Multi-system intermediary roles: how port organizations create couplings to enable sustainability transitions

Literature on multi-system dynamics in sustainability transitions highlight that structural couplings enable novel functional couplings between systems, such as the supply of electricity to decarbonize transport. However, there is limited research on how actors foster the building of structural couplings. To conceptualize such actions, we outline three multi-system intermediary roles: fostering the practical realization of structural couplings (facilitation), shaping the goals and expectations of other actors regarding structural couplings (configuration) and diffusion of structural couplings (brokering). We apply this framework to a qualitative multiple case study of six port organizations in Northern Europe who have fostered the creation of structural couplings that enable, for example, electrification of transport and industrial symbiosis. Our analysis reveals that semi-public actors, such as port authorities, may play a vital role in fostering multi-system interactions, including in hard-to-abate sectors.