The Co-production of Pilot Projects and Society

Abstract

Abstract: This chapter discusses the shaping of pilot projects. Against a critique that such projects tend to be shaped top-down by powerful actors, our discussion notes how such projects are also shaped locally by materiality, culture, actors, interests and issues. Through this we show how projects end up looking very different from each other while enacting diverse socio-technical futures. We discuss three types of pilot projects: technology-oriented projects, geographically bound projects and national laboratories. We argue that pilot projects, in either form tend to mirror and amplify the interests of involved actors, and we proceed to discuss the potential politics of such projects. We do this by discussing processes of scaling up pilot projects, and through upscaling, shaping broader aspects of society. As these projects often have wide transformational ambitions, we conclude that a focus on who participates and who does not is central for future research.