Sustainability transformations: socio-political shocks as opportunities for governance transitions

Waste or resource? Investigating the interplay of structural d waste managers' household food waste interventions

Globally, food waste is a significant environmental, economic and social issue. Food waste in landfill creates the potent greenhouse gas, methane, contributing to climate change, with its management predominantly falling to local governments. Despite efforts by many countries, and extensive infrastructure and market development funding, food waste continues to be landfilled, with apparently similar councils taking diverse approaches. Using a mixed methods study design, data was firstly collected from a National online survey of Australian council-based waste management staff (n = 183), with descriptive and factor analysis of the survey data revealing a strong sense of structural empowerment (PCA.75 to.90) and a preference for sourcing information from networks (48%). These results informed a series of semi-structured interviews (n = 43) which, after thematic analysis, provided rich insights into the attitudinal and situational interpretations council-based waste managers bring to decisions around household food waste management. Framed by four pillars of Structural Empowerment, the findings suggest that waste manager's attitude is equally as important as support, resources, and knowledge and that, despite mandates and targets, individual motivational factors and organisational paradigms determined decision-making. Identified barriers included perceived capacity constraints, inadequate focus on actionable interventions, and fragmented, uninspiring, planning. This article provides important insights around 1) leveraging networks for knowledge dissemination, 2) fostering capacity-building initiatives, and 3) advocating for sustained engagement with food waste diversion within councils. This underscores the need for additional research into evolving council typologies and effectively engaging key stakeholders to achieve food waste diversion targets and address climate change impacts.

Navigating causal reasoning in sustainability science

When reasoning about causes of sustainability problems and possible solutions, sustainability scientists rely on disciplinary-based understanding of cause-effect relations. These disciplinary assumptions enable and constrain how causal knowledge is generated, yet they are rarely made explicit. In a multidisciplinary field like sustainability science, lack of understanding differences in causal reasoning impedes our ability to address complex sustainability problems. To support navigating the diversity of causal reasoning, we articulate when and how during a research process researchers engage in causal reasoning and discuss four common ideas about causation that direct it. This articulation provides guidance for researchers to make their own assumptions and choices transparent and to interpret other researchers' approaches. Understanding how causal claims are made and justified enables sustainability researchers to evaluate the diversity of causal claims, to build collaborations across disciplines, and to assess whether proposed solutions are suitable for a given problem.

Modelling six sustainable development transformations in Australia and their accelerators, impediments, enablers, and interlinkages

There is an urgent need to accelerate progress on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and recent research has identified six critical transformations. It is important to demonstrate how these transformations could be practically accelerated in a national context and what their combined effects would be. Here we bridge national systems modelling with transformation storylines to provide an analysis of a Six Transformations Pathway for Australia. We explore important policies to accelerate progress, synergies and trade-offs, and conditions that determine policy success. We find that implementing policy packages to accelerate each transformation would boost performance on the SDGs by 2030 (+23% above the baseline). Policymakers can maximize transformation synergies through investments in energy decarbonization, resilience, social protection, and sustainable food systems, while managing trade-offs for income and employment. To overcome resistance to transformations, ambitious policy action will need to be underpinned by technological, social, and political enabling conditions.

Integrating evolutionary theory and social-ecological systems research to address the sustainability challenges of the Anthropocene

The rapid, human-induced changes in the Earth system during the Anthropocene present humanity with critical sustainability challenges. Social-ecological systems (SES) research provides multiple approaches for understanding the complex interactions between humans, social systems, and environments and how we might direct them towards healthier and more resilient futures. However, general theories of SES change have yet to be fully developed. Formal evolutionary theory has been applied as a dynamic theory of change of complex phenomena in biology and the social sciences, but rarely in SES research. In this paper, we explore the connections between both fields, hoping to foster collaboration. After sketching out the distinct intellectual traditions of SES research and evolutionary theory, we map some of their terminological and theoretical connections. We then provide examples of how evolutionary theory might be incorporated into SES research through the use of systems mapping to identify evolutionary processes in SES, the application of concepts from evolutionary developmental biology to understand the connections between systems changes and evolutionary changes, and how evolutionary thinking may help design interventions for beneficial change. Integrating evolutionary theory and SES research can lead to a better understanding of SES changes and positive interventions for a more sustainable Anthropocene. This article is part of the theme issue 'Evolution and sustainability: gathering the strands for an Anthropocene synthesis'.

