The politics of transformative research, in the midst of COVID-19

Under the exceptional circumstances created by the COVID-19 pandemic, the midterm workshop of the T2S programme in 2020 was turned into a virtual event which took place from 2 to 5 June 2020. Nevertheless, the workshop focus selected by the project members 8 months previously – the politics of engaged transformative research – was, under the circumstances, even more relevant and timely.

The 12 projects in the T2S programme are all engaging with thorny issues concerning the politics of transformation and transformations research on at least three fronts, all of which are further complicated by the health, social, environmental and economic crisis provoked by the novel coronavirus:

1. Negotiating the evolving and often difficult political environments in which the research is being carried out.
2. Managing the intertwined politics and ethics of co-produced (transdisciplinary) research, and the imbalanced power relations at play in multi-stakeholder research processes.
3. Attempting to generate knowledge for sustainability in new ways, and promoting principles and findings that run counter to prevailing political, economic and academic paradigms.

The projects reflected on and shared what they are learning in relation to the politics of transformative research, before and since the COVID-19 crisis, with a view to identifying opportunities for the T2S programme to contribute to knowledge, policy and action for sustainability.

See the full background document and final agenda here.

Meet the T2S projects

View project postcards as a PDF here.

Keynote presentation: The politics of (un)making sustainability transformation beyond capitalism

Guest speaker, Associate Professor Dr. Giuseppe Feola, University of Utrecht, kicked off the workshop with a stimulating keynote talk on ‘The politics of (un)making sustainability transformation beyond capitalism’ on 28 May.

Read our interview with Giuseppe Feola: UNMAKING in transformations to sustainability

Recordings of the keynote talk and the other workshop sessions are available for programme members by request to the T2S team at transformations@council.science.

Presentations:

• Introductory presentation

Project presentations:

• • Gold Matters
  • Waterproofing Data
  • GoST
  • MISTY
  • TAPESTRY
  • IPACST
  • SecTenSusPeace
  • H20-T2S
  • T2GS
  • CON-VIVA
  • TRUEPATH
  • AGENTS

You can follow the questions and answers between the projects during and after the webinar sessions here.

Outputs

Reflections on the meeting: 

The politics of transformation during times of crisis
By Lyla Mehta

Methods in transformations to sustainability research
By Fabio de Castro

Ethics in Transformations to Sustainability
By Robert J. Pijpers

Practice, policy, action: Applying the handles and techniques of systemic change for sustainability transitions
By Anjula Gurtoo

Reports and feedback:

T2S mid-term workshop report

Participants’ feedback on the T2S mid-term workshop