Director

CV Dr. D. A. Loorbach

Director, Associate Professor

+31 (0)104088774

loorbach@fsw.eur.nl 

Derk Loorbach is director of the Dutch Research Institute for Transitions (DRIFT) and associate professor at the Faculty of Social Science, both at Erasmus University Rotterdam. Derk Loorbach was amongst the first researchers to develop the concept and approach of transition management. He started his professional career working as researcher for the International Centre for Integrative Studies (ICIS), Maastricht University, directed by Prof. Jan Rotmans, founder of transition management research. Within his research, Derk focuses on the development of transition management in theory and practice through theory development and action research. In 2004 he started, together with Jan Rotmans, the Dutch Research Institute for Transitions (Drift) at the Erasmus University Rotterdam where he received his PhD in June 2007. Drift is a pioneering interdisciplinary institute that combines cutting edge research with close cooperation with policy and business to further sustainable development in practice.

Central theme in his research is the development of an integrated framework for structuring transition management activities and for organizing transition management processes. Transition management is a new governance-model based on complex systems’ thinking and is aimed at facilitating and directing processes of societal change in the direction of sustainability.  It is a form of participatory governance in which envisioning, scenario-development, shared agenda-setting and experimenting are basic elements. The framework is developed in an iterative way; through constant interaction between theory development and practical application in diverse social settings. It is therefore also an example of a new form of research labeled ‘sustainability science’ which combines fundamental with action research to contribute to sustainable development.

One of his original ideas is the so-called transition arena: a small network of selected innovators that reframe complex societal issues and develop alternative strategies that lay the foundations for a much broader governance process. He has been involved as researcher, facilitator, analyst and organizer of these arenas. They have been applied both within the Netherland and in Belgium in areas such as water management, energy supply, construction, health care and at a regional or city level. He has been involved in numerous scientific and policy projects in different areas and is frequently invited for lectures and debates, both nationally and internationally to as far as Japan, Canada and Australia. Currently, the focus of his research is on urban transitions and the possibilities for urban transition management. In this context he head a research group on this area and is project leader of a number of big projects in the city of Rotterdam around revitalization of deprived urban areas, urban sustainability, area redevelopment and the role of local government.

Selected recent publications

Refereed Journal Articles

  1. Loorbach, D. (2010) Transition Management for Sustainable Development: a Prescriptive, Complexity-Based Governance Framework. Governance, 23, 161-183.
  2. Loorbach, D. and Rotmans, J. (2010), The practice of transition management; examples and lessons from four distinct cases, Futures, 42, 237–246
  3. Loorbach, D., J. Van Bakel, et al. (2009). “Business strategies for transitions to sustainable systems.” Business Strategy and the Environment forthcoming.
  4. Loorbach, D (2009). Transition Management, Accepted in Governance
  5. Van Buuren, A. and D. Loorbach (2009). “Innovation in isolation?” Public Administration Review forthcoming.      
  6. Rotmans, J. and Loorbach, D. (2009), ‘Complexity and Transition Management’, accepted for Journal of Industrial Ecology, Special Issue on Complexity and Industrial Ecology
  7. Loorbach, D. and Y. Yamaguchi (2008). “Transition Management for Sustainable Development: Theory and Practices from Europe.” Environmental Information Service 37(1): 51-55.
  8. Loorbach, D., Van der Brugge, R., Taanman, M. (2008). “Governance for the energy transition.” International Journal of Environmental Technology and Management (IJETM)(Special Issue on: “Transforming Energy Systems Towards Sustainability: Critical Issues from a Socio-technical Perspective”).
  9. Loorbach, D. (2007). “In search of governance for sustainable development.” Sustainability: science, policy and practice 3(2).
  10. Kemp, R., J. Rotmans, Loorbach, D. (2007). “Assessing the Dutch Energy Transition Policy: How Does it Deal with Dilemmas of Managing Transitions?” Journal of Environmental Policy & Planning 9(3 & 4): 315 – 331.
  11. Kemp, R., D. Loorbach, et al. (2007). “Transition management as a model for managing processes of co-evolution towards sustainable development.” The International Journal of Sustainable Development and World Ecology 14: 1-15.
  12. Vellema, S., D. Loorbach, et al. (2006). “Strategic transparency between food chain and society.” Production planning and control 17(6): 624-632.
  13. Rotmans, J., D. Loorbach, et al. (2005). “Transitiemanagement en duurzame ontwikkeling: Co-evolutionaire sturing in het licht van complexiteit.” Beleidswetenschap Juni.
  14. Van der Brugge, R., J. Rotmans, et al. (2005). “The transition in Dutch water management.” Regional Environmental Change Volume 5(1).           