Shocks, institutional change, and sustainability transitions

The role of exogenous shocks in influencing transition processes is of significant interest to a wide variety of research in sustainability science (SS). Such events disturb and interrupt path-dependent processes in sociotechnical systems. Sometimes this can lead to radical departures from existing trajectories, while at other times existing systems can be more resilient, adapting, or reconfiguring in response to a shock. In this paper, we explore the role that exogenous shocks can have on institutional change. The sustainability transition literature, as shaped by the multilevel perspective, has usually focused on shocks as windows of opportunity (WoO) where alternatives can break through due to strategic action. We offer the perspective of imprinting, which places primary attention on shocks leading to immediate and irreversible institutional change with long-term consequences. The usefulness of this concept is explored by examining the impact of two major shocks to the energy system: World War II and the 1973 oil crisis. It is concluded that the imprinting concept enables analysis that is attentive to how the underlying institutions of a system can be rapidly and deeply altered by the dynamics of exogenous shocks. It is argued that imprinting is an important complementary concept, next to windows of opportunity, for sustainability science research aiming to understand the period of turbulence we are living through.

Disrupting the opportunity narrative: navigating transformation in times of uncertainty and crisis

COVID-19 posed threats for health and well-being directly, but it also revealed and exacerbated social-ecological inequalities, worsening hunger and poverty for millions. For those focused on transforming complex and problematic system dynamics, the question was whether such devastation could create a formative moment in which transformative change could become possible. Our study examines the experiences of change agents in six African countries engaged in efforts to create or support transformative change processes. To better understand the relationship between crisis, agency, and transformation, we explored how they navigated their changed conditions and the responses to COVID-19. We document three impacts: economic impacts, hunger, and gender-based violence and we examine how they (re)shaped the opportunity contexts for change. Finally, we identify four kinds of uncertainties that emerged as a result of policy responses, including uncertainty about the: (1) robustness of preparing a system to sustain a transformative trajectory, (2) sequencing and scaling of changes within and across systems, (3) hesitancy and exhaustion effects, and (4) long-term effects of surveillance, and we describe the associated change agent strategies. We suggest these uncertainties represent new theoretical ground for future transformations research.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11625-023-01340-1.

Unlocking and accelerating transformations to the SDGs: a review of existing knowledge

As we cross the 2030 deadline to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), there is a growing sense of urgency around the need to accelerate the necessary transformations. These encompass a broad range of systems and require fundamental changes in system goals and design. In this paper, we undertake a narrative review of the literature relating to the acceleration of transformations and offer a framework for unlocking and accelerating transformations to the SDGs. While there is no blueprint for acceleration, there is an expanding knowledge base on important dynamics, impediments and enabling conditions across diverse literatures which can help to inform strategic interventions by actors. The emerging literature on positive tipping points and deep leverage points identifies opportunities to rewire systems design so that important system feedbacks create the conditions for acceleration. Transformation takes time and actors will need to build momentum to reorient systems around new goals, informed by knowledge of common policy, technology and behavioural feedbacks that govern system dynamics. Where resistance is strong, actors can seek to augment system design in ways that weaken balancing feedbacks that stabilise existing system configurations and strengthen reinforcing feedbacks that promote emerging system configurations oriented towards the SDGs. Well-designed and sequenced interventions can promote innovation and behaviour change and build and maintain political support. This can build critical enabling conditions and push systems towards large-scale tipping points, paving the way for decisive policy action that is crucial for triggering acceleration. We conclude by highlighting gaps and priorities for further research.

