Anna's research investigates the process dynamics of exnovation, decline, and phase-out contributing towards sustainability across sectors and enterprises where phase-out targets are in place, with a specific view to (in)justices resulting from this.
The transformation towards a net-zero society in 2050, as well as other sustainability targets, require exnovation and departing unsustainable production processes across different sectors. For many enterprises, this requires phase-out of existing practices and divesting of entire operational units. This concerns both input for industrial and manufacturing processes such as (fossil) energy as well as the output; the products. Often actors leading phase-out processes are incumbent, large-scale corporations, acting on own targets or internal ambitions. This may result in power imbalances and these phase-out processes may have many implications and hold challenges in terms of social and economic (in)justice. Examples where phase-out processes may occur are, among others, the energy, chemistry, manufacturing and processing industries.
To investigate this topic, Anna draws on the fields of organisational behaviour, sustainability transitions, and environmental justice.