9: Research proposal

The assignment is to write a research proposal about how the economic crisis offers possibilities for Industrial Ecology applications. Also a given is the framework by Boons (2011) as described below.

Aims
Objectives of the study are:
- discovering relations between economic fluctuations and Industrial Ecology,
- detecting of opportunities for new initiatives or upscaling of existing ones
- and have starting point for scenarios of future development.

The hypothesis is:

There are Industrial Ecology initiative opportunities because of the economic crisis as seen from a macro level perspective.

The scope involves the meso and macro levels as in the framework of Boons (2011). Relevant developments regarding the current crisis will go back to 2007 when the current economic crisis began. Reference developments related to economic fluctuations can go back to the year 1800 when the London Stock Exchange was founded. From the hypothesis follows a focus on the coordination mechanism of self governance and less on governments.

Background
The background of this research is that recent economic developments are related to environmental problems. The current economic goal, at least until 2009, is that there must be a growth in GDP. However we are living on a finite earth so there are limits to growth. This observation is known since the Brundtland report. But less is known about the opportunities that this brings.

The significance for Industrial Ecology is to have an inventory of viable practices. Also policy makers could use this to stimulate desired behaviour. Because of deregulation of government tasks there will also be new opportunities for private parties.

Previous research
The framework as provided by Boons (2011) describes an overview of social systems. There are three levels: The micro level with individual actions choice that is the source of variation; The meso level of coordination mechanisms with routines that get selected and transmitted; And the macro level can be described as external dynamics. External dynamics consists of the adaptive cycle (Holling 2001), the polycentric perspective (Andersson and Ostrom 2008) and public and private goods (Hart 1995). These dynamics are connected to each other. And change is leading to innovation.
The adaptive cycle can be studied to spot growth, conservation, release and reorganisation. These are cyclic activities that can influence other levels as well. A crisis is a form of release at the macro level that can affect activities on the meso level.

Plan
Methodology that will be used is studying interactions between the meso level and the macro level. Because of certain global changes there will be a response within coordination mechanisms. These could again have an effect the outside world. Socio-ecological-systems that describe this are studied before by Ostrom (2009).

Information will be gathered from literature. Mainly literature about previous economic crises can be used. Also the effects of these crises on environmental measures can be mapped. Creative destruction (Schumpeter 1950) can be starting point to discover interesting case studies.

Analysis of data can be by putting significant happenings and case studies on a time line. This results in observations of relations between different levels. By drawing conclusions from this there can be feedback on the hypothesis.

Timeline of doing the research is publishing the article in one year. This consists of:
- information gathering,
- analysis of data,
- refinement of methodology,
- writing
- and peer reviewing.

Limitations of this research are that events and results are not always unambiguous. And certain happenings in the past do not guarantee that the same solutions are expected or appropriate.

Alternative study could be to interview people in the field about their solutions for the current situation. This research with interviews is mostly focusing on the micro level which is outside the scope of this research.

Literature
Andersson and Ostrom (2008). Analyzing decentralized resource regimes from a polycentric perspective. Policy Sci, 41. 71-93.
Boons, F. (2011). Putting things together. Lecture at Industrial Ecology, Leiden University and TU Delft, 22 December 2011.
Hart, S. L. (1995). A natural-resource-based view of the firm. Academy of Management Review, 20. 4, 986-1014.
Holling, C. S. (2001). Understanding the Complexity of Economic, Ecological, and Social Systems. Ecosystems, 4. 390-405.
Ostrom, E. (2009). A General Framework for Analyzing Sustainability of Social-Ecological Systems. Science, 325. 419-422.
Schumpeter, J. A. (1950). Capitalism, socialism and democracy. P. 220. New York: Harper & Row.