Routledge Transformative Pathways to Sustainability: Learning Across Disciplines, Cultures and Contexts

Transformations to sustainability are increasingly the focus of research and policy discussions around the Sustainable Development Goals. However, the different roles played by transdisciplinary research in contributing to social transformations across diverse settings have been neglected in the literature. Transformative Pathways to Sustainability responds to this gap by presenting a set of coherent, theoretically informed and methodologically innovative experiments from around the world that offer important insights for this growing field. The book draws on content and cases from across the ‘Pathways’ Transformative Knowledge Network, an international group of six regional hubs working on sustainability challenges in their own local or national contexts. Each of these hubs reports on their experiences of ‘transformation laboratory’ processes in the following areas: sustainable agricultural and food systems for healthy livelihoods, with a focus on sustainable agri-food systems in the UK and open-source seeds in Argentina; low carbon energy and industrial transformations, focussing on mobile-enabled solar home systems in Kenya and social aspects of the green transformation in China; and water and waste for sustainable cities, looking at Xochimilco wetland in Mexico and Gurgaon in India. The book combines new empirical data from these processes with a novel analysis that represents both theoretical and methodological contributions. It is especially international in its scope, drawing inputs from North and South, mirroring the universality of the Sustainable Development Goals. The book is of vital interest to academics, action researchers and funders, policy makers and civil-society organisations working on transformations to sustainability. The Open Access version of this book, available at www.taylorfrancis.com/books/oa-edit/10.4324/9780429331930/transformative-pathways-sustainability-pathways-network, has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 license Review "This book – over five years in the making – clearly illustrates the powerful potential of internationally-networked, transdisciplinary research. It marks an important step forward in the study of social transformations for sustainability, and is a key resource for those who concern themselves with today’s important challenge of transforming science." ― Heide Hackmann, PhD, Chief Executive Officer, International Science Council (ISC) "There is a proliferation of studies about the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), but this well written and structured book goes to the heart of the debate: the necessary transformations for addressing the SDGs. What emerges is an important tapestry of theories and rich selection of local experiences that can be used to understand transformations and work with stakeholders using Transformation-Lab methodologies. It is an exemplary and compelling account of an exciting collective and global transdisciplinary research adventure. A must-read for anyone, academic and practitioners, engaged with the deep challenges of our time." ― Johan Schot, Professor of Global History and Sustainability Transitions at the Utrecht University Centre for Global Challenges and Academic Director of the Transformative Innovation Policy Consortium (TIPC) "Transformation requires collective wisdom. Once this is forged by connecting and communicating across boundaries, it creates a bigger coherence that unites and steers us all, whatever our location, speciality or profession. This book describes how collective wisdom can be created to support transformative action." ― Oliver Greenfield, Convenor, Green Economy Coalition "The best way to shape the future is to imagine it, and the best way to imagine it is to learn from pioneering examples. This book provides the examples and the theory that explains them. Fantastic reading for practitioners, scholars and dreamers!" ― Carlota Per