Abstract

Government and industry increasingly recognise the need to develop a more circular, resource efficient and bioeconomy that is less dependent on fossil resources. Industrial symbiosis, in this study interpreted as biowaste-to-resource innovation, is a proven strategy to limit carbon emissions whilst increasing resource-efficiency and business growth. However, the effects of governance on the implementation of industrial symbiosis have remained under-explored. Hence this study analysed the governance system for biowaste-to-resource innovation in the Humber region, UK. Key individuals within governmental and associated organisations were interviewed in 2014. The results revealed that, since 2012, public sector cuts and sub-national governance changes resulted in the removal of several organisations from the regional governance network, while capacity within the remaining organisations decreased in terms of connectivity within and between governing organisations, delivered governance activities, and crucial resources including people, money, and knowledge and skills to promote resource innovation. Formal governance to specifically monitor, plan and promote (bio)waste-to-resource innovation is now virtually absent in the Humber region. This study recommends strengthening the governance for biowaste-to-resource innovation by a) increasing integration and flexibility of the regulatory ‘landscape’ across governmental departments at all governance levels; b) building better connections between national and regional level governmental organisations as well as within the Humber region; and c) investing in knowledge and skills as well as operational capacity of regional governance actors. These recommendations should contribute to restoring the balance between regional capacity and the national ambitions to promote biowaste-to-resource innovation as part of the circular bioeconomy.

Introduction

Industrial symbiosis in the bioeconomy

In the face of increasing resource scarcity and climate change, society urgently needs to move towards a more circular, resource efficient and bio-based economy1 that is less dependent on fossil resources (OECD, 2009; Laybourn and Morrissey, 2009; UNEP, 2011; Dobbs et al., 2011; EC, 2011a, 2011b; Lee et al., 2012; Lin et al., 2013; Finster and Hernke, 2014; Hoffman et al., 2014; IPCC, 2014; Morgan, 2014; Rowney, 2014). In the UK the development of a waste-based bioeconomy¹ has been suggested as a strategy to reduce dependency on fossil and other finite resources, and constrain carbon emissions whilst generating economic benefits including increased sustainability and energy security (DEFRA and BIS, 2012; Science and Technology Select Committee, 2014; Government, 2014, 2015a; Allen et al., 2015). Simultaneously, industrial symbiosis has been recognised as a strategy to promote resource efficiency and business development whilst limiting carbon emissions (Laybourn and Morrissey, 2009; EC, 2011a). Industrial symbiosis can be described as the development of working agreements between industrial and other organisations that, through the innovative reuse, recycling or sharing of resources, lead to resource efficiency (Jensen et al., 2011). Industrial symbiosis could contribute to the development of the bioeconomy through biowaste-to-resource innovation (Figure 1) (Velenturf, 2015).

Governance of industrial symbiosis

Although the benefits of industrial symbiosis have been broadly recognised, understanding how it can be promoted by governmental organisations is limited (Velenturf and Jensen, 2015). Literature from the field suggests that successful promotion of industrial symbiosis requires a combination of top-down interventions that fit to bottom-up characteristics and processes, tailored to the context within which these innovations are to be developed (Ehrenfeld and Gertler, 1997; Desrochers, 2004; Gibbs and Deutz, 2007; Park et al., 2008; Laybourn and Morrissey, 2009; Costa and Ferrão, 2010; Shi et al., 2010; Mathews and Tan, 2011; Christensen, 2012; Paquin and Howard-Grenville, 2012; Jensen, 2016). Although some practical insights to inform governance of industrial symbiosis have been published (e.g. Zilahy and Milton, 2008; Laybourn and Morrissey, 2009; Costa and Ferrão, 2010; Paquin and Howard-Grenville, 2012), practical instruments to support the implementation of resource efficiency policy and regulation, including measures to promote industrial symbiosis, are generally under-developed in Europe (Lehtoranta et al., 2011). Indeed, the effects of governance, particularly the actual activities of governmental organisations, on the implementation of industrial symbiosis have remained under-explored and need to be researched (Jiao and Boons, 2014; Deutz and Loppolo, 2015).

