, new resource efficient and low waste construction processes are needed. One possible solution to reduce waste at the construction can be made-to-order (MTO) customisation of standard products that are delivered in the right size and quantity. A key construction process in renovation pro...
Sustainable transitions typically require collaboration between multiple actors in the value chain or value network. Recent research has emphasized mapping of stakeholders and values as a starting point for identifying opportunities to realign these relationships, followed by business model experimentation to enable change. However, a simple mappin...
This report describes the conceptual framework for youth involved citizen social science in the YouCount project. Moreover, the report presents the use of citizen social science as a mean for social innovation, highlights the dialogical framework for co-creative youth citizen social science, explores the conceptual and methodological framework for...
Despite the spread of policy and business initiatives aiming at transitioning to a Circular Economy (CE), the concept is criticized in the scientific literature for its lack of emphasis on social contexts. Implementing CE initiatives to production systems can indeed lead to “unintended side effects,” that is, both rebound effects and other indirect...
This paper responds to the need in innovation research for conceptual clarity and solid theory on social innovation (SI). The paper conceptualizes SI as changing social relations, involving new ways of doing, knowing, framing and organizing, and theorizes transformative social innovation (TSI) as the process of SI challenging, altering, or replacin...
Social innovation is on the rise as a mode of governance through which to address societal challenges. Seeking to empower SI initiatives, researchers and policy makers are concerned with the development of supportive “ecosystems”. This concept usefully calls attention to the distributed nature of SI agency, but many questions remain on the kinds of...
This article responds to increasing public and academic discourses on social innovation, which often rest on the assumption that social innovation can drive societal change and empower actors to deal with societal challenges and a retreating welfare state. In order to scrutinise this assumption, this article proposes a set of concepts to study the...
Some see universities as a possible source of solutions to enable a sustainable transition and overcome societal challenges. Findings from three multisite case studies of Desis Labs, FabLabs, and Science Shops shed light on how universities can help empower communities and solve societal challenges locally. Adopting a sociotechnical and flat relati...
This paper builds on the following research questions: 1)How is circular economy imagined in the academic literature in support of sustainability transitions in European cities? 2)How do European cities imagine circular economy as a knowable object of governance? 3)How can the circular economy imaginary be an opportunity for socially inclusive and...
Linear and circular economy. CE concept as slowing, narrowing and closing. Experiences from cities and businesses
Social innovation is on the rise as a mode of governance through which to address societal challenges. Seeking to empower SI initiatives, researchers and policy makers are concerned with the development of supportive ‘ecosystems’. This concept usefully calls attention to the distributed nature of SI agency, but many questions remain on the kinds of...
Circular economy is currently getting a lot of attention among businesses as environmental strategy, because it is said to be restorative and regenerative by design. However, circular economy is not without shortcomings as strategy for sustainable development. A circular economy with main focus on closing material flows through recycling has limite...
Project experiences with slowing and narrowing resource flows as part of circular economy business strategies
Our methodological approach to development of circular economy options in businesses
Three types of re-design processes are described in the development of circular economy options in businesses: 1) Re-design of the provided services considering changes in the roles of products, users, service, infrastructure, etc.; 2) Re-design of the value chain relations up-stream to suppliers and down-stream to customers and users; 3) Redesign...
Considering that it is important for the social innovation research field to confront its methodological challenges, this contribution addresses the challenge of choosing appropriate units of analysis. Invoking insights from actor-network theory, it is demonstrated that this challenge is pervasive: the agency in social innovation processes is distr...
An updated version of this working paper has been published in the 'Research Policy' journal (2020).
Pel, B., Haxeltine, A., Avelino, F., Dumitru, A., Kemp, R., Bauler, T., Kunze, I., Dorland, J., Wittmayer, W. & Jørgensen, M. S. (2020), Towards a theory of Transformative Social Innovation: a relational framework and 12 propositions, Research Pol...
Strategic orientation and priority setting in energy planning are high on the political agenda in Denmark due to the ambitious national goal of fossil-free energy systems. One key issue concerns the involvement of stakeholders – and non-expert stakeholders in particular – in discussions on how to increase wind power installations (see also the cont...
