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Food is essential to human life, yet the current food system is threatening the environment by significantly contributing to climate change and a range of other impacts, including biodiversity loss, terrestrial ecosystem destruction, freshwater consumption, and water pollution. The sustainability of meat and dairy production has become an important concern because of the negative environmental impact of livestock agriculture. Moreover, while meat is an important component of the human diet, scientific studies show adverse health impacts for individuals with high intakes of red processed meat. Taking the environmental and health implications of livestock agriculture and meat consumption into consideration, the importance of diets in determining food system sustainability is paramount. The shaping of dietary consumption patterns has been intertwined with the evolution of the food-processing sector. At the same time, food choices are shaped by societal aspirations, responses to new identities and preferences, and the expression of cultural meaning. Therefore, a change of dietary consumption patterns towards sustainability requires a sustainability transition, radical interlinked shifts in technologies, infrastructures, organizations, markets, regulations, and behavior. This thesis builds on sustainability transitions literature to advance the conceptualization of transition dynamics in the food system by developing insights into the protein transition case, i.e. the recent reorientation of the food industry towards plant-based meat substitute products. While there are many empirical studies on sustainability transitions in electricity and mobility systems, research on meso-level sustainability transition dynamics in the food-processing industry is limited. This gap is significant when seeking to understand shifts in food production and consumption, because the conceptualization of innovation dynamics derived from previous transitions literature does not necessarily hold for transitions in the food industry. This thesis specifically focuses on institutional change processes regarding the emergence and diffusion of plant-based meat substitutes and the behaviour of firms. The chapters in this thesis draw insights from different sustainability transitions frameworks, as well as other streams of social science literature, including organizational science and communication literature. Overall, this thesis illustrates that while empirical sustainability transition studies have over-emphasized the bottom-up dynamics of radical innovation processes in the energy and mobility system, the protein transition case highlights the importance of endogenous change enacted by users and incremental improvements in existing products. It makes a number of important theoretical contributions including illustrating how political change processes can be a lever for accelerating sustainable innovation.

International environmental institutions are key for addressing global environmental problems, such as overfishing, climate change and biodiversity loss. Yet, as the overexploitation of natural resources as well as unsustainable practices of governance, settlement, and economic activities have been established over long periods of time, international environmental institutions are challenged to provide global environmental protection. These difficulties are amplified by the often-lacking cooperation and coordination of international environmental institutions in a fragmented global governance structure. Thus, integration is an indispensable part for achieving global environmental protection. Although both academics and practitioners are increasingly calling for more global environmental protection, there is no simple one-size-fits-all solution available that could ensure such an endeavor. What is needed is a thorough understanding of individual institutional specifications, interactions and interconnections and even systemic dynamics that emerge from institutional linkages over time. Institutional change analysis allows to study these aspects in a comprehensive way and to examine integration efforts of international environmental institutions over time. Rather than taking snapshots of international environmental institutions, this dissertation looks at longitudinal developments towards global environmental protection. Therefore, to discern high expectations and policy objectives from what is really happening, this dissertation addresses the following research question: How do international environmental institutions change and integrate in global governance? This dissertation draws a distinction between how international environmental institutions drive a process of integration in a larger institutional context which is external to them and how they integrate rules which are internal to them. The answer to the question emerged from four studies. Study 1 synoptically reviewed institutional change and integration in the global food governance system. It showed that actors are important for altering global governance processes. Especially, the role of private actors and governments needs to be taken into consideration for understanding the rules of the game. Study 2 provided findings that policy integration is a key institutional change process for global governance. Yet, most international environmental institutions do not integrate their institutional activities but remain in silos, which is a barrier to the achievement of global environmental protection. Study 3 shows in detail that an international environmental institution has the potential to be a driver of global environmental protection through policy integration while being challenged by multiple barriers at the same time. Thus, for international environmental institutions to alter global governance processes, they must actively take efforts in enabling and fostering policy integration as well as international cooperation and collaboration. Study 4 provided support for the idea that institutional change is a gradual transformational process in which there can be multiple variations of rule dynamics over time. Study 4 showed that bridging historical institutionalism and organizational science can bring new insights into institutional change at the sub-institutional level, i.e., internal developments of an organization. This dissertation postulates that international environmental institutions are central for altering global governance processes. Yet, the studies have shown that international environmental institutions are struggling at various fronts when it comes to a successful integration of policies, but also cooperation and coordination efforts.