Empirical results have suggested that governmental organisations can either help or hinder in overcoming regulatory barriers during the implementation of industrial symbiosis (Velenturf, 2015; Salmi et al., 2012). In other words, the way in which policy and regulation is implemented is important for the success of industrial symbiosis (similar to findings of e.g. Bulkeley et al., 2007; Flanagan et al., 2010, 2011). Yet the challenges governmental organisations face in the implementation of industrial symbiosis have rarely been documented (an exception is Geng et al., 2010). They need the knowledge and skills to make the many small steps that eventually lead to a more resource-efficient economy in which industrial symbiosis plays a key role (Koskela et al., 2013; Lehtoranta et al., 2011). The extent of such necessary knowledge and skills within governmental organisations requires further research (also see Deutz and Frostick, 2009), in order to assess what roles and activities could reasonably be expected from them and to formulate realistic recommendations for the promotion of industrial symbiosis.

Given the limited understanding of the governance of industrial symbiosis, literature suggests that it would be sensible to facilitate learning between governmental organisations and other stakeholders whilst governing in a flexible and adaptive manner. Such governance through network steering, involving partnerships between state- and non-state stakeholders (Bulkeley et al., 2007), is reflected in systems of innovation literature. Systems of innovation consist of 1) institutions guiding innovation and 2) the innovation network. While systems of innovation acknowledge the role that markets play in innovation, they emphasise the importance of networks. Innovation occurs through continuous interaction between actors. Hence, bringing the right actors and relations in place, whilst ensuring the effective functioning of the network, is key to learning and innovation (Tödtling and Trippl, 2005; Chaminade and Edquist, 2005; Lundvall et al., 2002). Systems of innovation have been adopted in research on sustainable transitions. In addition to technological innovation, transitions also require changes in institutions and social practices (e.g. Geels and Schot, 2007; Bergh et al., 2011). In other words, transitions pertain to innovations that disrupt existing regimes (such as the linear and fossil-dependent economy) and instead contribute to emerging regimes (such as the growing circular bioeconomy). This focus on new disruptive industries puts transition governance in contrast to governance of innovation focused on strengthening existing industries (Alkemade et al., 2011). Industrial symbiosis can range from incremental innovations in existing industries up to more radical changes requiring regulatory changes or even the emergence of new markets, the latter showing resemblance to sustainable transitions (Velenturf, 2015; Velenturf et al., Forthcoming). These degrees of innovation may require a different governance focus, such as indicated by research on systems of innovation and sustainable transitions. However, both approaches require networks of heterogeneous actors that continuously interact during the implementation of policies in a flexible and adaptive manner (Bergh et al., 2011; Alkemade et al., 2011). Hence, similar governance structures and practices may be encountered in the exploration of governance systems for industrial symbiosis.

Empirical exploration of governance for biowaste-to-resource innovation

This article builds on Velenturf’s (2015) observations of how companies in the emerging bioenergy sector in the Humber region (UK) realised one specific type of industrial symbiosis: biowaste-to-resource innovations (Figure 1). In this study the interaction between the actors involved in the innovation process, such as the innovating company and governmental organisations, was identified as crucial. While some interactions between companies and local and regional governmental organisations worked well for the innovation at hand, others required improvement. It was suggested that knowledge of the industries, technologies, and (waste) resources within the governmental organisations played a central role in the ability to support the innovation processes. The way in which governmental organisations interacted with companies during the innovation process also proved to be important, for example in some cases interaction was perceived as extremely procedural while in other cases a more collaborative attitude was observed.

This paper builds on these findings and aims to extend understanding of the role played by local and regional governmental organisations in the Humber region in biowaste-to-resource innovations. Given the modest knowledge base for the governance of industrial symbiosis, this article presents a qualitative study analysing the governance system and exploring the following questions: 1) Who was involved in the governance; 2) What role governmental and associated organisations perceived themselves and others to play; 3) Through what activities they carried out their role; and 4) Why governance was delivered in this way. Ultimately this article aims to formulate recommendations for the governance of biowaste-to-resource innovation in the Humber region and beyond.

