Compatibility in cross-city innovation transfer: Importance of existing local experiments

Despite a growing body of literature on how to broaden urban sustainability experiments, the research community still lacks a comprehensive understanding of the factors that enable and obstruct real-world applications. One under-studied aspect is the compatibility of an incoming external experiment with existing experimentation in the contextualization process. We address this knowledge gap by using an inter-city learning case study of a food waste management experiment. The Australian Capital Territory is the hypothetical receptor city for an experiment first conducted in Milan. We conducted interviews and surveys to examine the institutional, technical, and attitudinal opportunities and barriers. We show that existing local experimentation should be considered alongside those factors. We conceptualize different modes of compatibility between the external experiment and existing local experimentation and call for greater attention to compatibility in both research and practice of broadening sustainability experiments.