In transitions, too little attention is paid to saying goodbye to the old: 'Phasing out is a sensitive subject'

In transitions, we often focus on high-profile - and much-needed - innovations. Much less attention is paid to phasing out undesirable practices. A shame, thinks researcher Nina de Roo of Wageningen University.

It is important that we actively say goodbye to things. That may sound a bit floaty, but there's a reason we have so many rituals around funerals. Suppose KLM were to create an altar for a polluting airplane model. Just to say: with this plane we gave so many people a wonderful trip. But now it's time for something else.'

Saying goodbye to old practices and technologies gets much less attention than startups working on new things - including on Change Inc. But phasing out is an undeniable part of transitions, knows Nina de Roo, researcher responsible transitions in the agri-food domain. That's why she and fellow researchers at Wageningen University conducted a study they call "a first exploration around the topic of phasing out in the context of rural areas in the Netherlands. A first exploration, yes - after all, not much research on phasing out has been done yet.

In the report Learning from phasing out 'undesirable' practices the researchers analyze four examples in which practices were phased out: mink farms, battery cages for chickens, pulse fishing, and turning off the gas tap in Groningen. They deliberately chose situations from the past, says De Roo. 'Phasing out is a sensitive subject. It arouses resistance and is often accompanied by friction and clashing values and interests. That makes researching transitions we are in the middle of complicated.'