The next section introduces the Humber region, followed by the methods used to analyse the qualitative research gaps. Key findings are presented in “Perspectives from regional governmental organisations on the governance of biowaste-to-resource innovation”. The article concludes with a discussion and recommendations for governmental organisations.

Research setting: the Humber region, UK

The Humber region is located in the northeast of England. The Humber ports (Immingham, Hull, Grimsby and Goole) form one of the busiest port complexes in Europe. The region is a mature and diverse industrial area; In addition to the well-developed agricultural sector, main industries include food and wood processing, chemicals, metals, fuel and power facilities (Penn et al., 2014; NOMIS, 2015; Jensen, 2016). The high concentration of industries contributes to the wider Yorkshire and Humber region being one of the largest CO2 emitters in the UK (Yorkshire and the Humber Regional Committee, 2010). Hence this area could be pivotal in achieving the UK’s carbon reduction targets (Government, 2009). Indeed, the Humber region has committed itself to the expanding offshore wind sector and identified opportunities in the bioenergy sector (Humber Local Enterprise Partnership, 2014). Additionally, the Humber region has been identified as an opportunity-rich area for growth in the biochemicals sector (UKTI, 2009). Finally, significant expertise regarding the uptake of (bio)waste-to-resource innovation has accumulated in the area. The Humber region is a known case study in the literature on industrial symbiosis and resource efficiency (e.g. Mirata, 2004; Laybourn and Morrissey, 2009; Jensen et al., 2012; Wang, 2013; Velenturf, 2015). In recent years various biowaste-to-resource innovations have been adopted in this area including, for instance, industrial plants converting fatty food wastes into biodiesel and anaerobic digesters converting food wastes into biogas and fertiliser (Laybourn and Morrissey, 2009; Bondholders, 2014).

The region is divided into four local government authorities situated around the Humber estuary. These are the North East Lincolnshire, North Lincolnshire, Hull City, and East Riding of Yorkshire Councils. Each largely has their own planning and development agendas and goals. Rooted in the fishing industry, the north and south bank of the Humber have been competitors in the past and the respective local authorities have been reluctant to collaborate on economic development. However, the fishing industry has dwindled and both sides of the estuary have been increasingly urged to collaborate on economic regeneration. The shared estuary with its strategically important geography for port development and offshore industry is seen as key to economic growth. In 2012 the Regional Development Agency (RDA), which collaborated with the local authorities and worked on the development of the wider Yorkshire and Humber region, was dissolved. Instead, since 2012, the local authorities around the estuary, industry and various other organisations collaborate in the government-backed Humber Local Enterprise Partnership (Humber LEP).

While economic development and structural change are urgently needed, the region faces several innovation challenges. The Humber region has performed below the UK average for innovation and was characterised as an innovation follower (BIS, 2011; EU, 2012). In particular, it scored low in the uptake of environmental technologies (EU 2012). This is problematic given the central position the region aims to play in renewable energy supply, including bioenergy (Humber Local Enterprise Partnership, 2014; Bondholders, 2014). In contrast to other regions in the UK, Research and Development (R&D) is typically carried out within companies rather than being contracted out to other facilities (BIS, 2011). Nevertheless, companies did collaborate for product and process innovation, for which knowledge was predominantly sourced within business groups or from suppliers and clients (BIS, 2011). This may adversely affect potential for (bio)waste-to-resource innovation for two known reasons. First, given that companies in the Humber region mainly trade to regional and national markets, innovation may be negatively affected as evidence suggests that companies with both local and global connections have higher innovation performance (Asheim and Isaksen, 2002; Broekel et al., 2010). Second, (bio)waste-to-resource innovations are likely to involve collaboration with a more diverse range of resource partners from previously unconnected industries (Chertow, 2000; Jensen, 2016). The National Industrial Symbiosis Programme (NISP) (Table 1) practitioners previously employed their in-depth knowledge of local businesses to develop cross-industry partnerships and promote (bio)waste-to-resource innovation (Laybourn and Morrissey, 2009; Jensen et al., 2011). However, in 2012 NISP lost governmental support for its activities in the region.

