Browsing by Author "O'Rourke, Eamonn Christopher"
Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
Results Per Page
Sort Options
- ItemNatural building in South Africa : assessing the niche-regime relationship through a 'latent niche' mediation(Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2015-04) O'Rourke, Eamonn Christopher; Brent, Alan C.; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences. School of Public Leadership.ENGLISH ABSTRACT: In this thesis I examine the natural building movement in South Africa in an attempt to determine the systemic influences that appear to confine it to a small market operating at the very edge of the mainstream building sector. I make use of the conceptual framework of the multi-level perspective to explore the interrelationships between natural building as a technological niche and the mainstream building sector as the dominant regime. I extend the concept of a technological niche by appending the term 'latent' to form the term 'latent technological niche', to describe a technology with sustainability credentials that fails to break into the mainstream market, despite achieving technological maturity and constant though minimal market share. The research objectives of this thesis are to: identify pathways for the natural building niche to move beyond its latent state; to determine how the translations of natural building practices to the building sector might occur; and how this might transform the building sector regime. I explore how action research involving knowledge sharing between multi-stakeholder, niche and regime actors might stimulate debate and subsequent action to overcome entry barriers; and serve as a catalyst to advance a latent technological niche beyond its confined market. I present an action research method, a 'latent technological mediation', of facilitated 1st and 2nd order social learning. This is used as a mechanism of tapping into the immediate knowledge of actors in the socio-technical regime. The purpose being to identify the external forces and internal processes of a latent technological niche. The status of a latent technological niche is assessed by comparing these processes in the context of external forces against seven processes, presented in this thesis. These seven processes are considered crucial for a technology to break into the mainstream market and are adapted from the internal processes of success, described in the literature on strategic niche management and the characteristics of a successful 'bounded socio-technical experiment' (BSTE) described in the conceptual work on BSTE's. The potential for natural building systems to enter the mainstream building sector, particularly in South Africa, is used as a case study to apply the latent technological mediation method. The findings of this research suggest that the mainstream building sector is undergoing a transition following the path of socio-techical transformation. The uncertainty introduced by the parallel system of informal settlement, which may drive transition along the more dramatic technological substitution or de-alignment and re-alignment transition pathways is briefly explored.