In the context of the larger sustainability discourse, “sufficiency” is beginning to emerge as a new value throughout Western societies, and the question asked in this article is: Can we observe and conceptually identify opportunities to link successful business strategies of incumbents to principles of sufficiency? Thus, how feasible is sustainable entrepreneurship for incumbents? In this paper, a conceptual approach is developed combining insights from sociology, transition research, management and sustainable entrepreneurship research with a focus on narratives as a translation mechanism in situations where tensions emerge between corporate narratives and unexpected societal trends, e.g., the emergence of sufficient lifestyles. It will be shown that even though these are still a niche phenomenon, a focus on corporate narratives is an important element in understanding the role of incumbents in transitions to sustainability.

Reallaborforschung hat ein zentrales Anliegen: sozial robustes Transformationswissen inter- und transdisziplinär herzustellen. Dafür braucht es einen Analyserahmen, der Ansätze aus verschiedenen Disziplinen integriert, um Mechanismen des Wandels systematisch zu ermitteln. Mithilfe der embedded-agency perspective können Reallaborprozesse so konzipiert werden, dass relevante Daten integriert erhoben werden, eine Wirkungsabschätzung gewährleistet ist und auch die Vergleichbarkeit von Reallaboren unterstützt wird.The central concern of real-world lab research is the inter- and transdisciplinary generation of socially robust transformation knowledge. Despite the fact that real-world labs explore and study fundamental mechanisms of change, there are few approaches that deal with this question from a systematic, theoretical and methodological perspective. Concrete real-world lab projects should be able to live up to their claim as a central research mode, supporting sustainability transformations. Thus, approaches are required that foster a broader understanding of mechanisms of change in real-world labs. We find promising approaches that describe mechanisms of change along discipline-specific analytical and empirical scales. Key challenges are to develop analytical frameworks that integrate such approaches from different disciplines, and to identify mechanisms of change in a systematic and comprehensive way. In this article we present an embedded-agency perspective for analysing mechanisms of change in real-world labs and discuss the methodological implications. With the help of this analytical framework, real-world lab processes can be designed in such a way that relevant data is collected and transformative impacts can be assessed.

To address the evaluation of the societal impact of real-world labs, we present a framework developed for the analysis of structure-agency dynamics: structuration theory. Using this tool on a neighbourhood level, we assess the outcomes of six projects on co-productive city-making.Ways of evaluating the societal impact of real-world labs as a transdisciplinary and transformative research format are under discussion. We present an evaluation approach rooted in structuration theory, with a focus on structure-agency dynamics at the science-society interface. We applied the theory with its four modalities (interpretation schemes, norms, allocative and authoritative resources) to the case of the Mirke neighbourhood in Wuppertal, Germany. Six projects promoted the capacity for co-productive city-making. The effects of the projects were jointly analysed in a co-evaluation process. Previously proposed subcategories of the modalities as an empirical operationalisation were tested and confirmed as being applicable. Five new subcategories were generated. The use of the modalities seems appropriate for co-evaluation processes. The tool is practical, focused on real-world effects, and suitable for transdisciplinary interpretation processes. We encourage further empirical testing of the tool, as well as development of the subcategories.