Methods

Research approach

In the introduction it was argued that governance of industrial symbiosis is still a nascent area of research (also see Velenturf and Jensen, 2015). Qualitative research gaps were outlined, including practical governance instruments and the actual activities through which industrial symbiosis is governed, understanding challenges for governmental organisations, and the knowledge and skills that they need to support industrial symbiosis. Hence this study adopted a qualitative exploratory research approach (Mason, 2002).

The realisation of industrial symbiosis involves waste-resource suppliers and clients, technology providers, governmental organisations and various other actors who may be engaged in the innovation process (Velenturf, 2015). As a result the governance of industrial symbiosis also needs to be collaborative in nature involving state- and non-state actors who are engaging through networks in a flexible and adaptive manner (as discussed in the introduction). Given the significance of understanding such networks, this study uses network analysis to explore how and why relations within and between governmental and associated organisations developed (Scott, 2000; Borgatti et al., 2009; Hollstein, 2011).

Data collection

During 2014, 17 interviews were carried out with individuals working in key roles within nine governmental organisations or organisations delivering tasks for/ supporting governmental organisations. Interviewees were identified through regional networking activities as well as online searches and referrals. Interviewees were selected on the basis of their job title/description and/or involvement in (biowaste-to-resource) innovation in the Humber region. The interviews were carried out in an open and exploratory manner in order to gather the interviewees’ accounts on a number of subjects. Interview questions had to be tailored to specific interviewees as they had different functions with often very different foci. Additionally, improvisation was necessary during the interviews, because competencies regarding biowaste-to-resource innovation, bio-based developments, or innovation in general varied from almost absent to expert level. As such, the interviews could be characterised as edging towards ‘in-depth’ on the continuum from structured to semi-structured and depth interviewing techniques (Jones, 2004; Bryman, 2012).

Building on Velenturf (2015), the initial plan was to focus the interviews on biowaste-to-resource innovation. However, in the engagement with potential interviewees it became clear that this focus was too narrow and it created a barrier in the recruitment of participants from some organisations. Hence the research focus was broadened to include all bio-based developments in the Humber region. This made the topic more familiar for potential participants and helped them identify and engage with the research. During the interviews, however, interviewees tended to either speak specifically about biowaste-to-resource innovation or, if this was not a particular focus in their work, about innovation and economic development in general. This was related to the interviewees’ roles, which will be further explained when presenting the key findings.

The interviews revolved around three main areas of questioning:

• General description and evaluation of the interviewees’ activities regarding biowaste-to-resource innovation and/or the bio-based economy.
• Network development including interaction with private and other public organisations.
• Collaborations to promote bio-based developments and biowaste-to-resource innovations.

All interviewees were assured of anonymity thus no personal names or job titles can be presented in this article. The regional governance network is relatively small and hence there is a risk of interviewees being identified through their statements. As such the use of direct quotes is also necessarily constrained in an effort to maintain interviewee anonymity.

Data preparation and analysis

The interviews were recorded and transcribed in full before the analysis. For some interviewees and/or organisations additional transcripts were available because research participants had been interviewed previously about general drivers and barriers for industrial symbiosis in a related project (Penn et al., 2014; Schiller et al., 2014). In total 24 transcripts were available from 11 organisations (Table 1).

All data were analysed with conceptual and open codes through literal and interpretive coding strategies (Mason, 2002; Bryman, 2012). The final coding tree included codes to analyse network structure, interactions between actors, actor roles and activities, and capacity to support (biowaste-to-resource) innovations (Table 2).

The data fragments were interpreted for every code separately whilst also analysing relations between the codes. The multiple perspectives in the coded data were used to construct a valid and accurate argument (Mason, 2002). In other words, the interviewees’ views on their own and on each other’s governance contributions were combined through the systematic analyses of coded fragments. The coded data were organised into a logic and coherent argument to gain insights into the governance system, according to the four introduced research questions (also see Table 2). The main argument that emerged from the analysis will be presented in the next section.

