Entrepreneurship and alignment work in the Swedish water and sanitation sector

被引:0
|
作者
Blomkvist, Par [1 ]
Karpouzoglou, Timos [2 ]
Nilsson, David [2 ]
Wallin, Jorgen [3 ]
机构
[1] Malardalen Univ, Div Org & Management, Hogskoleplan 1, S-72220 Vasteras, Sweden
[2] KTH Royal Inst Technol, Div Hist Sci Technol & Environm, Brinellvagen 8, S-11428 Stockholm, Sweden
[3] KTH Royal Inst Technol, Dept Energy Technol, Div Appl Thermodynam & Refrigerat, Brinellvagen 8, S-11428 Stockholm, Sweden
关键词
Water and sanitation systems (WSS); Innovation; Infrastructure; Entrepreneurship; Sustainability transitions; SOCIOTECHNICAL SYSTEMS; DYNAMICS; TRANSITIONS; INNOVATION; MANAGEMENT; INSIGHTS; REGIMES;
D O I
10.1016/j.techsoc.2023.102280
中图分类号
D58 [社会生活与社会问题]; C913 [社会生活与社会问题];
学科分类号
摘要
Water and sewage (WS) systems are, like most grid based infrastructural systems, often centralised and hierarchical and the end user has almost no possibility to influence the technical standards, business models or system architecture. The preferred method for connecting new areas to the grid are underground water pipes and gravity flow for sewage. Thus, the WS system is "tightly coupled". It is hard to change and conservative in its system culture, exhibiting a strong "momentum" or "path dependence".In this article we investigate an unusual case in the development of WS-systems. As a rule, WS-systems, as most infrastructural systems, develop gradually through incremental innovations, and system owners/utilities traditionally build their systems "from the inside out". In our case, we investigate a situation where the end users took the initiative to connect a residential area, Aspvik, part of the municipality of Va & BULL;rmdo & BULL;, outside Stockholm, Sweden, to the municipal grid and thus expand the WS-system, not from the inside out, but from the outside in.Furthermore, we highlight another unusual feature: the role of a resident that acted as the "entrepreneur" in this process of WS-system expansion. The entrepreneur had unique trust building abilities in the local community, which the regime actor (the WS utility), could not match. Historically, inventor-entrepreneurs have been common, acting as "system builders" in the establishment phase of new infrastructural systems. However, entrepreneurs outside the regime are not common in the WS sector.Although atypical in mature WS systems in developed countries, these types of local initiatives or hybrid solutions are common in developing countries. In this article, we argue that there are lessons to be learnt from our case, when dealing with system expansion processes both inside and outside the Global North.
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页数:9
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