Big events, little change: Extreme climatic events have no region-wide effect on Great Barrier Reef governance

Extreme climatic events trigger changes in ecosystems with potential negative impacts for people. These events may provide an opportunity for environmental managers and decision-makers to improve the governance of social-ecological systems, however there is conflicting evidence regarding whether these actors are indeed able to change governance after extreme climatic events. In addition, the majority of research to date has focused on changes in specific policies or organizations after crises. A broader investigation of governance actors' activities is needed to more fully understand whether or not crises trigger change. Here we demonstrate the use of a social network analysis of management and decision-making forums (e.g. meetings, partnerships) to reveal the effects of an extreme climatic event on governance of the Great Barrier Reef over an eight-year period. To assess potential shifts in action, we examine the topics of forums and the relative participation and influence of diverse governance actors before, during, and after two back-to-back mass coral bleaching events in 2016 and 2017. Our analysis reveals that there is little change in the topics that receive attention, and in the relative participation and influence of different actor groups in the region. Our research demonstrates that network analysis of forums is useful for analyzing whether or not actors' activities and priorities evolve over time. Our results provide empirical evidence that governance actors struggle to leverage extreme climate events as windows of opportunity and further research is needed to identify alternative opportunities to improve governance.

A Study on Transformation of Housing Typology and Its Environmental and Social Effects on the Living Conditions of Residents in Planned Residential Neighborhoods of Kabul City

This study examines the transformation in housing typology from low-rise to apartment buildings in the formal neighborhood of Kabul city. These formal neighborhoods were developed according to plans from 1978. The majority of these neighborhoods were designed with detached houses that had courtyards. Literature reviews, field visits, opinions of residents, and a planning organization provided data for this study. In this study, the transformation of housing in planned neighborhoods is analyzed in relation to their social and environmental impacts. Researchers determined how varying housing typologies affected residents’ health and quality of life in these planned neighborhoods. Initially, we assessed the physical characteristics of the study area and evaluated how much transformation volume is present in the study area. Second, we examined residents’ views of residential development and its impacts, as well as their daily lives. In order to identify the relationship between these two aspects, the study examined the characteristics of the area (variables) from the perspectives of privacy, natural light, shading, sound pollution, air pollution, and energy use. We used several criteria to evaluate the accuracy of the physical characteristics and the respondents’ opinions. Lastly, we provided some recommendations and solutions to improve the current situation.

Exploring transformative policy imaginaries for a sustainable Post-COVID society

The COVID-19 crisis and its underlying health, socio-economic and environmental challenges warrants a discussion about transformative policies for a more sustainable, post-pandemic world. At EU level, policy packages and initiatives such as the European Green Deal (EGD), the Bioeconomy Strategy (BES) or the Circular Economy Action Plan (CEAP) may have the prerequisites to support a sustainable socio-economic transformation. But can these initiatives live up to public imaginaries of a sustainable post-pandemic world? To answer this question, we conducted a qualitative media analysis in order to outline emerging public imaginaries, as well as different policy suggestions put forth by different media outlets. We then grouped these imaginaries into seven major themes ranging from finance to resource management and city planning. With the help of the Delphi approach, we discussed these themes with a panel of ten international experts in order to scope for different transformative policy options. The public imaginaries we identified represent a mix of imaginaries underpinned by different political ideologies, economic philosophies and sustainability rationales. The highest expectations were connected to the EGD, although none of the EU policy packages can singlehandedly tackle the urgent sustainability challenges posed by the pandemic. However, the current trajectory of the EGD is geared towards the business-as-usual. We discuss how EU policies can overcome this limitation and imagine more radical transformation pathways in order to jumpstart a sustainable post-COVID recovery that goes beyond pursuing green growth.

Critical social science perspectives on transformations to sustainability

This article introduces a special issue on the contribution of social science to addressing transformations to sustainability. Articles underline the importance of embracing theoretically rooted, empirically informed, and collaboratively generated knowledge to address sustainability challenges and transformative change. Emphasis is placed on the role of the social sciences in elaborating on the politicisation and pluralisation of transformation processes and outcomes, helping situate, frame, reflect and generate societal action, while acknowledging the complexity of societal transformation in different contexts.

