A mechanism based transition research methodology: Bridging analytical approaches

This paper is motivated by the discussion in the literature about the strengths and weaknesses of the Multi-Level Perspective framework and aims to provide a response to a number of criticisms.

The paper proposes retroduction as a transition research methodology that is used to identify and test social mechanisms for their explanatory power. The methodology consists in the joint use of case study and system dynamics as modeling and simulation method. The paper discusses how the two methods are used iteratively, and each one complements the strengths and counters the weaknesses of the other. The methodology has particular strengths and implications for the agenda of issues that research on future transitions to sustainability faces currently.