Chapter 8
Innovations for Sustainable Land
Management—A Comparative Case
Study
Jana Zscheischler and Sebastian Rogga
Abstract There continues to be a poor understanding of how transformation and
socio-technological change in the specific field of sustainable land use and management can be effectively governed and supported. The aim of this article is to contribute
to this knowledge gap by presenting the findings from a comparative case study of
nine local innovation projects that sought solutions for sustainable land management
(SLM). For each of the nine projects, we examined the (i) problem definitions and
framings, (ii) the type and degree of innovation, (iii) the different approaches taken
to manage innovation processes, and (iv) the leverage points of these solutions in
the governance system of SLM. The results show that SLM innovations start from
diverse problem framings and emerge from distinct action fields. We found a broad
variety of innovation types following distinct solution strategies that can be clustered into (i) multiple land use, (ii) knowledge-based decision support tools, (iii)
co-management approaches, and (iv) new organisations and institutions. All nine
projects applied multi-actor approaches to facilitate reflexive processes of social
learning and cognitive reframing by embedding experimental innovation management approaches such as real-world laboratories (thus optimising the solution) into
larger transdisciplinary and participatory processes (to adjust to societal discourses
and normative orientations).
Keywords Sustainability innovation · Transdisciplinary research · Governance of
land
J. Zscheischler (B) · S. Rogga
Working Group “Co-Design of Change and Innovation”; Research Area “Land Use and
Governance”, Leibniz Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research (ZALF) e.V., Eberswalder Str.
84, 15374 Müncheberg, Germany
e-mail: jana.zscheischler@zalf.de
S. Rogga
e-mail: sebastian.rogga@zalf.de
© The Author(s) 2021
T. Weith et al. (eds.), Sustainable Land Management in a European Context,
Human-Environment Interactions 8, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-50841-8_8
145
Innovations for Sustainable Land
Management—A Comparative Case
Study
Jana Zscheischler and Sebastian Rogga
Abstract There continues to be a poor understanding of how transformation and
socio-technological change in the specific field of sustainable land use and management can be effectively governed and supported. The aim of this article is to contribute
to this knowledge gap by presenting the findings from a comparative case study of
nine local innovation projects that sought solutions for sustainable land management
(SLM). For each of the nine projects, we examined the (i) problem definitions and
framings, (ii) the type and degree of innovation, (iii) the different approaches taken
to manage innovation processes, and (iv) the leverage points of these solutions in
the governance system of SLM. The results show that SLM innovations start from
diverse problem framings and emerge from distinct action fields. We found a broad
variety of innovation types following distinct solution strategies that can be clustered into (i) multiple land use, (ii) knowledge-based decision support tools, (iii)
co-management approaches, and (iv) new organisations and institutions. All nine
projects applied multi-actor approaches to facilitate reflexive processes of social
learning and cognitive reframing by embedding experimental innovation management approaches such as real-world laboratories (thus optimising the solution) into
larger transdisciplinary and participatory processes (to adjust to societal discourses
and normative orientations).
Keywords Sustainability innovation · Transdisciplinary research · Governance of
land
J. Zscheischler (B) · S. Rogga
Working Group “Co-Design of Change and Innovation”; Research Area “Land Use and
Governance”, Leibniz Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research (ZALF) e.V., Eberswalder Str.
84, 15374 Müncheberg, Germany
e-mail: jana.zscheischler@zalf.de
S. Rogga
e-mail: sebastian.rogga@zalf.de
© The Author(s) 2021
T. Weith et al. (eds.), Sustainable Land Management in a European Context,
Human-Environment Interactions 8, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-50841-8_8
145