Diskussionen zur Transformationsforschung. Photo von Stephanie Wunder

Transformation Research – contents, goals and methods

Event: Workshop
Date: 14 June 2016
Location: Berlin, Germany

In the last few years, transformation research has gained increasing attention as means of studying socio-ecological crises and radical change towards sustainability. Especially the transformative research mode, through which research actively engages in societal change processes, is intensely debated. This workshop, organized by DRIFT with support from Ecologic Institute, aimed at self-reflection on empirical and theoretical foci, frameworks and suitable research methods in transformation research. The workshop report is available for download.

25 (inter)national experts in transformation research participated in the discussion around this emerging research field. After some impulse presentation, the following questions where discussed:

What is transformation research?
What are research approaches of transformation research?
What are methods of transformation research?

In a final world cafe, methods and results of transformation research where discussed in three groups. The results will be published in the project report.

The workshop was part of the project From Niche to Mainstream – How to Spread Sustainable Practices funded by the German Environment Agency and Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety and led by the Ecologic Institute with DRIFT as partner institution.

Kriterien zur Bewertung des Transformationspotentials von Nachhaltigkeitsinitiativen

Abschlussbericht

Year 2019

Publication:Infographic

The infographic visualizes the structure and interaction of the rating categories for assessing the potential for transformation of sustainability initiatives, as developed in the project "From Niche to Mainstream - How to Spread Sustainable Practices";. The evaluation system pursues the aims of initiatives, social innovations, sustainability innovations etc. to their potential for transformation and their sustainability effects, and to evaluate them, depending on the application context.

Criteria for Assessing the Potential for Transformation of Sustainability Initiatives

Year 2017

Event:Workshop

On 13 September 2016, the expert workshop "Discussion of an assessment system for civil society initiatives to measure sustainability and transformative potential" took place in Berlin. At the workshop, about 30 participants from science, policy, foundations, and sustainability initiatives discussed the first draft of a criteria catalogue for measuring and presenting the societal benefit of niche sustainability initiatives, especially their sustainability and transformative potential. Stephanie Wunder, Senior Fellow at Ecologic Institute, presented the assessment system. In the workshop, the application of the criteria catalogue to two case studies was also presented. The criteria for estimating the sustainability potential, the transformative potential, the organizational capacity for action, and the scalability of the initiatives were developed from 13 political and scientific assessment systems and from transition literature.

Assessment System for Civil Society Initiatives to Measure Sustainability and Transformative Potential

13 September 2016
Berlin, Germany

Project

Despite many efforts and policy initiatives to strengthen sustainability in business and society the efforts taken so far do not seem to be sufficient to address current sustainability challenges and environmental degradation. However, there are numerous local initiatives, companies and social innovators that have successfully established sustainable practices. They often operate in a niche but provide innovative ideas and alternatives that have the potential to improve sustainability at a greater scale.

From Niche to Mainstream – How to Scale Sustainable Practices

Jan 2015 - Dec 2018

Funding: German Environment Agency (UBA), Germany
Organizer: Dutch Research Institute for Transitions (DRIFT), Netherlands
Partner: Ecologic Institute, Germany
Team: Stephanie Wunder

Stefanie Albrecht
Date: 14 June 2016
Location: Berlin, Germany
Languages: English

German
Participants: 25
Project: From Niche to Mainstream – How to Scale Sustainable Practices
Project ID: 2267

Attachments

workshop_report_transformation_research_final.pdf (1.34 MB)