The article discusses transition dynamics towards a Danish low-carbon society based on studies of energy production and consumption. This article shows how the Arena of Development and policy mix approaches may inform the analysis of system transition to a low carbon society. The Arena of Development approach is an actor-centred approach that focus...
This deliverable is the synthesis report of work package 5 ‘Cases and Evidence – Meta analysis’. It presents the results of the meta-analysis of TSI propositions through the Critical Turning Points database. This database contains 65 local manifestations of transnational social innovation networks in 28 different countries, and almost 400 in-depth...
Social innovation is increasingly believed to have a great potential for addressing persistent societal challenges such as sustainability, social inclusion, democratization and deprivation. We understand transformative social innovation (TSI) as social innovation that is aimed to challenge, alter, replace or provide alternatives to dominant institu...
Danish bioenergy controversies are analysed from a sustainable transition perspective and as a case on industrialized societies’ use of bioenergy as part of the transition away from an energy system built on fossil energy. The analyses are based on the concept of Arena of Development for analyses of how actors are interacting and shaping controvers...
Danish bioenergy controversies are analysed from a sustainable transition perspective and as a case on industrialized societies’ use of bioenergy as part of the transition away from an energy system built on fossil energy. The analyses are based on the concept of Arena of Development for analyses of how actors are interacting and shaping controvers...
The paper analyses contemporary Danish experiences with policy development targeting sustainable development within the interaction between climate, energy and land use.
Based on examples from research and innovation within nanotechnology, housing, bioenergy, and clothing the complexity of environmental innovation is discussed. A model for a more holistic approach to environmental innovation, which can be used both as part of innovation processes and for analyses of previous innovation processes, is developed. The...
Purpose
USEtox is a scientific consensus model for assessing human toxicological and ecotoxicological impacts that is widely used in life cycle assessment (LCA) and other comparative assessments. However, how user requirements are met has never been investigated. To guide future model developments, we analyzed user expectations and experiences and...
'The ten national foresight case studies presented, covering a wide-ranging set of themes (research, science and technology, education and training and the environment) and countries, help to underline the practical aspects of using dialogue and participation effectively in foresight exercises. The book is particularly useful in defining the concep...
Based on the approach of 'arena of development' controversies over bioenergy in the shaping of a Danish climate strategy are analyzed as a contribution to a sustainable transition perspective on bioenergy in industrialized societies with substantial agricultural production. Bioenergy plays a prominent role in several Danish climate and energy plans...
The article analyses environmental impacts from production and consumption of clothing in Denmark based on 10 business case studies, an ethnographic study of clothing practices among a group of young women, and a statistical analysis of clothing consumption. The environmental strategies and impacts are shaped by the businesses' on-going interpretat...
Based on the approach of 'arena of development' controversies over bioenergy in the shaping of a Danish climate strategy are analyzed as a contribution to a sustainable transition perspective on bioenergy in industrialized societies with substantial agricultural production. Bioenergy plays a prominent role in several Danish climate and energy plans...
In this paper we argue that existing institutional systems for controlling global production chains of hazardous products have mainly focused on suppliers' conduct, production management and trade, but not given enough attention to the use of such products, especially in Institutionally Vulnerable Countries (IVCs).
The paper is based on a variety...
Sustainable buildings have often been niche products, but in recent years a new approach has emerged in Denmark aimed at mainstreaming and normalizing this mode of construction and seeking to attract ordinary Danes through market conditions. The aim is to present an alternative conceptualization of sustainable buildings to the ecocommuni-ties' visi...
The report presents the results of the evaluation in the Obesity Governance project
WP5 of best practices in EU27 and Norway. The aim of the analysis is to:
Describe and evaluate best practices in Europe in a governance perspective
Develop a framework for benchmarking of industrial and governance
initiatives:
Discuss the transferability to o...
The aim of this article is to analyse the social shaping of worksite food interventions at two Danish worksites. The overall aims are to contribute first, to the theoretical frameworks for the planning and analysis of food and health interventions at worksites and second, to a foodscape approach to worksite food interventions.
The article is based...
