The Resilient Economy

Abstract

The Netherlands is vulnerable to supply restrictions because of the importance of materials for economic development: materials are at the basis of the society. The materials that are particularly vulnerable to supply disruptions and are of high importance to the economy are called critical raw materials. The Dutch government has adopted the goal of having an entirely circular economy by 2050 to reduce the vulnerability of the economy to critical materials problems. However, the literature indicates that adopting a new economic model is not sufficient and that a sustainability transformation is essential. According to literature, both a sustainability transformation and economic degrowth are essential to reach a situation of sustainable material use and therefore resilience to supply disruptions. Moreover, the literature emphasises that governance, and especially political leadership, is indispensable in achieving a successful transformation. This research shows how governance can bring about the desired sustainability transformation to reach a social and economic system that is resilient to situations of material constraint in the Netherlands. This study presents a theoretical framework that is tested using the case of governance on material constraint in Britain during the Second World War. The results are applied to the case of the Netherlands to provide insight into the way forward towards a society that is resilient to situations of material constraint.
The results show that a broad approach, including the entire social-ecological system, is essential and that the government can use selective pressures and windows of opportunity to steer and accelerate the transformation. The case study of policy on material constraint in Britain underlines the importance of planning besides the transformation. Additionally, the research has uncovered trust, and therefore the importance of equal and just distribution, as the foundation of resilience.
The Dutch government should take the responsibility of bringing about sustainable development and use its authority to define a sharp vision and specific goals for the sustainability transformation. If diversity and distribution are adequately addressed during the transformation process, the Netherlands is in the position to achieve a high level of resilience to critical materials problems. Resilience does not mean that situations of material constraint will not occur, or that they will not affect the society. It does mean that the Dutch social-ecological system will be flexible enough to change according to the new situation while maintaining its function and provide its society with the basic needs for living, even in times of severe material constraint. The new system is a system that is balanced and diverse, and, therefore, far less dependent on economic growth or material supplies.
Valuable research that could be done to build on this work would be to conduct a similar analysis using one or more different cases, such as the period of resource constraint during the 1970s. Additionally, further research could be done into the different phases of the framework, to provide more insight into specific actions that can be taken to transform a social-ecological system. In a practical sense, this theoretical framework that has been developed in this research can be used by government officials to test its usefulness in helping to develop a transition pathway for the government, including a timeline.