The Transformations to Sustainability (T2S) programme supports and advances international, transdisciplinary research with a focus on the social dimensions of the causes of and solutions to sustainability challenges.
Background
Launched in 2014, T2S focused on amplifying the contribution of social science to research on global environmental challenges. The project improved research capacity, promoted the use of the best social science knowledge available and provided a platform for social scientists – particularly those from the Global South – to lead interdisciplinary sustainability research.
Through grants and research funding, T2S enabled social scientists around the world to develop and share cutting-edge thinking on social transformations and on engaged, co-designed and co-produced sustainability research.
The programme had two phases. With funding from the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida), the first phase provided 38 seed grants and funded three major international research projects, or ‘Transformative Knowledge Networks’, focusing on social transformations to sustainability. Between 2014 and 2019, the project offered a total research budget of 3.7m EUR.
In the second phase, the ISC and Sida partnered with the Belmont Forum and NORFACE to fund 12 international research projects running from 2018 to 2022, with an increased research budget of 11.5m EUR.
What is transformation?
- ‘The State of Knowledge on Social Transformation’: A virtual, ongoing special issue of peer-reviewed Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability publishes reviews of knowledge on social transformations to sustainability, with recommendations for research, practice and policy.
- Final evaluation of the T2S project, including lessons and recommendations.
- Transformative governance is needed to achieve global sustainability goals: Visseren-Hamakers, I. et al. 2021. Transformative governance of biodiversity: insights for sustainable development. Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability. December 2021, 53:20–28.
- Managed retreat in response to climate change could change societal perceptions of climate risk, challenge techno-optimistic adaptations and emphasise equity as a primary concern: Siders, AR, et al. 2021. Transformative potential of managed retreat as climate adaptation. Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability. June 2021, 50:272–280.
- Physical and social changes in drylands and pastoralist dryland systems in Africa point to changes in values, social/gender relations, livelihoods and institutions – fundamental elements of transformational adaptation: Galvin, K. 2021. Transformational adaptation in drylands. Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability. June 2021, 50:64–71.
- The ‘network compass’, a new strategic tool, highlights four fields of action through which global research networks can foster co-production: Schneider, F. et al. 2021. Co-production of knowledge and sustainability transformations: a strategic compass for global research networks. Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability. April 2021, 49:127–142.
- Alternative sustainability discourses are an important step towards coalitions that could rival the political power of neoliberal capitalism: Riedy, C. 2020. Discourse coalitions for sustainability transformations: common ground and conflict beyond neoliberalism. Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability 2020, 45:100–112.