This publication, D9 of work package 5 (WP5) of the Obesity Governance project,
presents a tool, which can be used for planning and analyses of obesity governance
initiatives.WP5 has the following objectives:
Describe and evaluate best practices in Europe of reformulation of
manufactured food in a governance perspective
Develop a framework for...
Purpose
– The purpose of this paper is to review national experiences and policy initiatives within worksite eating in four Nordic countries, in order to compare the experiences and identify important lessons and needs for future research, experiments and governmental regulation.
Design/methodology/approach
– The paper is based on national reviews...
The paper deals with the shaping of the participation of employees in environmental work within enterprises. The paper is based on two case studies on Danish enterprises, which, as part of the development of their environmental work, emphasized employee involvement. The cases show that it is difficult to maintain the participation of employees in e...
Background, aim and scopeA relatively broad consensus has formed that the purpose of developing and using the social life cycle assessment (SLCA) is
to improve the social conditions for the stakeholders affected by the assessed product’s life cycle. To create this effect,
the SLCA, among other things, needs to provide valid assessments of the conse...
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to analyse environmental responsibility of companies from industrialized countries when they source materials and products in countries with less environmental protection.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper is a study of corporate environmental management in the Danish textile and clothing sector, with 13 ca...
For more than two decades a number of frameworks for scientific knowledge production are being proposed by science and technology researchers. They all advocate an extended involvement of non-specialists, in particular when it comes to knowledge production applicable to practical societal problems.We look to what extent these new frameworks have ta...
Background, aim, and scopeMethodology development should reflect demands from the intended users: what are the needs of the user group and what is feasible
in terms of requirements involving data and work? Mapping these questions of relevance and feasibility is thus a way to facilitate
a higher degree of relevance of the developed methodology. For...
High tech visions play an important part in public technology policy and are often promoted through technology foresights. The article presents and analyses results from a green technology foresight of nano-, bio- and information- and communication technologies initiated by the Danish Environmental Protection Agency with the purpose of acquiring kn...
The social shaping of technology (SST) approach has been developed as a response and extension to the ideas of techno-economic rationality and linear conceptions of technology development and its consequences. The SST approach seems especially promising in areas of technology where visions are manifold, societal interests conflicting, and applicati...
The product chain — the chain of interacting suppliers and customers, which together make up the activities from raw material extraction to handling of waste connected to a product — plays an important role in the shaping and management of environmental aspects connected to the production and consumption of a product, for example, a piece of clothi...
This paper is based on a survey of Danish literature about worksite eating carried out as a part of the project 'Food at work around the clock?' by Lunds University and Technical University of Denmark and financed by Øresund Food Network. The focus has especially been on the relations between work and diet and the experiences with promotion of heal...
Traditional forms of representative democracy are being supplemented by “dual
governance” and “self regulation” approaches in which the food sector is expected to
engage in preventive measures. In order to explore the nature of this type of
engagement in the Danish food sector, a study based on telephone interviews was
conducted among Danish food s...
Retted hemp fibres were treated using chemical–physical pre-treatments and the material was characterised chemically in order to evaluate the effect of the pre-treatments, respectively, wet oxidation (WO), hydrothermal treatment (HT) and steam explosion (STEX). Process variables were addition of base and oxidant. These treatments were performed to...
Science Shops as a way of transferring knowledge are innovative and effective and have a positive impact both on universities and on the civil society. Most Science Shops are linked to universities and use the work of students under appropriate supervision to respond to the civil society (mostly NGOs) needs. This provides a symbiotic relationship b...
The concept of life cycle assessment (LCA) is build upon the object of assessment, namely the functional unit, i.e. all impacts etc. are related to a specific service or function in the society. In a LCA context, the assessment of emerging technologies like Nanotechnology is challenging due to a number of knowledge gaps. It may not be known exactly...
The social shaping of technology approach (SST) has developed as a response to narrow ideas of techno-economically rationality and linear conceptions of technology development a nd its consequences. The SST approach seems especially promising in areas where visions a re manifold and applications and markets are non-existing or unclear. The emerging...