Chapitre 10; International audience; Farmers' markets are recognized as places of community building (Brown, 2002; Renting et al., 2003). Numerous scholars have described direct sales as a means of developing solidarity between farmers and consumers and addressing the growing disconnect between production and consumption of food in urban systems (Morgan et al., 2006). Localizing the food system is not an end in and of itself (Born and Purcell, 2006), but geographic and organizational proximity can meet the rising demand of city dwellers to know where and how their food is produced who has produced it. Promoting farmers' markets can thus be a way to sustain peri-urban agriculture and to reconnect producers and consumers. However, this producer/consumer relationship has often been idealized (Le Velly and Dubuisson-Quellier, 2008), leading scholars to question the actual impact of farmers' markets or other short food supply chains on social justice (Alkon, 2008; Mundler, 2013). "Farmers' markets may not provide farmers or their workers living wages, and farmers' markets may be less accessible, for a variety of economic and cultural reasons, to some communities" (Horst, 2017).

During the negotiations of the Sustainable Development Goals, the United Nations consulted worldwide nearly 10 million people for their views. Such proliferating megaconsultations are often uncritically accepted as a remedy for an assumed democratic deficit of intergovernmental policymaking. The research argues, however, that civil society consultations have fallen short of democratizing global governance for mainly three reasons. First, global civil society consultations have limited legitimacy. Whether they are conducted online or within global negotiating hubs, these consultations regularly fail to include actors from developing countries or beyond institutionalized civil society networks. Second, global civil society consultations have limited influence on intergovernmental policymaking and eventually fail to increase the responsiveness of global norms and institutions to collective preferences. The research reveals a democracy—influence paradox, whereby civil society is less likely to influence within formally-commissioned, far-reaching and inclusive consultations than within informal and elitist participatory spaces. Third, despite the proliferation of megaconsultations, discursive diversity in global policymaking remains low, with mainstream discourses being over-represented compared to transformative ones. Participatory exclusiveness eventually produces discursive exclusiveness, thus indicating the limits of discursive representation for global democratization. Despite their limitations, the research concludes that global consultations still provide an important impetus to democratization by building civil society actors' democratic skills. It advances a set of recommendations to guide the future action of practitioners in strengthening much needed global democratic safeguards, now that recent developments in world politics suggest it is fear, rather than cooperation, that dictates political behaviors in the global system.

Dissertação (mestrado)—Universidade de Brasília, Centro de Desenvolvimento Sustentável, 2014. Vrije Univesiteit Amsterdam (VU), Institute for Environmental Studies (IVM), Environment and Resource Management Master Program (ERM), 2014. A presente dissertação examina a evolução das políticas brasileiras de mudança climática de 1970 a 2013, com base em extensa revisão literária e de documentos oficiais. O Brasil possui relevância econômica e política internacionalmente, sobressaindo-se mais devido suas características ambientais. A dissertação inicia as observações, primeiramente, com a performance climática do país baseada nos princípios de responsabilidades comuns, porém diferenciadas, do poluidor-pagador e do direito ao desenvolvimento. Entretanto, devido às mudanças nas esferas econômica e política nas últimas três décadas, observa-se uma alteração de postura com ênfase na progressividade ao tratar de assuntos climáticos. O primeiro período de progressividade foi identificado de meados da década de 1980 até 1992, com a adoção da Convenção das Nações Unidas para Mudanças Climáticas e ao sediar a Conferência das Nações Unidas sobre Meio Ambiente e Desenvolvimento. O segundo período de considerável progressividade ocorreu entre 2007 e 2009, quando o Brasil adotou voluntariamente objetivos de redução nas emissões de GEE, além da aprovação do Plano e da Política Nacionais de Mudança Climática. Esse trajeto de progressividade, no entanto, é atenuado entre 1993 e 2006, e não é percebido de maneira consistente após 2010. O objetivo principal desta dissertação é documentar e analisar tais mudanças