| dc.description.abstract | Urban living labs, maker spaces, innovation labs, hackathons – experimental practices by local government institutions mushroom across the urban realm. In both theory and practice the transformative potential of experimentation is rooted in a paradoxical promise of learning. Yet, the underlying causality of who, learns what and how and how this learning fosters the transformation of urban governance remains underexplored. By drawing on two distinct theories on experimentation – sociotechnical transitions and urban governance, this research seeks to address the question how learning from experimental practices enable systemic and structural transformation in government institutions. In an abductive, embedded case study of a program for experimentation and innovation at the Province of Utrecht, this research scrutinizes the transformational impact of experimental practices in a government organization by utilizing a mixed method research design. Three exemplary patterns of experimentation at the Province of Utrecht are identified (1) experiments as innovation projects, (2) experimentation as generative practices, and (3) experimentation as mode of governance. These patterns are distinct in regard to how they deal with conditions of complexity, uncertainty and political ambiguity. A reduction of these conditions enables epistemic learning from experimentation, thereby contributing to improvement of efficiency and effectiveness of a stable institutional environment. Experimental practices embracing political ambiguity enable political learning, which contributes to the transformation towards experimental governance. The institutional capacity for reflexive metalearning is crucial in the unlocking of systemic and structural transformative potential through balancing different patterns of experimentation. | |
