The politics of transdisciplinary research: coping with power in puzzling for sustainability governance

“To address grand societal challenges, such as climate change and biodiversity loss, many global and national governmental organizations call for transformative change towards. These policy visions of societal transformation aim for more sustainable and just societies (OECD, 2020; UNDP, 2023). This requires careful governance, as they involve changing power-dynamics, vested interests, path dependencies and discursive lock-ins (Turnhout et al., 2020; Stirling, 2008). The emerging field of sustainability governance explores, designs and implements more democratic collective decision-making for a more sustainable public good (van Dokkum et al., 2023). Sustainability governance adheres to policy visions of large-scale transformations that aim to address the challenges posed by planetary boundaries and a just social foundation (Biermann et al., 2012; Chambers et al., 2021; Gupta et al., 2023; Pickering et al., 2022). These forms of governance take place at the global level (for example in the Paris Climate Agreement), but also at national and regional levels in transition strategies toward a circular economy or, for example, renewable energies. At all those administrative levels, characteristics of sustainability governance are that: (1) it is mission-driven and aims to address the challenges posed by climate change, (2) it aims for forms governing within and, at the same time, towards a safe operating space (Rockström et al., 2009; Steffen et al., 2015), and (3) sustainability governance aims to be transformative by changing current dominant anthropocentric ways of thinking and acting in science, society, and policy, see for example the Nijmegen agenda as developed by and for the Earth Systems governance community (ESG, 2024). Sustainability governance is always forward-looking, aiming at systems transformations by changing prevalent discourses and practices. Through processes of formal and informal democratic decision-making, sustainability governance aims to create more inclusive and fair approaches to long-term sustainable pathways and solutions (Leach, 2023; Pickering et al., 2022).”

(Citation: Metze, T.A.P., Coma-Cros, N., Ingram, V.J., et.al. – The politics of transdisciplinary research: coping with power in puzzling for sustainability governance – Earth System Governance 28(2026)100333 – https://doi.org/10.1016/j.esg.2026.100333 – (Open Access))

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