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Synthesis of the Transformations to Sustainability programme

The Transformations to Sustainability (T2S) programme supported pioneering, international transdisciplinary research on the social dimensions of environmental change and sustainability. The programme funders commissioned the three studies presented below to synthesize the wealth of learning and knowledge produced by the programme.

The T2S programme ended in December 2022 after nine rewarding years. Designed to give the social sciences a leading role in sustainability science, the programme was a significant milestone in international research cooperation for sustainability.

It progressed through two phases: the first (2014-2019),financed by the Swedish International Cooperation Agency (Sida), awarded 38 seed grants and established three major Transformative Knowledge Networks, while the second phase (2018-2022) involved a collaboration with the Belmont Forum and NORFACE, funding 12 international research projects with additional support from the European Commission.

The T2S programme increased social science leadership capacity and provided a platform for social scientists from the Global South to play leading roles in international, transdisciplinary sustainability research. The programme helped to change the status of the social sciences in sustainability science and to shift the locus of responses to unsustainability from the technical to the social, political and economic. 

What we learned from three major international projects about the origins, dynamics and scaling of social transformations, and about the role of science in social transformations, is synthesized in the following report: 

Transformative Labour: The Hidden (and Not-So-Hidden) Work of Transformations to Sustainability.

Moser, S. 2024. Transformative Labour: The Hidden (and Not-So-Hidden) Work of Transformations to Sustainability. Integrative Insights from Three Transformative Knowledge Networks. International Science Council. DOI: 10.24948/2024.04   

See also: Moser, Susanne C. 2024. Transformative labor: The hidden (and not-so-hidden) work of transformations to sustainability. Global Environmental Change, Vol. 87, 102888. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2024.102888


What we learned from 12 major international projects about transformative responses to contemporary challenges in governance, economy and wellbeing, and in transdisciplinary research approaches, is synthesized in the following report:

Social Transformations to Sustainability through a Critical Lens.

Moser, S. 2024. Social Transformations to Sustainability through a Critical Lens: Integrative insights from twelve research projects funded under the Transformations to Sustainability research programme. Belmont Forum, International Science Council, NORFACE. DOI: 10.24948/2024.03


What we learned, from nine years of coordination of two research programmes, about how (and how not) to design international research programmes to advance transdisciplinary, transformative research for sustainability, is synthesized in the following report: 

Programme Design for Transformations to Sustainability Research.

Mukute, M., Colvin, J., Burt, J. 2024. Programme Design for Transformations to Sustainability Research: A Comparative Analysis of the Design of Two Research Programmes on Transformations to Sustainability. Belmont Forum, International Science Council, NORFACE. DOI: 10.24948/2024.02  


Image by Jacob Tabo on Unsplash.

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