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Cited by 1,401Sustainability and Climate Change GovernanceInnovation, Technology, and SocietySustainable Development and Policies

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Sustainability Transitions Research: Transforming Science and Practice for Societal Change

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Loorbach, Derk, Frantzeskaki, Niki, Avelino, Flor·2017·Annual Review of Environment and Resources
DOI 10.1146/annurev-environ-102014-021340
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Abstract

The article describes the field of sustainability transitions research, which emerged in the past two decades in the context of a growing scientific and public interest in large-scale societal transformation toward sustainability. We describe how different scientific approaches and methodological positions explore diverse types of transitions and provide the basis for multiple theories and models for governance of sustainability transitions. We distinguish three perspectives in studying transitions: socio-technical, socio-institutional, and socio-ecological. Although the field as a whole is very heterogeneous, commonalities can be characterized in notions such as path dependencies, regimes, niches, experiments, and governance. These more generic concepts have been adopted within the analytical perspective of transitions, which has led three different types of approaches to dealing with agency in transitions: analytical, evaluative, and experimental. The field has by now produced a broad theoretical and empirical basis along with a variety of social transformation strategies and instruments, impacting disciplinary scientific fields as well as (policy) practice. In this article, we try to characterize the field by identifying its main perspectives, approaches and shared concepts, and its relevance to real-world sustainability problems and solutions.

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Metadata

Authors
Loorbach, D., Frantzeskaki, N., & Avelino, F.
Affiliations
Erasmus University Rotterdam (NL)
ORCID
Venue
Annual Review of Environment and Resources
Publisher
Annual Reviews
Published
2017-10-17
Volume
42
Issue
1
Pages
599-626
ISSN
  • 1543-5938 (ISSN-L)
  • 1545-2050
DOI
10.1146/annurev-environ-102014-021340
OpenAlex
W2204133637
Cited by
1,401
References
3
Citations by year
2026: 190 · 2025: 182 · 2024: 169 · 2023: 195 · 2022: 199 · 2021: 149 · 2020: 153 · 2019: 65 · 2018: 93 · 2017: 4
FWCI
8.43
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Annual Review of Environment and Resources (publishedVersion)
  • Swinburne figshare (Swinburne University of Technology) (submittedVersion)
Funders
European Commission (613169, 603654)
Topics
  • Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Global and Planetary Change › Sustainability and Climate Change Governance
  • Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Innovation, Technology, and Society
  • Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Management, Monitoring, Policy and Law › Sustainable Development and Policies
Keywords
sustainability transitions, societal transformation, socio-technical transitions, socio-ecological transition, path dependence, regime, niche, experimentation, transition theory

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