Visioning a food system for equitable transition towards sustainable diets

The Global Goals to end hunger requires interpretation of problems, and change across multiple domains. We facilitated a workshop aimed at understanding how stakeholders problematise sustainable diet transition (SDT) among a previously-marginalised social group. Using the systems thinking approach, three sub-systems, access to dietary diversity, sustainable beneficiation of natural capital, and 'food choice for well-being', highlighted the main forces governing the current context, and future interventions. Moreover, when viewed as co-evolving processes within the multi-level perspective, our identified microlevel leverage points - multi-faceted literacy, youth empowerment, deliberative policy-making, promotion of sustainable diet aspirations - can be linked and developed through existing national macrolevel strategies. Thus, by reconsidering knowledge use in the pursuit sustainability, transformational SDT can streamline multiple outcomes to restructure socio-technical sectors, reconnect people to nature-based solutions and, support legitimate aspirations. The approach could be applied in countries having complex socio-political legacy and to bridge the local-global goals coherently.

Beyond building back better: imagining a future for human and planetary health

COVID-19 is disrupting and transforming the world. We argue that transformations catalysed by this pandemic should be used to improve human and planetary health and wellbeing. This paradigm shift requires decision makers and policy makers to go beyond building back better, by nesting the economic domain of sustainable development within social and environmental domains. Drawing on the engage, assess, align, accelerate, and account (E4As) approach to implementing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, we explore the implications of this kind of radical transformative change, focusing particularly on the role of the health sector. We conclude that a recovery and transition from the COVID-19 pandemic that delivers the future humanity wants and needs requires more than a technical understanding of the transformation at hand. It also requires commitment and courage from leaders and policy makers to challenge dominant constructs and to work towards a truly thriving, equitable, and sustainable future to create a world where economic development is not an end goal itself, but a means to secure the health and wellbeing of people and the planet.

Crisis, transformation, and agency: Why are people going back-to-the-land in Greece?

Transformations are fundamentally about agency: human intention, motivation, and power to influence and to resist. Most studies focus on deliberate system-level transformations, usually guided by a set of influential actors. However, system-level transformations may also occur as the result of the cascading effects of multiple individual transformations in response or in anticipation to various crises. Little is known about how crises foster these individual transformations, and how these may relate to different types of system-level change. This article fills this gap by looking at how crisis fosters two different types of agencies-internal and external-and how these link to individual transformations in the case of Greece's back-to-the-land movement whereby urbanites sought to reconnect with land-based livelihoods during the economic crisis (2008 onwards). The article draws on the qualitative analysis of 76 interviews of back-to-the-landers to further understand why people are going back-to-the-land (their motivations), how these relate to the concept of agency and individual transformation, and what implications might there be for system-level social-ecological transformations. This article makes three key points. First, crises create different opportunity contexts that may lead to rapid changes in what is valued in the broader social discourse. While social values and discourses are usually considered to be "deep levers" and slow to change, we found that they can rapidly shift in times of crises, challenging notions of the role of fast vs. slow variables in system transformations. Second, agency is needed to respond to crises but is also further catalyzed and enhanced through crisis; activating one's internal agency leads to personal transformations as well as collective transformations (linked to external agency), which are mutually co-constitutive. And third, systemic-level transformation emerges through multiple pathways including through the aggregation of multiple individual transformations that may lead to emergent system-level changes.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11625-021-01043-5.

Environmental Services: A New Approach Toward Addressing Sustainable Development Goals in Sub-Saharan Africa

The physical environment provides resources and specific types of environmental services relevant to the maintenance of human livelihoods globally and with specific reference to sub-Saharan Africa, including soils, food, and water systems. Previous studies on the shared nexus of such resources commonly view these as self-contained systems operating independent of their physical contexts provided by landscape-scale geomorphology and its related processes. This study critically examines the viewpoints adopted by such nexus studies with specific reference to sub-Saharan Africa, arguing that these studies are reductive, considering only the shared disciplinary overlap (nexus) and not their wider contexts, and are based on only a limited understanding of the workings of physical systems. This study argues that considering the attributes of the physical landscape and its provision of environmental services provides a broader and scientifically-informed context for understanding of interlinked issues such as relationships between soil–food–water systems. Framing such “nexus” studies in this wider context can derive a better understanding of the connections between different elements such as soil, food, and water, amongst others, and with respect to the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals. The concept of environmental services is therefore a more powerful tool to examine both the connections between physical and human environmental processes and properties in sub-Saharan Africa, and to address overarching environmental issues such as land degradation, soil erosion loss, water scarcity, and impacts of climate change.