I disse år foregår der meget vigtige skift i tankemønstret i industrien: Det er blevet åbenlyst, at en virksomhed bør påtage sig en livscyklusansvarlighed for de produkter som sendes på markedet, eller de ydelser som virksomheden leverer. Det er også åbenlyst at der dette fokus på produktets samlede livsforløb kan danne grundlag for nye konkurrence...
Sustainable development is nowadays more than a future objective; it is also a management process. Therefore it is important to be able to assess changes in those aspects of sustainable development, which are found important. This type of assessments relies, among others, on the use of sustainable development indicators. One of the objectives of th...
The paper describes the theoretical and methodological approach in an ongoing Danish technology foresight project focusing on the environmental potentials and risks of nanotechnology, biotechnology, and information and communication technology (ICT). The paper gives a short overview of some environmental aspects of the three technological areas and...
This paper analyses the shaping of environmental supply chain management practice in the Danish textile sector. It is based on a qualitative study involving eight companies and their interaction with suppliers on environmental issues. The analyses show several aspects that influence environmental supply chain management practice: governmental regul...
A theoretical approach to life-cycle management (LCM) is used to develop an operational model helping companies to understand their present level of LCM and implement LCM as management strategy. As part of the development, the model has been tested and evaluated by a number of Danish companies within different branches. A self-assessment tool for c...
The authors see three legs to academia in the institutions of higher education. These are teaching, research and community work. This chapter describes some experiences with Danish and South African science shops and discusses how, through science shops, universities can contribute to a more democratic and sustainable development process by giving...
The article describes and discusses the concept of corporate environmental competence and a methodology for its use in analyses of the shaping of corporate environmental competence in companies and product chains. The focus is on a number of themes in relation to corporate environmental practice: • Prevention at the source • Life cycle perspective...
Retted hemp fibres were treated under various pre-treatment conditions and the material was characterised chemically in order to evaluate the effect of the pre-treatments respectively Wet oxidation (WO), hydro-thermal treatment (HT) and steam explosion (STEX). Process variables were addition of base and oxidant. All pre-treatments tested increased...
This article presents some methodological experiences with proactive technology assessment from a Danish project carried out in coopera tion between a trade union and researchers. The research project, named New Technology and Slaughterhouses, was carried out dur ing 1985-1988 in close cooperation between the Danish Food Workers Trade Union and two...
International collaboration within environmental technology education is seen as one of the tools for an international dimension in the prevention and cure of environmental problems. Several different models for international collaboration have been found: researcher education, university-enterprise collaboration, summer universities, international...
The University based Science Shops were established in the 1970s in the Netherlands, and in Denmark and other countries in the 1980s and 1990s. The aim was to give civil society organisations access to scientific knowledge and to empower citizen participation regarding environmental and social improvements. It has recently been suggested that the r...
This paper is based on a survey of Danish literature about worksite eating carried out as a part of the project 'Food at work around the clock?' by Lunds University and Technical University of Denmark and financed by Øresund Food Network. The focus has especially been on the relations between work and diet and the experiences with promotion of heal...
Projects
Projects (26)
YOUCOUNT will therefore, through cocreative youth citizen social science (Y-CSS) including youths in the age of 15- 29 years as citizen scientists, produce new knowledge of positive drivers for social inclusion of youth at risk of exclusion, and cocreate innovations and policy-making. Moreover, to provide evidence of the actual outcomes of Y-CSS through hands on citizen science activities.
To help Saint Gobain co-develop a scalable circular service business model for partition walls together with value chain partners that can reduce waste at the construction site (min 50%) and primary material use in products (min. 20%). Impacts of the circular service business model (environmental benefits, customer value, productivity gains) are evaluated based on two building projects and processes for scaling the circular service business model are identified.
The two-year Obesity Governance project (2009-2011) focuses on public-private partnerships (PPP) around manufactured food as a means to counteract obesity and overweight in Europe. The project is a health promotion project funded by the Health and Consumer Protection Directorate General (DG SANCO) of the European Commission. The main objective of the project is to study innovative approaches, such as industry involvement and public-private partnership initiatives, to counteract obesity and overweight in Europe, particularly through reformulation of manufactured food.