Patterns in transitions: Understanding complex chains of change

This article presents a multi-pattern approach for the description and understanding of the dynamics of societal transitions. The central idea is that any transition path can be considered a concatenation of patterns. Although theorising on transitions has advanced greatly, a coherent and integral approach was still lacking. Therefore, the current conceptual language of transitions is reframed and expanded from a complexity view on societal systems. The resulting theoretical framework straightforwardly leads to the identification of the patterns presented. The Dutch healthcare system is used to demonstrate how this multi-pattern approach could be used to describe transitions and make storylines. Furthermore a typology of transition paths derived from this approach is presented as another way in which these patterns may be used. © 2010 Elsevier Inc.