Process supporting strategic decision-making in systemic transitions

This paper introduces a process for supporting strategic decision-making and policy planning in systemic transitions related to grand challenges such as climate change. The process uses the multi-level perspective (MLP)(1) as an underlying theoretical framework and combines various methods and tools from the fields of foresight, impact assessment, simulation modelling and societal embedding. Decision-makers such as public sector authorities and politicians are the main target group, accompanied by other stakeholders and interest groups whose involvement throughout the process is stressed. The process is presented as a stepwise methodological working process and demonstrated by a theoretical case study. The demonstration explores the vision of 'emission-free transport in cities by 2050' in the context of motorised passenger transport in the Helsinki metropolitan area in Finland. The case study serves as an example of how to implement the process and how to make case-specific selections from the methods and tools from suggested fields. (C) 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.