Book Chapters

  1. Loorbach, D., Kemp, R. (2007). Transition management for the Dutch energy transition: the multilevel governance aspects. The Transition to Renewable Energy: Theory and Practice. J. C. J. M. a. B. Van den Bergh, F. Cheltenham, Edward Elgar.
  2. Loorbach, D. and J. Rotmans (2006). Managing transitions for sustainable development. Understanding Industrial Transformation. Views from different disciplines. X. Olshoorn, Wieczorek, A. J. Dordrecht, Springer.
  3. Parto, S., Loorbach, D., Lansink, A., Kemp, R. (2006). Transitions and institutional change: The case of the Dutch waste subsystem. Industrial Innovation and Environmental Regulation. S. H.-C. Parto, B. New York, United Nations University Press.
  4. Rotmans, J. and D. Loorbach (2006). Transition management: reflexive steering of societal complexity through searching, learning  and experimenting. The transition to renewable energy: theory and practice. J. C. J. M. van den Berg and F. R. Bruinsma. Cheltenham, Edward Elger.
  5. Van der Brugge, R. and D. Loorbach (2005). A heuristic framework for transition dynamics. Wetenschap met beleid, beleid met wetenschap. S. Van den Burg, G. Spaargaren and H. Waaijers. Wageningen, Swome.
  6. Kemp, R. and D. Loorbach (2005). Dutch policies to manage the transition to sustainable energy. Jahrbuch Okologische Okonomik. J. Meyerhoff. Marburg, Metropolis Verlag. 4: 123-151.
  7. Kemp, R. and D. Loorbach (2006). Transition management: a reflexive governance approach. Reflexive Governance. J. Voss, R. Kemp and D. Bauknecht, Edward Elgar.   
  8. Loorbach, D. (2006). Transition management: governance for sustainability. Wetenschap met beleid, beleid met wetenschap. S. Van den burg, Spaargaren, G. and Waaijers, H. Den Haag, SWOME.

Refereed Conference Papers

  1. Frantzeskaki, N. and D. Loorbach (2008). Infrastructures in Transition: Role and Response of Infrastructures in societal transitions. Next Generation of Infrastructures, Rotterdam, NIG.          
  2. Guthey, G., G. Whiteman, et al. (2008). Social and Ecological Transitions: Winemaking in California. 4th Annual OS Summer Workshop ‘Embracing Complexity: Advancing Ecological Understanding in Organization Studies’, Pissouri, Cyprus.
  3. Loorbach (2004). A multi-level framework for transition management. SEEON Conference, Seeon.
  4. Loorbach, D. (2004). Governance and transitions: a multi-level policy-framework based on complex systems thinking. Conference on Human Dimensions of Global Environmental Change, Berlin.
  5. Loorbach, D. (2008). Transition management for Sustainable Development. Eco Design in Japan and EU; Towards Establishing a Sustainable Society, Osaka, EUIJ.
  6. Loorbach, D. (2008). Why and how transition management emerges. Long-term policies: governing social-ecological change, Berlin.
  7. Loorbach, D. and R. Kemp (2005). Innovation policy for the Dutch energy transition: Operationalising transition management. ERSA, Amsterdam.
  8. Loorbach, D., Van de Lindt, M. (2007). From theory to practice of transition management: The case of Sustainable Living and Housing in Flanders. MOPAN conference on  social learning and transitions, Leuven, Belgium. 
  9. Loorbach, D. and R. Van Raak (2006). Strategic Niche Management and Transition Management: different but complementary approache. TUE-EUR discussion meeting. Eindhoven.
  10. Loorbach, D. and R. Van Raak (2006). Transition Management: towards a prescriptive model for multi-level governance systems Netherlands Institute for Governance: Annual Work conference. Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
  11. Rotmans, J. L., D., Kemp, R. (2007). Transition management: origin, evolution, critique. Politics and Transitions, Berlijn.

