Mapping social structures for sustainability transformation at McGill University, Canada

Purpose For a university to be a prime mover for sustainability transformation, all units of the university should contribute. However, organizational change in educational institutions is often studied by examining specific domains such as research or operation in isolation. This results in a less-than-complete picture of the potential for university-wide change. In contrast, this paper aims to examine the network of social relations that determine the diffusion and sustainability of change efforts across a university. The authors use McGill University (Canada) as a model system to study the network of actors concerned with sustainability to learn how this network influences the penetration of sustainability throughout the university. Design/methodology/approach To explore the existing social structure, the authors use an innovative approach to illuminate the influence of social structure on organizational change efforts. Using a mixed methods approach combining social network analysis with qualitative interview data, the authors examine the influence of the social structure on sustainability transformation at McGill University. The authors conducted 52 interviews between January and April 2019 with representatives of different sustainability groups at the university across six domains (research, education, administration, operations, connectivity and students). Findings The authors find that McGill University has a centralized system with a low density. The network is centralized around the Office of Sustainability. The limited cross-domain interaction appears to be a result of differences in motivation and priorities. This leads to a network that has many actors but only a limited number of connections between them. The quality of the relationships is often utilitarian, with only a few relationships aiming for support and mutual growth. Originality/value This study brings together social network analysis, sustainability transformation and higher education in a new way. It also illustrates the complexity of guiding a large organization, such as a university, toward a sustainability transformation. Furthermore, it reveals the importance of considering each part of the university as part of an interconnected network rather than as isolated components.

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development at state level: the case of Hesse

The role of the federal states (Länder) in Germany’s sustainability transformation has received comparatively little attention in the political science literature. This article examines the contributions, capacities and competencies of the Länder in relation to Germany’s sustainability transformation with a focus on the role of Hesse. Hesse is a particularly interesting federal state to consider as it introduced a differentiated and demanding sustainable development policy already in 2008.

Social Relations and Everyday Consumption Rituals: Barriers or Prerequisites for Sustainability Transformation?

Macro-institutional structures and consumerist culture force and urge people to reproduce unsustainable levels of consumption. A crucial role for sociology, the article argues, is to address theoretically and empirically the intersection between social relations and (over)consumption. The purpose with this article is to address how social relations are involved in both reproducing and challenging consumer culture. This is done by emphasizing the intersection of consumer culture and socially integrating everyday rituals and drawing on literature on both voluntary and involuntary (the pandemic) disruption of consumer practices. The Covid-19 pandemic brings unexpected opportunities to highlight this intersection, as the pandemic offers a window of opportunity for lifestyle change. The review shows there are important lessons about both challenges and opportunities, gained from both voluntary and involuntary disruption of consumer practices.

Exploring Sustainable Urban Transformation Concepts for Economic Development

Nowadays cities face numerous challenges amplified to build necessary urban municipal and community capacity to ensure sustainability transformation to respond to the local and global challenges of climate change, inequality, and access to resources. This research combines the study fields of sustainability, economic development, governance of sustainability transformation, providing the multidisciplinary approach as a systemic-oriented view encompassing the social, technological and ecological aspects of urban transformation. The purpose of the paper is to explore how the concept of urban transformation could be operationalized for research of economic development under the economic strain assuming the emergency of Covid-19 grand challenge. The research methods used are a systematic literature review and the content analysis. The paper provides a detailed characterization of the urban transformation exploring this concept from the structure and system perspectives for the economic exit from the crisis.

Leverage points for sustainability transformations: nine guiding questions for sustainability science and practice

The concept of leverage points offers great potential to consider how we can intervene in systems to create transformations for sustainability. In this special issue, we draw together a diverse collection of research that engages with this central idea. The papers cover three broad topics: (1) the use of a ‘leverage points lens’ for systems framings and understandings; (2) how individual interventions can be understood and critiqued from a leverage points perspective; and (3) the implications of a leverage points approach for research practice and action. Across these topics, we present the papers, and embed them within current critical debate in sustainability science. In doing so, we produce nine guiding questions to shape the research and practice of leverage points for sustainability transformation. These nine questions introduce conceptual clarity to untangle some of the deeper questions around which system we are engaging with, whose system counts, and whose sustainability we are seeking to create. They further shape how we deliver a leverage points research practice. We intend, therefore, that our guiding questions open up exploration across systems and worldviews, and help us to dance with systems.