Concepts such as exnovation that focus on the removal of technologies or even sociotechnical systems are gaining traction in the realm of sustainability transitions. They problematise direction in innovation whilst suggesting an increasing interest for “subtractive” frames of thinking. Exnovation scholars in environmental studies tend to reason at the “system level” and paradoxically there is little exnovation analysis at organisational levels (although the origin of the concept is attributed to organisational studies) and at the individual level. In this paper, we draw on the unlearning concept and its two-fold genealogy in organisation studies and decolonial thinking (van Oers et al. 2023; 2024) to advance a bottom-up approach to exnovation. Empirically, our focus is on organic waste management in the peripheral region of Extremadura. More particularly, we look at the exnovation of landfill and incineration practices in a context marked by regulations requiring that municipalities guarantee the separate collection and treatment of organic waste. We explore in a transdisciplinary vein (with the association Economías BioRegionales and the University of Extremadura) how unlearning processes shape exnovation and can open perspectives for a decentralised system that includes the development of domestic, community and on-farm composting, as well as the recognition of traditional uses such as feeding animals.
Fossati et al. (Wed,) studied this question.