Table 2 Amplification processes from the different frameworks (*Not used in analysis because this process does not focus specifically on increasing impact)

Strategies for social innovation

Scaling out

To impact greater numbers of people or communities. Scaling out consists of two strategies: 1. “Deliberate replication. Replicating or spreading programmes geographically and to greater numbers while protecting the fidelity and integrity of the innovation” (Moore et al. 2015, p. 77). 2. “Spreading principles. Disseminate principles, but with an adaptation to new contexts via co-generation of knowledge, leveraging social media and learning platforms: ‘open scaling’” (Moore et al. 2015, p. 77). Open scaling means spreading “the core principles and approach of the innovation […], leaving it to the local community to adapt it to local conditions” (Moore et al. 2015, p. 78).

Scaling up

To impact “higher levels of institutions through policy change” (Moore et al. 2015, p. 79) by codifying innovative approaches into law, policy and institutions. Scaling up consists of one cross-scale strategy with two approaches: “Policy or legal change efforts. New policy development, partnering, advocacy” (Moore et al. 2015, p. 77). 1. Shifting “work to higher levels in government in order to address root causes in larger-scale institutions” (Moore et al. 2015, p. 79) that affect an entire population. This often entails “leaving behind the initial innovative initiative, and starting an entirely new initiative focused on policy change” (Moore et al. 2015, p. 79). 2. Linking “together community-level policy interventions into a more coherent movement” (Moore et al. 2015, p. 79).

Scaling deep

To impact cultural roots. This is based “on the recognition that culture plays a powerful role in shifting problem-domains, and change must be deeply rooted in people, relationships, communities and cultures” (Moore et al. 2015, p. 77). Scaling deep consists of two strategies: 1. “Spreading big cultural ideas and reframing stories to change beliefs and norms. Intensively share knowledge and new practices via learning communities, distributed learning platforms and participatory approaches” (Moore et al. 2015, p. 77). 2. “Invest in transformative learning, networks and communities of practice” (Moore et al. 2015, p. 77). Learning is “a specific strategy used to build shared mindsets across a range of sectors and organizations, to ensure the impact of […] initiative is scaled deep into the defining routines and practices and beliefs of partners and collaborators. […] [L] earning processes […] can be supported by a range of methods, including: mentorship, deliberate transfer of practices, capturing and sharing organizational or community culture, and shared reflection and evaluation practices” (Moore et al. 2015, p. 80).

Cross-cutting*

Broaden the problem frame: To adopt “a systems-change perspective” is critical to build “consciousness and intention to change” (Moore et al. 2015, p. 76). This strategy reveals systemic or root causes of problems, leads organizations to re-conceptualize their goals, and enables “organizational leaders to consider different types of scales (e.g. organizational scales, temporal scales, political scales), and to understand the complex interrelated layers of variables and phases of change” (Moore et al. 2015, p. 76).

Seek alternative resources: To find “new funding, or entirely new funding models” because it is “a necessary precursor to scaling” (Moore et al. 2015, p. 76).

Build networks and partnerships: To network across sectors is specifically “valuable for focused collaboration, resource-pooling, extending the organization’s sphere of influence, and developing unusual alliances.” (Moore et al. 2015, p. 75). Networks are also important to generate coherence (Moore et al. 2015).

Seeds of a good Anthropocene

Scale up

To “grow to involve more people and places” (www.goodanthropocenes.net).

Scale out

To reproduce “in different places” (www.goodanthropocenes.net).

Scale deep

To “change underlying values to inspire people to live in a different way” (www.goodanthropocenes.net).

Scale dynamics

Outscaling

To “replicate and disseminate programs, products, ideas or innovative approaches in order to affect more people or to cover a larger geographical area” (Hermans et al. 2016, p. 287).

Upscaling

To embed or institutionalize “an innovation and changing the ‘institutional logics’ of an incumbent regime” (Hermans et al. 2016, p. 287). This is done by being concerned with “identifying opportunities and barriers within institutional structures to properly embed an innovation and the actions that niche actors employ to achieve that, such as creating and fine-tuning technologies, linkage building through intermediation activities, advocacy and lobbying, mobilizing powerful ‘patrons’, and creating alternative visions, framings and discourses” (Hermans et al. 2016, p. 287).

Acceleration mechanisms

Replicating

To “take up […] new ways of [thinking, doing and organizing] of one transition initiative by another transition initiative or different actors in order to spread out these new ways.” (Gorissen et al. 2018, p. 173).

Partnering*

To pool and/or complement “resources, competences, and capacities in order to exploit synergies to support and ensure the continuity of the new ways of [thinking, doing and organizing].” (Gorissen et al. 2018, p. 173).

Upscaling

To increase the number of “members, supporters or users of a single transition initiative in order to spread these new ways of [thinking, doing and organizing].” (Gorissen et al. 2018, p. 173).

Instrumentalising*

To tap into and capitalize on “opportunities provided by the multi-level governance context of the cityregion in order to strengthen new ways of [thinking, doing and organizing] locally.” (Gorissen et al. 2018, p. 173).

Embedding

To align “old and new ways of [thinking, doing and organizing] in order to integrate them into city-regional governance patterns.” (Gorissen et al. 2018, p. 173).

Transition management

Deepening

To learn “as much as possible from a transition experiment” (Rotmans and Loorbach 2008, p. 27) within a specific context. Learning in deepening “includes (local) shifts in ways of thinking, values and perspectives (culture), shifts in doing things, habits and routines (practices) and shifts in organizing the physical, institutional or economic context (structure). […] The outcome of deepening is a (local) constellation of culture, practices and structures that fulfills a societal need in a fundamentally different way.” (van den Bosch and Rotmans 2008, p. 29–30).

Broadening

To repeat and link “an experiment in a different context” (Rotmans and Loorbach 2008, p. 27). “What is repeated or linked is the new or deviant constellation of culture, practices and structure, which is the outcome of innovation and learning processes (deepening). […] The result of broadening can be distinguished in: (1) the new or deviant culture, practices and structure get diffused or adopted in a variety of contexts or (2) the new or deviant culture, practices and structure fulfill a broader function.” (van den Bosch and Rotmans 2008, p. 32).

Scaling up

To “apply a successful experiment at a higher scale level” (Rotmans and Loorbach 2008, p. 27). This means “embedding a transition experiment in –new- dominant ways of thinking (culture), doing (practices) and organizing (structure), at the level of a societal system. […] The outcomes of scaling up are fundamental changes in the dominant way societal needs are fulfilled, which extend the scale of the initial innovation project.” (van den Bosch and Rotmans 2008, p. 33–34).

Strategic niche management

Growing

To grow means that “[t] he experiment continues and more actors participate, or the scale at which technologies are used increases” (Naber et al. 2017, p. 344).

Replication

To replicate means that “[t] he main concept of the experiment is replicated in other locations or contexts” (Naber et al. 2017, p. 344).

Accumulation*

To accumulate means that the “[e] xperiments are linked to other initiatives” (Naber et al. 2017, p. 344).

Transformation

To transform means that “[t] he experiment shapes wider institutional change in the regime selection environment” (Naber et al. 2017, p. 344).