How to assess sustainability transformations: a review

Abstract

Non-technical summary There is a call to change societies to become more sustainable. We examine how the concept of sustainability transformation has been used and find that it has been defined in many ways. The concept is still used without many real-world examples – we found only four studies that had assessed whether a multi-sectoral sustainability transformation had taken place. There is a need to further clarify what sustainability transformation means and how it can be assessed. Technical summary A transformation towards sustainability is increasingly called for as a future vision for society, and simultaneously this has grown in importance as a research topic. We undertook a systematic literature review of multi-sectoral sustainability transformation studies to see whether researchers assess sustainability transformations empirically and how they do so. Unsurprisingly, there are many definitions of sustainability transformation, as well as many scales on which it has been studied. The concept was often used only as a metaphor without empirical grounding, and the process of the transformation towards the intended end result – sustainability – was seldom defined. These findings are also supported by previous research. We found only four empirical cases that assessed whether a sustainability transformation had taken place, and an additional 12 articles that had partially assessed for a fundamental transformation. Multiple methods to assess transformation were used, as well as various approaches to account for temporal dynamics of change and spatial focuses. It appears that, despite the increasing rhetoric for multi-sectoral sustainability transformations, this concept has not yet sparked wide efforts by academics to assess them empirically. These findings demonstrate the need to advance the debate regarding the methods for capturing these complex social phenomena. Social media summary A review of sustainability transformations shows the challenges of assessing change and the need to focus on methods.