nas políticas doméstica e externa de mitigação às mudanças climáticas, e tentar explicá-las com base no conceito de janela de oportunidade, combinando influências nacionais e internacionais. No âmbito desta análise conclui-se que a existência de janelas de oportunidades podem explicar as mudanças nos períodos de maior progressividade. This thesis examines the evolution of Brazilian climate change policies from 1970's to 2013 based on an extensive review of literature and policy documents. Brazil has international economic and political relevance and stands out especially due to its unique climate and environmental characteristics. The thesis starts from the observation that, at first, the country's climate performance was based on common but differentiated responsibilities, polluter pays and right to develop principles. However, due to changes in both economic and political spheres over the last three decades, a shift in its stance can be observed, towards a more progressive political approach on climate change. The first progressive period was identified from mid-1980's to 1992 with the adoption of the United Nations Convention on Climate Change and the hosting of United Nations Conference on Environment and Development. The second period of considerable progressiveness occurred from 2007 to 2009, when Brazil voluntarily adopted goals of GHG emissions reduction and approved the National Plan and the National Policy of Climate Change domestically. This progressive pathway, nonetheless, decreased between 1993-2006 and has not been consistently perceived after 2010. The main objective of this thesis is to document and analyse these changes in the Brazilian domestic and foreign climate change mitigation policies and try to explain them on the basis of the windows of opportunities concept, combining domestic and international influences. On the basis of its analysis it concludes that the existence windows of opportunity can explain changes in the most progressive periods. De huidige scriptie beschrijft de evolutie van Braziliaans beleid rondom klimaatverandering tussen de jaren 1970 en 2013 op basis van uitputtend onderzoek van academische en politieke werken. Brazilië heeft op economisch en politiek gebied internationale relevantie en onderscheidt zich omwille van haar unieke klimaat- en omgevingskarakteristieken. De scriptie stemt vanuit de observatie dat de oorspronkelijke prestaties van het land gebaseerd waren op de zogenaamde gemeenschappelijke doch gedifferentieerde principes, vervuiler-betaalt- en recht op ontwikkelingsprincipes. Desalniettemin kan, binnen de afgelopen drie decennia, een transitie naar een progressievere politieke aanpak worden waargenomen wat betreft klimaatbeleid wegens veranderingen op economische en politieke gebied. De eerste progressieve periode was in 1992 met de overname van het Raamverdrag van de Verenigde Naties inzake klimaatverandering, de piek van desbetreffende transitie wordt herkend tussen 2007 en 2010 toen Brazilië vrijwillig doeleinden omtrent het reduceren van broeikasgasemissies op zich nam alsmede landelijk de zogenaamde Nationale Plan en Nationaal Beleid der Klimaatverandering akkoord gaf. Dit progressieve pad verminderde tussen 1993 en 2006 en heeft zich sindsdien op geen van beide gebieden niet concreet hersteld na 2010. Hoofddoel van huidige scriptie is om veranderingen in Braziliaanse landelijke en buitenlandse omtrent klimaatbeleid te documenteren en analyseren en een poging te doen deze te verklaren op basis van het concept der “windows of opportunity” aldoende nationale en internationale invloeden combinerend. Op basis van de analyse in deze scriptie kan worden geconcludeerd dat "windows of opportunity" een verklaring kan geven voor veranderingen in de meest progressieve periodes. Esta tesis analiza la evolución de las políticas de cambio climático de Brasil desde 1970 hasta 2013 basada en una extensa revisión de literatura y documentos oficiales. Brasil tiene una relevancia económica y política a nivel internacional y se destaca por sus particulares características climáticas y ambientales. La tesis parte de la observación de que, en un primer momento, las políticas climáticas de Brasil se basaban en el principio de responsabilidades comunes pero diferenciadas, principio del contaminador-pagador y el principio de derecho al desarrollo. Sin embargo, cambios en las esferas políticas durante las tres últimas décadas han incentivado un enfoque más progresista en materia de cambio climático. El primer período de progreso tuvo lugar a mediados de la década de 1980 hasta 1992, con la adopción de la Convención de las Naciones Unidas sobre el Cambio Climático y la celebración de la Conferencia de las Naciones Unidas sobre el Medio Ambiente y