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This working paper is part of the Socio-Technical Configuration Analysis (STCA) guidebook for beginners (see stca.guide). It serves as Chapter 1 of the guidebook, and introduces the conceptual and methodological foundations for the different analytical steps that are explained in subsequent chapters. We elaborate on the theoretical contexts in which socio-technical configurations, their dynamics and geographical variation play a key role and how this epistemological approach relates to well-established conceptual frameworks from innovation and transition studies. In STCA, statements or actions of actors that are reported in document stocks are aggregated into different forms of network or proximity map graphs, which can be interpreted as coherent storylines or strategies reflecting institutionalized socio-technical configurations shared by various actors. Shifts over time of these networks can then be interpreted as depicting transition dynamics, and comparisons across space as local variations of regime or innovation system structures. The paper introduces a coherent terminology to help researchers navigate through the different steps and software programs. It furthermore elaborates on a typology of research problems that can be analyzed through STCA and an overview on the generic steps that a researcher has to conduct when applying the method.

Classic accounts of transitions research have dominantly built on reconstructions of historical transition processes and in-depth case studies to identify and conceptualize socio-technical change. While such approaches have substantively improved our understanding of transitions, they often suffer from a methodological nationalism and lack of generalizability of the insights gained. To address this gap, we propose a novel methodology – socio-technical network analysis (STNA) – to map and measure socio-technical alignment processes across time and space. STNA provides a relational and dynamic perspective on how social and technical elements get reconfigured and aligned into “configurations that work†, allowing for the identification of differentiated transition trajectories at and across spatial context. The method’s performance is illustrated by the empirical case of ongoing transition processes in the global water sector. Building on this illustration, we outline potential future avenues of research, sketching the contours of what we believe could become a very generative conceptual perspective and methodological approach for transitions research in the future.

Research in economic geography has recently been challenged to adopt more institutional and multiscalar perspectives on industrial path development. This article contributes to this debate by integrating insights from (evolutionary) economic geography as well as transition and innovation studies into a conceptual framework of how path creation in emerging industries depends on the availability of both knowledge and legitimacy. Unlike the extant literature, we argue here that not only the former but also the latter may substantially depend on nonlocal sources. Conceptually, we distinguish between multiscalar export, attraction, and absorption of legitimacy. Coupled with conventional knowledge indicators, this approach enables us to reconstruct how not only external knowledge sourcing but also multiscalar institutional dynamics contribute to a region or country’s ability to leverage its potential for path creation in an emerging industry. Methodologically, we develop legitimation indicators from a global media database, which was built around the case of modular water technologies. Cross-comparing the evidence from six key countries (India, Israel, Singapore, South Africa, the UK, the US) with differing path creation constellations for this emerging industry, allows us to hypothesize how multiscalar legitimation influences a country’s prospects for creating a radically new industrial path.

Policy targeting the integration of cross-border regional innovation systems (CBRIS) plays a crucial role in terms of reaching the European Union’s cohesion goals. So far, little research has been done on how policy structures shape the integration of cross-border regional innovation systems. Applying Rogge and Reichardt’s (2016) policy mix for sustainability transitions concept to a cross-border context this thesis investigates the policy structure of the German-Danish Sønderjylland-Schleswig cross-border region. It explores how policy elements and processes foster or hinder the integration of the CBRIS, departing from a case study of an implemented cross-border cluster instrument for the cleantech industries that are emphasized in regional strategies on both sides of the border. The thesis finds policy structures to be at most weakly integrated, contrasting results from Makkonen et al. (2016). The weak integration is reflected by a lack of consistency of crossborder policy elements caused by incoherent policy-making, which in turn results in a low credibility and comprehensiveness of the mix. Based on these findings, the thesis develops suggestions for possible short-term and long-term policy adjustments. The cross-border policy-mix framework developed in this study proves to be a valuable tool for future studies to analyse policy structure integration in a CBRIS and, particularly, for mixed-method research designs focusing on several dimensions of integration.