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Sustainable Transitions Narratives: An Analysis of the Literature through Topic Modelling

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  • Gianluca Stefani

    (Department of Economics and Management, University of Florence, 50127 Florence, Italy)

  • Mario Biggeri

    (Department of Economics and Management, University of Florence, 50127 Florence, Italy)

  • Lucia Ferrone

    (Department of Economics and Management, University of Florence, 50127 Florence, Italy)

Abstract

A large and fast-growing field of studies, known as sustainability transitions, emerged at the end of the 1990s, relying on a number of theoretical approaches. Transition management, strategic niche management, sociotechnical transition and technological innovation systems are among the most popular frameworks used to theorize sustainability transitions, although other approaches have been used as well. Our research analyses a specific corpus of text composed of approximately 3500 abstracts of papers collected in the Scopus database related to the term sustainability transition with the help of machine learning techniques. We explore related subfields of this literature, both related to theoretical framework or sectoral focus and their evolution across years and publication outlets, depicting different sustainability narratives.

Suggested Citation

  • Gianluca Stefani & Mario Biggeri & Lucia Ferrone, 2022. "Sustainable Transitions Narratives: An Analysis of the Literature through Topic Modelling," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(4), pages 1-25, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:4:p:2085-:d:747605
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Aschemann-Witzel, Jessica & Mulders, Maartje D.G.H. & Mouritzen, Simone Lykke Tranholm, 2023. "Outside-in and bottom-up: Using sustainability transitions to understand the development phases of mainstreaming plant-based in the food sector in a meat and dairy focused economy," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 197(C).
    2. Leonardo Cei & Gianluca Stefani & Luca Rossetto, 2024. "Twenty Years of Socio-Economic Research on Organic Agriculture Across the World: Looking at the Past to Be Ready for the Future," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 14(11), pages 1-23, October.
    3. Abel, Dennis & Lieth, Jonas & Jünger, Stefan, 2024. "Mapping the spatial turn in social science energy research. A computational literature review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 201(C).

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