DOI
10.1016/j.envsci.2020.01.007

Summary
Calls for societal transformations in response to climate change and unsustainable trajectories are surging in scientific journals, political proposals and news media. The multifaceted usages of the concept of transformation creates challenges for scientific assessments, such as those of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services, as well as for the implementation of the Paris Agreement process, the 2030 Agenda on Sustainable Development, the EU’s long-term climate strategy, the European Green Deal, and other political decisions. In this paper, we suggest an analytical framework to differentiate between how sustainability transformations are made sense of in terms of system level, pace and scope. We distinguish between four general modes of transformations: quantum leap, convergent, emergent, and gradual approaches. We also discuss how they can be used to make sense of interventions to foster major sustainability transformations. We expand on three examples of interventions that were pertinent in our cross-country studies: technological innovations, transformative learning and the formulation of new narratives of sustainable societies.

Relevance for Complex Systems Knowledge
To assist in generating clarity on the varieties of transformations, this paper examines what types of changes are called for and how the system boundaries, scale and pace of transformation are framed. The article distinguish transformation from incremental and other forms of change, by defining it as a deep and sustained, nonlinear systemic change, generally involving cultural, political, technological, economic, social and/or environmental processes. The difference between transition and transformation is defined as transition primarily addressing the technological systems, whereas societal transformation also addresses a broader range of social practices and knowledge. To make the intention of the transformation clear it is important to consider system boundaries and pace of the transformation.  The framework proposed by the article is a coordinate-crossing of system coverage and pace. This results in a four-fielder where rapid pace and an “entire civilization” coverage results in “Quantum leaps”. A system bounded to particular segments and still with high pace could be described as “convergent”.  Slow pace and wide system scope may be called “emergent” and  limited system and slow pace would be termed “gradual”.

A typology of societal transformations that distinguishes between the paces of change as well as between system levels is a useful tool for supporting deliberations about whether, how and with what implications a particular transformation, which may be aiming at rapid change in a particular sector, can at the same time form a leverage point for society-wide transformations on a more protracted time scale.

Point of Strength
The framework proposed in this article is very useful for discussions on system changes in connection to sustainability. It is very readable and could be used by students. Lecturers may use the framework in teaching.