Innovation and institutional change: the transition to a sustainable ...

60 Chapter 3
society. A further section introduces the multi-level perspective on systems
change as a second perspective that is utilised in this book.
3.2 An institutional perspective on systems change
Fundamental change in the electricity system will imply the emergence and
spread of alternative technological and organisational forms in the larger
context of the electricity system. The connection between technological and
organisational form is a crucial one. The implication is that the way
technology is handled, applied and used is related to various modes of
organisation and coordination, such as the way various technologies and
components are related to each other, procedures regarding the way the
technology is handled, and division of labour regarding various levels of
operation for the technology. Our conceptualisation of sociotechnical
systems is presented in Figure 3.1 and simply consists of seven
interconnected key elements.
Figure 3.1 Key elements of sociotechnical systems: the LASTPIN approach
Networks
Technologies
Structures
Actors
Practices
Key elements of systems: the LASTPIN approach
Institutions
Linkages
The starting point in the analysis is the existence of contemporary systems of
production and consumption in which activities and decisions of actors are