Within the multi-level perspective (MLP) on sustainability transitions, there has been a rise in research on storylines and discursive framing that have become more central in understanding how competing narratives shape the trajectories of innovation. This paper examines how policy actors and stakeholders construct and frame competing scenario narratives of sustainable aviation futures. Using a scenario narrative framing approach, we analyze empirical data from focus groups and interviews with Swedish aviation sector actors. The findings reveal a discursive split: one set of narratives supports an active state fostering sustainable aviation through niche innovation (aligned with ecological modernism), while another advocates for limiting aviation altogether (reflecting green theory). These national narratives are contrasted by a multilateral, risk-averse discourse calling for international or EU-level decision-making processes. Our results highlight a deeper divide — scenario narratives are polarized and politicized, with transport mode innovations increasingly tied to political identities. Centre-right actors tend to support aviation innovation over rail, while green and Centre-left actors often argue the reverse. This politicization reflects broader discursive struggles, as seen in debates such as the proposed closure of Västerås regional airport and Bromma airport. This includes dissuading tourists who use aircrafts, excluding aviation from approaches to collective traffic and lacking integration in any public transport system. This leads to aviation being perceived neither as private nor collective transport in discourses and as ambivalent in policies.

Achieving sustainable biowaste management is a key challenge for cities worldwide. In this context, biowaste valorization is an indispensable option for managing unavoidable biowaste and reducing the associated methane emissions. Several innovations that enable biowaste valorization are technologically mature. However, their implementation is still limited in most cities around the world. Therefore, it is essential to better understand the different pathways towards implementing biowaste valorization. This paper presents a case-study of two countries at different phases in their transition to biowaste valorization: Sweden as a case at a mature phase and Greece as a case at a formative phase. We apply the Technological Innovation Systems framework to investigate how innovation systems for biowaste valorization develop and associated path-dependencies. Our findings show that various path-dependence lock-ins can occur at different transition phases. Our empirical insights suggest that a focus on the diffusion of certain mature innovations can support the growth of biowaste valorization systems. However, it can also lead to path-dependence lock-ins that influence the systems’ resilience to shocks. We thus recommend decision-makers to pursue balance between the rapid diffusion of mature innovations for biowaste valorization and parallel support for experimenting with more radical innovations to harness the systems’ resilience to shocks.

The aim of this paper is to analyse contemporary transitions in the aviation industry in Sweden. We take a durational perspective to consider narratives as coordinating mechanism in sustainability transitions. We find that industry actors are constructing narratives for alternative aircraft fuels and technologies as they seek to maintain aviation's societal function whilst mitigating its climate impact. By reconciling memories of the past with their expectations for the future, narratives act to coordinate actors’ transition activities in the present. In this way, narrative are more than an initiator of transitions, but constitute paths in-the-making, highlighting the agency of actors in enacting change in the present and shaping sustainability transitions of the future.

Aviation and maritime shipping are hard-to-abate transport sectors that are heavily dependent on fossil fuels. They jointly account for nearly 10 % of global greenhouse gas emissions, while infrastructure and investments are locked into high-carbon pathways for decades. Fuels and technologies to decarbonize include advanced biofuels, electrofuels, hydrogen and electric propulsion. This research aims to analyse the decarbonization strategies for maritime shipping and aviation from a comparative perspective, and analyzing the role of different actors for disruption to break through carbon lock-in and path dependency. The research uses Sweden as a case study and applies qualitative methods, including expert interviews, focus group discussions and site visits. Our research finds that aviation and maritime shipping are slowly changing, albeit with different dynamics. Both sectors show that incumbent regime actors play a major role in shaping transition pathways and disrupting the (quasi)equilibrium, while niche innovation is often developed together by incumbents and niche players.

The maritime shipping industry accounts for 3 % of global greenhouse gas emissions and delivers 90 % of globally traded goods. Maritime shipping is heavily reliant on fossil fuels. There is increasing policy pressure to cut emissions to achieve the Paris Agreement and to meet decarbonization targets. This paper aims to analyze sector coupling for decarbonization and sustainable energy transitions in maritime shipping, exploring the interlinkages between the transport, energy, industry, agriculture and forestry sectors. First, this paper analyses the opportunities and barriers for sector coupling between the maritime shipping sector and other industries. Second, this paper adds new knowledge on the wider implications of sustainable energy transitions and decarbonization for the maritime shipping sector, the role of various stakeholders in supporting or impeding sustainable energy transitions, policy issues at the international, regional and national level and the links to sector coupling. This research uses a mixed methods approach, applying both qualitative research including interviews and quantitative energy modeling. The research thereby links theories from sustainability transitions with techno-economic modeling approaches. Our research finds that the sector couplings between the transport, energy, industry, agriculture and forestry sectors are of growing importance as maritime shipping is transitioning towards decarbonized and renewable marine fuels. At the same time there is competition for scarce natural resources with other sectors, including aviation and road transport. Socio-technical aspects, particularly of financial and political nature, are key factors that determine the speed and direction of the transition, yet they remain under-explored.

This timely Handbook presents the latest knowledge on technological innovation for climate change mitigation and adaptation. Looking beyond technical fixes, it further draws on economics, politics and sociology to explore how modern technology can contribute to effective and socially just sustainability transitions. Examining cutting-edge research on energy, transport and industry, this Handbook argues that we have the technologies and policy instruments needed to mitigate and adapt to climate change. However, for larger-scale implementation the support at the socio-economic and political levels has to be increased. Chapters further analyse the role that technology plays in key sectors, such as agriculture and forestry, in order to become more sustainable. Contributors also reflect on the position of technology in society, illustrating the wider socio-technical systems that determine the impact that new technologies can have. They call for the political will to implement and scale up technological measures to address climate change across the world. The Handbook on Climate Change and Technology will be essential reading for academics and students of climate change, energy, sustainability, and environmental governance and regulation. It will also be an invaluable resource for practitioners and policymakers seeking a deeper understanding of the role of technology in sustainability transitions.