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Socio-technical transitions towards more sustainable modes of production and consumption are receiving increasing attention in the academic world and also from political and economic decision-makers. There is increasing demand for resource-efficient technologies and institutional innovations, particularly at the city level. However, it is widely unclear how processes of change evolve and develop and how they are embedded in different socio-spatial contexts. While numerous scholars have contributed to the vibrant research field around sustainability transitions, the geographical expertise largely has been ignored. The lack of knowledge about the role of spatial contexts, learning processes, and the co-evolution of technological, economical, and socio-political processes has been prominently addressed. Bridging approaches from Transition Studies and perspectives of Economic Geography, the paper presents conceptual ideas for an evolutionary and relational understanding of urban sustainability transitions. The paper introduces new perspectives on sustainability transitions towards a better understanding of socio-spatial contexts.

Cities are suggested as being the key level for shifts towards more sustainable modes of production and consumption. The building sector with its significant carbon footprint plays an important role in urban climate change adaptation strategies. Using the case study of Brisbane (Australia), the paper examines the place-specific contextualisation of green building transitions by analysing the co-evolution and interplay of building practices, policy making and involved actors. Drawing on theoretical approaches of Transition Studies and Evolutionary Economic Geography, we trace back and analyse policy and economic trajectories focusing on formative and hindering processes. The paper discusses ambivalent pathways and 'regime resistance' caused by local economic and political specificities. The analysis illustrates how crucial the continual support from both policy makers and industry actors can be when economic market mechanisms do not drive sustainability transitions. Regime actors can play a powerful role as 'transition detractors' and can determine the dynamics and the scope of sustainability transitions. (C) 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Small-scale producers of agricultural goods are becoming more and more involved in global commodity chains. Increasing and more volatile food prices are major chal--lenges for smallholders who play a key role in achieving food security in many countries of the Global South but at the same time suffer from food insecurity them-selves. Paradoxically, small-scale producers cannot fully benefit from increasing food prices as the global food price crisis 2007/08 showed. This paper aims to provide some initial insights into smallholder households' decision-making in their dual role as con-sumers and producers of food in the light of food price changes and changing market conditions. It presents the empirical results of twelve Focus Group Discussions with smallholder farmers in four villages around Rajshahi City in North-Western Bangla-desh, and the findings of additional expert interviews. (Internationales Asienforum/DIE)

Monitoring and tracing product and process qualities along global supply chains have become increasingly challenging tasks for companies at the downstream end of the chain. High levels of uncertainty in trade coordination arise among importing companies in the face of these developments. The conceptual aim of this paper is to show, by the example of organic food imports to Germany and Australia, how convention theory can contribute to the analysis of trade coordination in global value chains. Our empirical results affirm that industrial conventions such as standards and third-party certification have gained increasing significance over the past two decades. Simultaneously, however, we argue that industrial conventions are not enough to overcome uncertainties in trade. They do not necessarily lead to reduced differences in perceptions of product quality between suppliers and importers. Less tangible factors such as trust established through relationship management and reputation are likewise significant. Furthermore, not only companies with a certain ideological tradition, but also individual people with altruistic motives within other types of firms, can determine how 'dedicated' a firm is in pushing trade coordination according to civic and domestic conventions. Market conventions (ie, the importance of price and competitiveness) are stressed more by Australian firms reflecting the country's liberal market economy and low state subsidies especially in the area of agriculture. Finally, compromises between conventions are sometimes necessary to end a situation of conflict between buyer and supplier.

Purpose This study targeted hospitality family business owners as essential pillars of the tourism industry. How they perceive aspects of the crisis and what they derive organizational resilience from, including the role of their human resources, are explored. Internal and external factors of resilience are analyzed alongside different levels of resilience action. Design/methodology/approach The World Health Organization announced coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) as a pandemic on March 11, 2020. In Tirol, the hospitality industry has particularly been affected as tourism businesses find themselves in the challenging times of returning to normal business, corresponding to the fourth phase in Faulkner's (2001) Tourism Disaster Management Framework. The authors used a qualitative exploratory approach, using semi-structured interviews. Findings In taking on a holistic explorative approach, the authors determined several methods used by entrepreneurs in dealing with a pandemic crisis to increase business resilience at a specific stage. Internal and external resilience factors have been detected among three levels of resilience action (personal, regional and governmental). The most surprising result of the semi-structured in-depth interviews was the entrepreneurs' rather positive outlook. Originality/value Generally, this study creates an in-depth understanding of the tourism businesses in their dealing with a global crisis, using family business owners as an exemplary stakeholder group. The authors bridge a gap in the literature by applying a holistic explorative approach in the early stage of a never seen worldwide crisis and by addressing organizational resilience. Three levels of resilience action give new insight into how the beginning of a pandemic crisis is handled and perceived by hospitality family business entrepreneurs.

"Der Beitrag befasst sich mit der Praxis der betrieblichen Umweltkommunikation innerhalb des Öko-Audit-Systems. Er analysiert die Kommunikation zwischen Unternehmen und externen Anspruchsgruppen in vier Teilschritten. Die ersten drei Teilschritte beschäftigen sich mit der Einschätzung der betrieblichen Umweltkommunikation aus unterschiedlichen Perspektiven. Einen methodisch ungewöhnlichen Weg beschreitet der letzte Teil der Untersuchung. An einem ausgewählten Unternehmensstandort wurde ein sogenanntes 'Umweltforum' organisiert, um eine Plattform für den Dialog zwischen dem Unternehmen und den regionalen Anspruchsgruppen zu etablieren. Die empirischen Ergebnisse belegen, dass ein wirklicher Dialog zwischen Unternehmen und externen Anspruchsgruppen über Themen des betrieblichen Umweltschutzes bislang nur in wenigen Ausnahmefällen stattfindet. Permanente Umweltbeiräte bzw. 'liaison groups' können Kommunikationsdefizite verringern, ihre Durchführung ist aber sehr aufwändig. Vor allem für kleine und mittlere Unternehmen erscheinen flexiblere Netzwerkstrukturen zweckmäßiger. Informelle, aber regelmäßige Gespräche mit verschiedenen lokalen und regionalen Anspruchsgruppen sind eine zentrale Voraussetzung, damit solche Netzwerke funktionieren. Regelmäßig veranstaltete Umweltforen können solchen Netzwerken jeweils neue Impulse geben." (Autorenreferat)