Selection of relevant projects and activities

I have been fortunate to be involved in the development of transition management from the very start and have developed a number of concepts and policy instruments that are used by national and regional policy in the Netherlands and Belgium. Transition management has been adopted as central approach to environmental policy in fields of energy, agriculture, water management and mobility (see for example www.energytransition.nl). I have been designing and leading a number of projects and was involved in the development of a national research program and network on transitions: www.ksinetwork.nl.

-          (2008-…) Cityports envisioning and strategy development. A variety of activities to support the development of a strategic network and agenda for the so-called city-ports area in Rotterdam, focusing on the long-term redevelopment of an industrial area close to the city of Rotterdam. The activities included facilitating envisioning groups, providing process advice, providing input for the sustainability program providing support for the establishment of the floating pavilion and more (www.stadshavensrotterdam.nl)

-          (2008-…) Sustainable Area Development, 4-year research project funded by EOS, AgentschapNL, focusing on conditions, mechanisms and strategies to accelerate sustainable development in local areas (www.duurzamegebiedsontwikkeling.nl)

-          (2009-2010) Wijkarena Oud-Charlois, Neighbourhood development project based on the transition management model to improve social resilience and quality of Oud-Charlois. Project carried out together with local government, stimulating self-organisation of citizens and participation of (local) government in societal processes (www.welkomewijk.nl).

-          (2008-2011) Rotterdam Climate Initiative: what started out of political pragmatism is now turning into a transition program for the Rotterdam region. The high ambition of a 50% CO2 reduction in 2025 has been translated into an innovation program with a variety of projects relating to sustainable energy, mobility, housing and industry. A project is ongoing to transitionize the RCI program. (www.rotterdamclimateinitiative.nl).   

-          (2008-2009) Evaluation Pact op Zuid, large scale investment program of the city of Rotterdam to improve the quality of the Southern part of the city. Based upon the evaluation, the program has been restructured based on the transition approach (http://www.pactopzuid.info/download.php?itemID=10318&field=document).    

-          (2006-2008) Transition Agenda Building: a transition arena process for the building sector was initiated in 2006 to develop an inspiring future perspective for the building and construction industry. The context was an innovation program in which mainly projects were implemented at the level of product- and process-innovations in for example design, construction or material use (http://www.psibouw.nl/details/kennis?kennis=289&name=Transitieagenda+Bouw).  

-          (2005-2007) Sustainable living in Flanders: 2-year project in collaboration with TNO aimed at developing a transition arena and a collective vision and agenda for sustainable living and housing in Flanders. Project ordered by the Flemish ministry for the environment and seen as an experiment with the transition management approach (www.duwobo.be).  

-          (2001-2003) Parkstad Limburg Envisioning: Transition management-process for the Dutch region Parkstad Limburg, which brought together a transition arena of societal actors that developed a broad vision and agenda, including a portfolio of concrete projects and experiments (for the vision, see: http://www.parkstad-limburg.nl/pdf-bestanden/71_OpHeteKolen%20-%20rapport.pdf)   

-          Health care: in 2006 a project started to transitionize a traditional innovation program in the health-care sector into a transition experiments program. A transition arena with high-level representatives from societal organizations (health-care institutes, financial organizations, political parties, health-care personnel and so on) started March 2008 to develop an over-all understanding of the persistency of the problems in Dutch health-care and a desirable future direction. (www.tplz.nl).

-          NWO-research project: Transitions: what drives them and how are they managed? Project led by René Kemp and Jan Rotmans into the development and management of the Dutch waste sector. (see: http://meritbbs.unimaas.nl/rkemp/NWO-transition-project.pdf)

-          Evaluation of GAVE: evaluation of an innovation program of NOVEM (Dutch energy innovation organisation) based on the transition management framework (see: http://www.novem.nl/default.asp?documentId=25539). 

-          Involvement in the energy transition. Proecess organized by the Dutch ministry of Economic Affairs based on the transition management concept. Involved mainly in the Biomass sub-process (www.energietransitie.nl)

-          OVAM in transition: study into the possibilities for transition management in the Flemish waste-management council based on a analytical study and a participatory process (www.ovam.be)

Dutch Research Institute For Transitions (DRIFT)
Erasmus University Rotterdam

Visiting address:
M-building, 5th floor, room M5-35
Burgemeester Oudlaan 50
3062 PA Rotterdam (the Netherlands)

Postal address:
M5-35
P.O. Box 1738
3000 DR Rotterdam (the Netherlands)
phone:
+ 31 (0)10-4088774

email:
loorbach@drift.eur.nl