el Desarrollo. El segundo período de progreso considerable se produjo entre 2007 y 2009, cuando Brasil adoptó metas voluntarias de reducción de emisiones de gases de efecto invernadero y aprobó el Plan Nacional y la Política Nacional de Cambio Climático a nivel nacional. Sin embargo, este camino progresista se atenuó entre 1993 y 2006 y además, no ha sido percibido de manera consistente desde 2010. El objetivo principal de esta tesis es documentar y analizar los cambios en la política nacional y externa para la mitigación del cambio climático y explicar estos cambios tomando como base el concepto de ventanas de oportunidad, combinando influencias domésticas e internacionales. Este análisis concluye que la existencia de ventanas de oportunidad puede explicar los cambios en los períodos más progresistas. Ce mémoire examine l'évolution de la politique climatique brésilienne des années 1970 à 2013 sur la base d'un examen de la littérature et documents de politiques. Le Brésil est d'importance économique et politique à l'échelle internationale et se démarque par son climat et ses caractéristiques environnementales uniques. Le mémoire débute avec l'observation que la performance climatique du pays est basé sur les responsabilités communes mais différenciés, le principe du pollueur payeur et le droit au développement. Cependant, pour cause de changements dans les sphères économiques et politiques durant les trois dernières décennies, une réorientation vers une approche plus progressiste est perceptible. La première période progressiste s'étend de la moitié des années 1980 à 1992 et l'adoption de la Conférence Cadre des Nations Unies pour le Changement Climatique et la tenue de la Conférence des Nations Unies pour l'Environnement et le Développement. La seconde période de progressivité s'étale de 2007 à 2009 quand le Brésil a volontairement adopté l'objectif de réduire ses émissions des gaz à effet de serre et a approuvé le Plan National et la Politique Nationale sur le Changement Climatique. Ce courant progressiste a néanmoins diminué entre 1993-2006 et n'a pas été perçue de manière continue après 2010. L'objectif principal de ce mémoire est de documenter, d'analyser ces changements dans la politique nationale et la politique extérieure de réduction du changement climatique brésilienne ainsi que d'essayer de les expliquer sur la base du concept de fenêtres d'opportunités qui combine influences domestiques et internationales. Sur la base de cette analyse, il conclue que l'existence de ces fenêtres d'opportunités peut expliquer les changement des périodes les plus progressives. ______________________________________________________________________________________________ ZUSAMMENFASSUNG Diese wissenschaftliche Arbeit analysiert den Wandel der brasilianschen Klimawandel-Politik zwischen 1970 und 2013. Die Analyse beruht zum einen auf einer intensiven Literaturrecherche und zum anderen auf politischen Positionspapieren. Brasilien hat international eine große politische und ökonomische Bedeutung und sticht hervor durch seine einzigartigen klimatischen und umweltbezogenen Charakteristika. Die Analyse setzt an der Beobachtung an, dass Brasiliens Klimapolitik auf den Prinzipien 1. allgemeine aber differenzierte Verantwortung , 2. der Umweltsünder zahlt und 3. das Recht weitere Prinzipien zu entwerfen, beruht. Innerhalb der vergangenen Jahre, verursacht durch politischen und ökonomischen Wandel, konnte jedoch eine Abkehr von diesen Prinzipien hin zu einer deutlich progressiveren politischen Herangehensweise in Bezug auf Klimawandel beobachtet werden. Die erste progressive Phase zeichnete sich Mitte der 1980er Jahre bis 1992 ab, gekennzeichnet durch die Einführung der „United Nations Convention on Climate Change“ und durch ausrichten der „United Nations Conference on Environment and Development“. Die zweite als progressiv zu wertende Phase liegt zwischen 2007 und 2009. Brasilien akzeptierte auf freiwilliger Basis die Ziele der GHG Emissionsreduktion und stimmte zu, den „National Plan“ und die „National Policy of Climate Change“ umzusetzen. Zwischen 1992 und 2007 jedoch zeigte sich eine vermindert progressive Umweltpolitik. Dieser Trend folgte nach der zweiten progressiven Phase (2007-2009) bis zum heutigen Tage. Das Hauptmotiv dieser wissenschaftlichen Arbeit ist es, diese Veränderungen der brasilianischen Klimawandel-Politik auf nationaler und internationaler Ebene, zum einen, zu analysieren, und zum anderen, beruhend auf dem „windows of opportunities“ Konzept, zu erklären. Dabei werden nationale und internationale Einflüsse kombiniert. Basierend auf dieser Analyse ist zu schlussfolgern, dass das Konzept „windows of opportunities“ in der Tat die Veränderungen in den progressivsten Phasen erklären kann.