Upscaling of the Aquaponic Niche: Guiding Swedish Niche Actors to Foster Sustainable Food System Transitions

Abstract

The Swedish food system requires changes to become sustainable􀏴 Our current way of producing and consuming food has brought challenges􀏵 for example􀏵 regarding food security􀏵 overfertilization of water courses and exploitation of the sea􀏴 Aquaponics􀏵 a closed􀐉system food production technology integrating the concepts of aquaculture􀏵 i􀏴e􀏴 fish farming􀏵 and hydroponics􀏵 i􀏴e􀏴 farming of vegetables in soilless medium􀏵 is an emerging technology addressing some of these sustainability issues􀏴 Therefore􀏵 the thesis aimed at exploring how an upscale of the Swedish aquaponic niche could be facilitated􀏵 and thus initiate change within the current food regime􀏴 The thesis was conducted in three phases and builded upon a theoretical framework consisting of Multi􀐉Level Perspective􀏵 Strategic Niche Management and Design Thinking􀏴 The first phase intended to understand the current aquaponic niche within the Swedish food system􀏴 Data was gathered through conducting interviews and focus groups with stakeholders and therea􀈅er analysed through an affinity diagram􀏵 a stakeholder mapping and a force field mapping􀏴 The result implies that a potential upscale of the aquaponic niche is a complex matter􀏵 as the thesis identified 􀏬􀏫 categories of stakeholders and 􀏰􀏪 enabling and restraining forces affecting an upscale􀏴 In the second phase􀏵 the aim was to explore how the niche can be guided to facilitate an upscale􀏴 Building upon the system understanding gained􀏵 twelve guidelines􀏵 guiding the niche towards an upscale􀏵 and five areas of opportunity􀏵 suggested as contexts for actors to apply their guidelines and create experiments􀏵 was suggested􀏴 Moreover􀏵 the third phase aimed at exploring how an individual niche actor􀏵 exemplified by the aquaponic producer Pond Fish & Greens􀏵 might contribute to the facilitation of an upscale through the design of experiments􀏴 To achieve this􀏵 the result from the prior phases was combined with design thinking and resulted in five concepts of experiments and a suggested suitable point of intervention􀏵 providing a first step for Pond Fish & Greens to facilitate an upscale of the niche􀏴 The results and findings of this thesis are believed to be of interest to actors within or with a relationship to the aquaponic niche􀏵 e􀏴g􀏴 aquaponic producers􀏵 authorities and potential collaborators􀏴 Moreover􀏵 through providing an example of a process guiding a niche to facilitate an upscale􀏵 it can as well provide implications for others interested in upscaling􀏴