The Role of Paradigm Analysis in the Development of Policies for a Resource Efficient Economy

Policy makers are often called upon to navigate between scientists’ urgent calls for long-term concerted action to reduce the environmental impacts due to resource use, and the public’s concerns over policies that threaten lifestyles or jobs. Against these political challenges, resource efficiency p...

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Main Authors: Robin Vanner, Martha Bicket
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2016-07-01
Series:Sustainability
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/8/7/645
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spelling doaj-174d640e137f4407b80a24bf480c61372020-11-24T22:48:04ZengMDPI AGSustainability2071-10502016-07-018764510.3390/su8070645su8070645The Role of Paradigm Analysis in the Development of Policies for a Resource Efficient EconomyRobin Vanner0Martha Bicket1Policy Studies Institute, University of Westminster, London NW1 5LS, UKPolicy Studies Institute, University of Westminster, London NW1 5LS, UKPolicy makers are often called upon to navigate between scientists’ urgent calls for long-term concerted action to reduce the environmental impacts due to resource use, and the public’s concerns over policies that threaten lifestyles or jobs. Against these political challenges, resource efficiency policy making is often a changeable and even chaotic process, which has fallen short of the political ambitions set by democratically elected governments. This article examines the importance of paradigms in understanding how the public collectively responds to new policy proposals, such as those developed within the project DYNAmic policy MiXes for absolute decoupling of environmental impact of EU resource use from economic growth (DYNAMIX). The resulting proposed approach provides a framework to understand how different concerns and worldviews converge within public discourse, potentially resulting in paradigm change. Thus an alternative perspective on how resource efficiency policy can be development is proposed, which envisages early policies to lay the ground for future far-reaching policies, by altering the underlying paradigm context in which the public receive and respond to policy. The article concludes by arguing that paradigm change is more likely if the policy is conceived, framed, designed, analyzed, presented, and evaluated from the worldview or paradigm pathway that it seeks to create (i.e., the destination paradigm).http://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/8/7/645paradigmworldviewdiscourseDYNAMIXpolicysequencingpracticeattitudesbehavioursustainability
collection DOAJ
language English
format Article
sources DOAJ
author Robin Vanner
Martha Bicket
spellingShingle Robin Vanner
Martha Bicket
The Role of Paradigm Analysis in the Development of Policies for a Resource Efficient Economy
Sustainability
paradigm
worldview
discourse
DYNAMIX
policy
sequencing
practice
attitudes
behaviour
sustainability
author_facet Robin Vanner
Martha Bicket
author_sort Robin Vanner
title The Role of Paradigm Analysis in the Development of Policies for a Resource Efficient Economy
title_short The Role of Paradigm Analysis in the Development of Policies for a Resource Efficient Economy
title_full The Role of Paradigm Analysis in the Development of Policies for a Resource Efficient Economy
title_fullStr The Role of Paradigm Analysis in the Development of Policies for a Resource Efficient Economy
title_full_unstemmed The Role of Paradigm Analysis in the Development of Policies for a Resource Efficient Economy
title_sort role of paradigm analysis in the development of policies for a resource efficient economy
publisher MDPI AG
series Sustainability
issn 2071-1050
publishDate 2016-07-01
description Policy makers are often called upon to navigate between scientists’ urgent calls for long-term concerted action to reduce the environmental impacts due to resource use, and the public’s concerns over policies that threaten lifestyles or jobs. Against these political challenges, resource efficiency policy making is often a changeable and even chaotic process, which has fallen short of the political ambitions set by democratically elected governments. This article examines the importance of paradigms in understanding how the public collectively responds to new policy proposals, such as those developed within the project DYNAmic policy MiXes for absolute decoupling of environmental impact of EU resource use from economic growth (DYNAMIX). The resulting proposed approach provides a framework to understand how different concerns and worldviews converge within public discourse, potentially resulting in paradigm change. Thus an alternative perspective on how resource efficiency policy can be development is proposed, which envisages early policies to lay the ground for future far-reaching policies, by altering the underlying paradigm context in which the public receive and respond to policy. The article concludes by arguing that paradigm change is more likely if the policy is conceived, framed, designed, analyzed, presented, and evaluated from the worldview or paradigm pathway that it seeks to create (i.e., the destination paradigm).
topic paradigm
worldview
discourse
DYNAMIX
policy
sequencing
practice
attitudes
behaviour
sustainability
url http://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/8/7/645
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