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Public administrations are designed towards efficient and effective problem solving. A division of work along the various issues of public policy-making is constitutive for most administrations. With the recent demands to develop comprehensive transformative environmental policies, new tasks and requirements arise, both for individual officers as well as administrative organizations. Two central questions emerge in this context: How do officers and public policy administrations cope with transformation processes and what competencies are needed for shaping transformations? Based on a comprehensive literature review on policies for transformation, organizational learning, and education for sustainable development, we present a concept for transformative literacy. We explored how this concept resonates with officers from the Ministry for the Environment and from the Environmental Protection Agency in Germany. To this end, we conducted 17 qualitative interviews with officers from various departments and levels of hierarchy. The analysis reveals four different types of actors with distinct perspectives regarding their own role and theories of societal and political change. We conclude that a collaborative mode among these types of actors to address the challenges of shaping transformations to sustainability can mobilize additional capacities by making use of their complementary skills and resources. The article suggests that this should be reflected in organizational reforms and in training programs for political administration.
Klaus Jacob; Caroline Paulick-Thiel; Julia Teebken; Sylvia Veit; Mandy Singer-Brodowski. Change from Within: Exploring Transformative Literacy in Public Administrations to Foster Sustainability Transitions. Sustainability 2021, 13, 4698 .
AMA StyleKlaus Jacob, Caroline Paulick-Thiel, Julia Teebken, Sylvia Veit, Mandy Singer-Brodowski. Change from Within: Exploring Transformative Literacy in Public Administrations to Foster Sustainability Transitions. Sustainability. 2021; 13 (9):4698.
Chicago/Turabian StyleKlaus Jacob; Caroline Paulick-Thiel; Julia Teebken; Sylvia Veit; Mandy Singer-Brodowski. 2021. "Change from Within: Exploring Transformative Literacy in Public Administrations to Foster Sustainability Transitions." Sustainability 13, no. 9: 4698.
Although research on sustainability transitions has addressed transnational linkages, little attention has yet been paid to the international diffusion and transfer of public policies. Transitions studies and research on policy transfer have had sparse interaction thus far. This viewpoint argues that the two fields can enrich each other through new research topics and findings on the influencing factors of policy change and system transitions. Lessons on the interrelation between policy transfer and sustainability transitions could be crucial for spreading transformative change internationally.
Dirk Arne Heyen; Klaus Jacob; Julia Teebken; Franziska Wolff. Spillovers between policy-transfer and transitions research. Environmental Innovation and Societal Transitions 2020, 38, 79 -81.
AMA StyleDirk Arne Heyen, Klaus Jacob, Julia Teebken, Franziska Wolff. Spillovers between policy-transfer and transitions research. Environmental Innovation and Societal Transitions. 2020; 38 ():79-81.
Chicago/Turabian StyleDirk Arne Heyen; Klaus Jacob; Julia Teebken; Franziska Wolff. 2020. "Spillovers between policy-transfer and transitions research." Environmental Innovation and Societal Transitions 38, no. : 79-81.