Table 1: Participants in 11 organisations were interviewed. Although the table provides a brief introduction to the organisations, this study questions and analyses their roles and activities in the promotion of industrial symbiosis

Table 2: To answer the research questions, various conceptual and open codes were developed during the data analysis

Perspectives from regional governmental organisations on the governance of biowaste-to-resource innovation

In this section findings from the interviews are used to answer the four research questions posed (Table 2), explaining who were involved in the governance system, followed by a comparison of roles and activities of governmental and associated organisations, revealing mismatches that will then be linked to resources and competencies present in the region.

Governance network

While participants agreed to be interviewed about biowaste-to-resource innovations and bio-based developments, discussion mostly broadened to economic development and innovation in general. Interviewees identified organisations involved in the governance network (Figure 2) and drew attention to how this had changed over time.

Since 2012 important changes occurred in the governance structure at local and regional level. Most notably, the RDA and various associated delivery bodies were dissolved. Additionally, NISP lost public support and, although it continued to exist, the services were no longer freely available and hence were not or could not be accessed by most of the organisations in the network. Simultaneously, the Humber LEP was initiated to bring together the four local councils, businesses and various other organisations involved in the economic development of the region. The changes in the governance system, which will be further discussed throughout the results, have had important consequences for strategic regional resource planning and delivery of associated industrial development, as demonstrated by this quote:

(…) there’s a lack of vision associated with that [investment in the economy] at the minute. There isn’t one from the government, because the government structures are no longer in place to be able to say this is the vision, this is the regulation, this is the direction that we want you to go in. The direction now needs to be articulated from people like the enterprise partnerships or from the sectors to be able to say, this is what we want in the Humber, this is where we want it, and then to work with local authorities to enable that to happen. (Local council interviewee, 2014)

Roles of actors involved in the governance network

Interviewees identified a diverse range of roles when discussing economic development and innovation, under which they generally grouped bio-based developments and biowaste-to-resource innovation (Figure 3). The roles could be organised into regulatory and facilitative roles, which could have a more strategic or operational focus (Table 3). Aside from interviewees from NISP (and their regional delivery partner), EA, and WRAP who have worked on biowaste-to-resource innovation specifically, most interviewees could only play a general role in governing economic development and innovation as reflected in this quote:

Yes there probably are an awful lot of those synergies that should be happening, that maybe are (…), as a local authority it isn’t something that we would necessarily get so involved with (…) because we’re just not specialist enough to do that [initiating biowaste-to-resource innovation]. (Local council interviewee, 2014)

Since 2012 there were no dedicated governmental organisations, departments or publicly funded programmes for regional waste-resource planning, bio-based developments, or (bio)waste-to-resource innovation in the Humber region. That is not to say that organisations did not dedicate resources to these developments, such as reflected in the bottom-right quote in Table 3.

Activities to deliver governance roles

This section analyses how the governmental organisations, and associated organisations, carried out the roles that were identified in the previous section. The main activities put forward by the interviewees were the organisation of, and participation in, network activities; Sign-posting companies towards others involved in the governance within the region, and linked to that, communicating between companies and governmental organisations; Attracting funding into the region and cascading it through the governance system until it reaches e.g. companies; And finally the commissioning and carrying out of research (Table 4). A local council interviewee outlined the character of their activities:

So our role is very much hand holding, making connections, networking, supporting through planning processes, through the project process, through recruitment of the workforce, it’s signposting as well… (Local council interviewee, 2014)

It is notable that for almost all activities, interviewees reported that capacity had reduced since 2012 (Table 4).

Comparing the roles (i.e. what governmental and associated organisations perceived they should be doing) to the activities (i.e. what they were actually doing) revealed mismatches which presented themselves in a variety of forms. Most interviewees talked about innovation in terms of having a role in research, R&D and business development. However, it was much harder for them to explain how innovation was actually promoted through their activities. Similarly, while various local strategies discuss the promotion of innovation, interviewees questioned whether enough operational capacity was available within the governance system to implement such strategic aims (further detailed in the next section). For example, in some councils R&D facilities have been prepared for companies, as captured in Table 4 under ‘Provide research facilities’, but these facilities have never been used for R&D purposes to the best of the interviewees’ knowledge:

…that [R&D spaces] was developed in the days of the Regional Development Agencies which in our case was Yorkshire Forward, and prior to Yorkshire Forward being dissolved along with all the other RDAs, there should have been two funding streams. One was the capital funding stream which basically got the building built, which happened but there should also have been a revenue funding stream which was there to develop the higher end [i.e. higher-end uses for by-products] and that never happened. (Local council interviewee, 2014)

While a mismatch was perceived between roles and activities for innovation specifically, the mismatch between roles and capacity to deliver on technical, environmental and resource management advice was even more visible (see e.g. ‘Regulatory advice’ in Table 4). These roles were partly carried out by NISP, whose public funding was stopped. Moreover, funding cuts also reduced capacity within the local councils and the EA (further discussed in the next section) to deliver on environmental planning, protection and management which also affects the ability to support biowaste-to-resource innovation, as expressed in the following quote:

Ten years ago (…) the Environment Agency had all the expertise it needed to support industrial symbiosis and development. In terms of technical expertise, people who had experience of all the industry sectors which had potential opportunities. (…) Unfortunately now, ten years later, particularly right now this year, I don’t feel it has either the technical expertise, or even the number of people now that it would need to support industrial symbiosis. (EA interviewee, 2014)

A different kind of mismatch could be identified in the EA’s roles and activities. While the organisation’s core role is to prevent pollution and harm to the environment and human health, part of the activities (such as during permit applications/exemption procedures) is the assessment of economic benefits, which seems to go beyond their role as it does not contribute to assessing environmental effects of industrial activities.

Table 4: Activities carried out by governmental organisations and associated organisations. Legend: Black means activity carried out by the organisation, Dark grey is activity carried out by fewer people/departments in that organisation since 2012, and Light grey is activity not carried out anymore by that organisation since 2012 in the Humber region. In the bottom row, downward arrow indicates reduced capacity, and 0 means capacity remained similar

An important mismatch was observed between generalist governance activities and the specialist activities required to support biowaste-to-resource innovation. Network activities were an important part of delivering governance within the Humber region. General open networking activities could be distinguished from subject-specific forums. This nurtured the idea that perhaps two broad types of governance processes and associated networking activities could be distinguished: General governance activities to maintain basic processes, such as infrastructure maintenance and general education, and activities to govern specific changes, such as structural regional economic development including the emergence of new sectors and/or the (re)development of industrial areas. This idea needs further thought, but there were indeed various projects and programmes within the Humber region to deliver specific changes, such as the Green Port Growth Programme which is focused on supporting businesses to capitalise on large-scale developments particularly in the offshore wind industry. Business support activities, such as presented in Table 4, are offered through this programme. Although the motivation to provide bespoke and even specialist support was observed in the organisations involved (local councils, Humber LEP and universities), it was difficult to achieve with the funding available within the programme. Funding enabled generalist activities which led to identifying the need for specialist support, such as for research and training, but additional funding application was often necessary to deliver it, as described in the following quotes outlining the generalist and specialist support:

With the Green Port Growth programme we have a number of partners. The business support strand should really be the first interaction. And what the business support will do, it will go into a company and do an audit of that company to see where it is now, where it needs to be, where it wants to get to, where its opportunities are. And then from the initial audit it will then maybe draw specialist consultancy (…) It may well have a technology that needs to develop, so the University of Hull lead on that programme (…) We’re generalist, we don’t specialise in, go in with one particular thing. (Local council interviewee, 2014)

It might be that they just need a couple of days specific consultancy from an academic or an R&D professional and it might be the University of Hull that can provide that, or it might be that they need a bit of proof of concept work doing and we can help them with that or it might be that it’s obvious that they need a bigger piece of funding that the R&D director and his pot of money will be used to help develop that even bigger research bid. (University of Hull interviewee, 2014)

The predominantly generalist approach, and the associated funding allocation, seems to be inconsistent with the delivery of specialist activities required for specific projects and programmes. However, operationalising and delivering specific targets requires resources such as money, people and knowledge, which were not always present within, or could not be acquired by, the organisations involved (further explained in the next section).

