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Transformations to Sustainability

Convivial Conservation: A transformative, whole-Earth approach to environmental conservation

Conventional conservation approaches have not been able to halt alarming rates of biodiversity loss. How can human–wildlife relations be transformed to protect both biodiversity and livelihoods? Is that possible without transforming the underlying economic systems?

Transforming a destructive industry into a sustainable economic and human activity

Our societies are heavily dependent on small-scale and artisanal mining for minerals and metals, notably gold. How can an inherently destructive and harmful industry contribute to transformations to sustainability?

Local initiatives resisting powerful forces of change in the Amazon

The Amazon is a microcosm of global changes, with disparate views of nature and development manifesting themselves through deforestation and land-use change. Can small-scale and local initiatives succeed in preserving the Amazon from destructive transformations?

Collectively imagining the future – a key to governance for social transformations

Shared visions of what a good and feasible future looks like are instrumental in determining a community’s political and societal choices. If today’s shared visions of the future are not appropriate to the challenges of sustainability, how can alternative visions emerge?

The potential of intellectual property regimes to accelerate sustainability transitions

Conventional intellectual property rights have long been barriers to the development and diffusion of sustainable technologies. How can alternative intellectual property and business models help to accelerate transformations to sustainability?

The transformative potential of localized land-registration in conflict-affected areas

Globally many millions of people lack secure access to land, particularly in conflict-affected settings, with implications for peace, social sustainability and the sustainable use of land. How can land tenure practices be transformed to contribute to wider transformations?

Achieving sustainability is not a techno-scientific problem; it is first and foremost a social and political problem. Why are we not transforming, given the urgency? Who should decide when, how and towards what we should be transforming? This film explores some of the difficult questions around transformations to sustainability and proposes approaches to tackling the defining challenge of our times. It features researchers involved in the Transformations to Sustainability programme, which funded 15 state-of-the-art international research projects between 2016 and 2022 to produce action-oriented knowledge on how social transformations to sustainability can be supported.

Video Credit: International Science Council