VERSAM explores the complex collaboration dynamics among diverse actors involved in governing transitions at the local and regional level with an empirical focus on the transport and mobility sector.
The project aims to create new understandings of how actors can collaborate in tangled webs to create a fossil-free society by focusing on
1) How intrinsic drivers, such as values, visions, and mutual learning, shape collaborative climate action, and, drawing on psychological theory and a political economy perspectives, how governance structures and power dynamics condition their expression;
2) The deployment of intermediary actors to facilitate collaborations; and,
3) Individual actors' experiences and perceptions of their transition work. All three doctoral students adopt a qualitative approach that involves close collaboration with practitioners to contribute to real-world change processes.
Empirically, the project focuses on the transport, industry, as well as housing and services sectors. The project is carried out as three doctoral projects at Halmstad University, Lund University and Linköping University.