Summarising the comparison of perceived roles and actual activities, there seem to be issues with delivering sufficiently specific innovation support, environment, and waste and resource management at the regional level, all of which are directly relevant to biowaste-to-resource innovation.

Competencies in governance network

Competencies within governmental organisations were perceived by companies as important in overcoming or strengthening legislative barriers (Velenturf, 2015). Additionally, the preceding results indicate that there have been some dynamics in the competencies. Hence this section further analyses the three components of competencies, attitude, knowledge, and skills, within governmental and associated organisations and implications for biowaste-to-resource innovation.

Attitude

When discussing attitude, the importance of flexibility was brought up almost unanimously by the interviewees. While interviewees perceived some departments of governmental organisations as more flexible, which was also associated with openness, being proactive, collaborative and entrepreneurial, others were considered inflexible, which was associated with working in a highly structured, rigorous, precautionary and sometimes overly bureaucratic manner. Flexibility varied because of 1) role and focus, 2) policy and regulation, 3) knowledge and skills, 4) people and money, and 5) timing of interactions.

Role and focus: The degree of flexibility that a department could provide was associated with their role. For example, regulatory departments were generally perceived to have less flexibility than economic development departments. This was also related to the focus of a department which was partly determined by the policy and regulation being developed and/or implemented (compare for instance quotes about regulators and facilitators in Table 3).

Policy and regulation: Different actors have varying degrees of power and responsibility to develop and/or implement policy and regulation. Furthermore, despite what might seem intuitively right, the amount of policy and regulation did not appear to be directly related to the flexibility that a department could provide. For example, it was suggested that the EA had to implement much new waste regulation since 2007 which arguably made them less flexible in their interaction with companies. Conversely, the councils’ planning departments saw regulation for waste developments being withdrawn (Government, 2014), and perhaps this decreased amount of regulation should have sped up planning applications, but in reality it incapacitated them to make decisions as expressed in the following quote:

All of those [planning policy statements] went and they were replaced by something called the NPPF, the National Planning Policy Framework and that covers everything, it covers residential, it covers environment, it covers minerals, it covers every aspect of planning, but it doesn’t cover waste, because waste is intended to have its own separate national policy but we’re still waiting for that, so we’re just in a policy vacuum really. (Local council interviewee, 2014)

Knowledge: Simultaneously, planning departments also increasingly experienced knowledge gaps necessary to satisfy their regulatory obligations during planning applications. Interviewees in other departments and organisations also observed how knowledge gaps appeared in recent years (further discussed below in “Knowledge and skills”). Generally, knowledge of policy and regulation as well as markets and industrial processes supported a more flexible attitude towards potential economic developments, although knowledge requirements did vary between departments. Acquiring and processing knowledge requires the right amount of people with the right competencies. However, particularly the EA (see quote on p16) and local councils have lost knowledge capacity because restructuring and austerity measures led to redundancies in these organisations (also see EA, 2015a; LGA, 2014; NAO, 2014).

People and money: The number of redundancies, particularly visible in EA and councils’ environmental departments, coincided with the stop in public funding for a) NISP and b) the network meetings for local council planning officers working on waste (Regional Technical Advisory Board in Figure 2). It appears that environment and waste have been downgraded as a priority at national government level, and as a result lower government levels have reduced resources to work in a proactive and flexible manner with companies on (bio)waste-to-resource innovations. However, with circular economy and resource scarcity rising on the political agenda, interviewees suggested that these measures should be reviewed as there is a need to improve governance of waste and resource management such as suggested by this interviewee from the EA:

What the Environment Agency needs to do is train its staff to be regulators. By that I don’t mean people who just go out and visit sites and inspect sites and stop everything, that’s not what I mean by being a regulator. I mean to be able to go onto a site and say to a site operator, what you’re doing is causing a problem, let’s work together to solve that problem. (…) So what we need to do is have in place people who can hold those conversations and work in that collaborative way, cause we solve our environmental problem, they solve their waste disposal or financial problem. (EA interviewee, 2014)

