Unlearning in sustainability transitions: Insight from two Dutch community-supported agriculture farms

Laura van Oers; Giuseppe Feola; Hens Runhaar; Ellen Moors

doi:10.1016/j.eist.2023.100693

Unlearning in sustainability transitions: Insight from two Dutch community-supported agriculture farms

Laura van Oers^*, Giuseppe Feola, Hens Runhaar, Ellen Moors

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Academic › peer-review

Abstract

The importance of double-loop learning and associated unlearning for sustainability transitions is increasingly recognised; however, a clear conceptualisation and empirical focus on unlearning is lacking. This paper combines conceptualisations of unlearning in organisation, business and management theory (‘organizational unlearning’) with postcolonial and feminist approaches to teaching and education (‘pedagogical unlearning’) to provide a richer understanding of unlearning in sustainability transitions. Empirical evidence was obtained through qualitative documentation of the conversion to solidarity payment in two Dutch community-supported agriculture (CSA) farms. Solidarity payment increases access to the CSA for low-income members and fosters solidarity with farmers to secure fairer income. Our results indicate the generative function of unlearning during processes of change as well as the strategic and pedagogical relevance of unlearning for this specific case. We conclude with the added value of an approach to sustainability transitions that is equipped for capturing the entangled processes of unlearning and learning.

Original language	English
Article number	100693
Pages (from-to)	1-16
Number of pages	16
Journal	Environmental Innovation and Societal Transitions
Volume	46
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eist.2023.100693
Publication status	Published - Mar 2023

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
This research was financed by The Dutch Research Council (NWO) through the research project number 016.Vidi.185.073 . Giuseppe Feola also acknowledges funding from the European Research Council (Grant 802441 ). The authors have no competing interests to declare. The authors are thankful for valuable feedback provided by two anonymous reviewers. We are grateful to Olga Vincent for help with the literature review on organisational unlearning, and to Leon Auty, Leonie Lara Guerrero, Guilherme Raj, Jacob Smessaert and Julia Spanier for early discussions on unlearning.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2023

Funding

This research was financed by The Dutch Research Council (NWO) through the research project number 016.Vidi.185.073 . Giuseppe Feola also acknowledges funding from the European Research Council (Grant 802441 ). The authors have no competing interests to declare. The authors are thankful for valuable feedback provided by two anonymous reviewers. We are grateful to Olga Vincent for help with the literature review on organisational unlearning, and to Leon Auty, Leonie Lara Guerrero, Guilherme Raj, Jacob Smessaert and Julia Spanier for early discussions on unlearning.

Keywords

Agri-food
Event structure analysis
Learning
Solidarity payment
Transformation

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

Access to Document

10.1016/j.eist.2023.100693Licence: CC BY

1-s2.0-S2210422423000035-mainFinal published version, 1.24 MBLicence: CC BY

Cite this

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title = "Unlearning in sustainability transitions: Insight from two Dutch community-supported agriculture farms",

abstract = "The importance of double-loop learning and associated unlearning for sustainability transitions is increasingly recognised; however, a clear conceptualisation and empirical focus on unlearning is lacking. This paper combines conceptualisations of unlearning in organisation, business and management theory ({\textquoteleft}organizational unlearning{\textquoteright}) with postcolonial and feminist approaches to teaching and education ({\textquoteleft}pedagogical unlearning{\textquoteright}) to provide a richer understanding of unlearning in sustainability transitions. Empirical evidence was obtained through qualitative documentation of the conversion to solidarity payment in two Dutch community-supported agriculture (CSA) farms. Solidarity payment increases access to the CSA for low-income members and fosters solidarity with farmers to secure fairer income. Our results indicate the generative function of unlearning during processes of change as well as the strategic and pedagogical relevance of unlearning for this specific case. We conclude with the added value of an approach to sustainability transitions that is equipped for capturing the entangled processes of unlearning and learning.",

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note = "Funding Information: This research was financed by The Dutch Research Council (NWO) through the research project number 016.Vidi.185.073 . Giuseppe Feola also acknowledges funding from the European Research Council (Grant 802441 ). The authors have no competing interests to declare. The authors are thankful for valuable feedback provided by two anonymous reviewers. We are grateful to Olga Vincent for help with the literature review on organisational unlearning, and to Leon Auty, Leonie Lara Guerrero, Guilherme Raj, Jacob Smessaert and Julia Spanier for early discussions on unlearning. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2023",

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AU - Moors, Ellen

N1 - Funding Information: This research was financed by The Dutch Research Council (NWO) through the research project number 016.Vidi.185.073 . Giuseppe Feola also acknowledges funding from the European Research Council (Grant 802441 ). The authors have no competing interests to declare. The authors are thankful for valuable feedback provided by two anonymous reviewers. We are grateful to Olga Vincent for help with the literature review on organisational unlearning, and to Leon Auty, Leonie Lara Guerrero, Guilherme Raj, Jacob Smessaert and Julia Spanier for early discussions on unlearning. Publisher Copyright: © 2023

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N2 - The importance of double-loop learning and associated unlearning for sustainability transitions is increasingly recognised; however, a clear conceptualisation and empirical focus on unlearning is lacking. This paper combines conceptualisations of unlearning in organisation, business and management theory (‘organizational unlearning’) with postcolonial and feminist approaches to teaching and education (‘pedagogical unlearning’) to provide a richer understanding of unlearning in sustainability transitions. Empirical evidence was obtained through qualitative documentation of the conversion to solidarity payment in two Dutch community-supported agriculture (CSA) farms. Solidarity payment increases access to the CSA for low-income members and fosters solidarity with farmers to secure fairer income. Our results indicate the generative function of unlearning during processes of change as well as the strategic and pedagogical relevance of unlearning for this specific case. We conclude with the added value of an approach to sustainability transitions that is equipped for capturing the entangled processes of unlearning and learning.

AB - The importance of double-loop learning and associated unlearning for sustainability transitions is increasingly recognised; however, a clear conceptualisation and empirical focus on unlearning is lacking. This paper combines conceptualisations of unlearning in organisation, business and management theory (‘organizational unlearning’) with postcolonial and feminist approaches to teaching and education (‘pedagogical unlearning’) to provide a richer understanding of unlearning in sustainability transitions. Empirical evidence was obtained through qualitative documentation of the conversion to solidarity payment in two Dutch community-supported agriculture (CSA) farms. Solidarity payment increases access to the CSA for low-income members and fosters solidarity with farmers to secure fairer income. Our results indicate the generative function of unlearning during processes of change as well as the strategic and pedagogical relevance of unlearning for this specific case. We conclude with the added value of an approach to sustainability transitions that is equipped for capturing the entangled processes of unlearning and learning.

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Unlearning in sustainability transitions: Insight from two Dutch community-supported agriculture farms

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Funding

Keywords

UN SDGs

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