On 18 May, Karen O'Brien, Derk Loorbach and Steve Waddell participated in a discussion called "What is 'Transformation' and why is understanding its qualities important?" Follow their conversation to learn about how academics view and study the concept of "transformation."

1. mission
loorbach@drift.eur.nl twitter: @drk75
Dutch Research Institute
For Transitions
Guiding and accelerating
sustainability transitions
Institute of Erasmus University
Rotterdam, the Netherlands
Academic education, research,
consultancy and activism
30 employees
Founded in 2004

2. loorbach@drift.eur.nl twitter: @drk75
Sustainability Transitions Research
Research perspectives
Socio-ecological
Socio-technical
Socio-institutional
Non-linearity
Multi-level
Co-evolution
Emergence
Regimes
Niches
Health care
Education
Labor market
Finance
Energy
Mobility
Water
Waste
Forestry
Fisheries
Agriculture
Biodiversity
Governance approaches
Analytical
Experimental
Evaluative
Power
Agency
Discourse
Visions
Experimentation
Learning
Social innovation
Experiments
Programs
Monitoring
Transition arenas
Niche experiments
Action research
Scenarios
Governance
Social learning
Institutions
Actors

3. loorbach@drift.eur.nl twitter: @drk75
Transitions?
A process of structural, non-linear systemic change in dominant culture, structure and
practices that takes place over a period of decades (Rotmans et al, 2001, Grin et al,
2010)
culture: shared values, paradigms, worldviews,
discourses
structure: institutions, economic structures,
physical infrastructures
practices: routines, behavior, action, lifestyles
Explains persistency and lock-in as well as disruptive systemic change

4. loorbach@drift.eur.nl twitter: @drk75
Dynamics of transitions
(Loorbach, 2014)

5. loorbach@drift.eur.nl twitter: @drk75
Transition management: ‘activist’ research
• Sustainability transitions are uncertain and unmanageable
• Achieving rapid desirable transitions is urgent and possible
• Society needs to reinvent itself through experimentation
• Researchers can help facilitate these processes
Scaling and mainstreaming
transformative innovations
Institutionalisation,
prohibiting, regulating
Phasing-out,
breaking-down
Adjusting and
learning
Monitoring,
evaluating
and
learning
Institutional
and
structural
changes,
new
networks/
coalitions
Breakthrough actions,
projects and initiatives, new
organisations
Problem structuring,
shared sense of urgency,
guiding visions
Time
1950 2000 2020 2040
Guiding values
and future
images
System
analysi
s
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