Timing: Timing was important in relation to flexibility, because regulators could be more flexible and open before permit application processes start. During permit applications they need to follow procedures and have less flexibility to advice applicants. Conversely, as one local council interviewee explained, before the application process there is more space to collaborate and provide guidance to increase chances for a successful permit application:

(…) definitely best beforehand when they’re still in that development stage where (…) they’re still kind of at the drawing board almost. (…) whereas obviously once it’s at planning application stage it’s either take it or leave it but there isn’t much chance to kind of redesign it. So from my point of view that’s best to do it up-front. (Local council interviewee, 2014)

However, regulators often perceived to be engaged too late and as a result they could not be as flexible as they might want to be. As a result companies and other departments, such as economic development, perceived the regulators as too inflexible and engaged them even later in subsequent developments which worsened the interaction. This suggests that breaking this spiral could benefit proposed economic developments. At the moment, however, interviewees suggested that government employees do not have any performance indicators for collaboration. In other words, no performance boxes are ticked by spending time and resources collaborating within and between governments. Instead, whether or not collaboration takes place comes down to the individual employee.

Knowledge and skills

The previous section indicated that knowledge availability could impact on attitudes within governmental and associated organisations. This section will first outline knowledge and skills gaps regarding bio-based developments involving biowastes, and then analyse knowledge and skills that were available within the governance network. The results will suggest that some issues with knowledge and skills could perhaps be resolved by ‘rewiring’ the regional governance network.

The interviewees identified a broad range of knowledge gaps regarding bio-based developments (Table 5). The gaps can be grouped into questions regarding social and metabolic networks. Understanding social network developments pertains to knowledge about promoting innovation, particularly through collaboration between governmental organisations across all governance levels and also within the Humber region through public-private interactions. Understanding metabolic networks pertains to knowledge about existing and future resource flows, such as expressed in the following quotes respectively:

We have some technical knowledge gaps. One of the difficulties is, we have to make these risk-based decisions and the more uncertainty we have, the more tendency there is to have the precautionary approach. And the precautionary approach is an area where conflict can exist with industry because they want to be more risk-taking and they perceive us to be risk-averse (…) So some complex wastes, it’s quite difficult to be confident that we’ve identified all the hazards and then as a result managed appropriate risks from that hazards. So we are at the moment doing some research work trying to improve that knowledge gap, but that is one aspect where we speak to industry and we say, you need to better characterise your waste, then we can reduce our uncertainty and as a consequence we will be less risk averse. (EA interviewee, 2014)

What I think is missing is a, almost a strategic plan or overview of what is happening in the whole of the waste sector (…) with a view to actually, I guess plan into the future in terms of what those waste streams are going to be and what facilities are going to be available. (Local council interview, 2014)

Analysing the knowledge gaps regarding metabolic networks, the demand for knowledge on quantity and quality of resources was directly present in council departments such as inward investment (for example: is a development using a certain resource flow viable?) and planning (for example: is it safe?). This demand could not be satisfied at all times. Councils could only meet these knowledge needs if they had the network and budget to acquire knowledge via a specialist consultancy, but this was not within range of all local councils. Councils previously obtained information on resource and waste flows via, amongst other routes, the RDA and NISP, but these disappeared from the regional governance system in 2012.

Having observed significant knowledge and skills gaps, the results also suggested that these knowledge and skills were partly present within the regional governance network already (Table 5). For example, interviewees generally were well-aware of the bio-based developments in their (local) area. Some interviewees also had good knowledge of technologies and resources which supported their varying governance activities, particularly when combined with understanding the associated market and/or regulatory environment and collaboration skills to overcome challenges. However, the data on knowledge and skills present in the governance network was much thinner and more scattered over various subjects and organisations when compared to the fairly coherent knowledge gaps. Nevertheless, a comparison of the missing and present knowledge and skills suggests that a part of the problem could be solved by ‘rewiring’ the governance network, i.e. connecting people who do have the knowledge and skills with people who also need them.

Table 5: Comparison of missing and present knowledge and skills within the regional and local governance network

* Skilled networkers have left/are leaving councils, EA and NISP; When RDA and NISP disappeared from the regional network, not all critical skills were maintained or transferred to other organisations.