Overview

Societal transformations are needed across the globe in light of pressing environmental issues. This need to transform is increasingly acknowledged in policy, planning, academic debate, and media, whether it is to achieve decarbonization, resilience, national development plans, or sustainability objectives. This volume provides the first comprehensive comparison of how sustainability transformations are understood across societies. It contains historical analogies and concrete examples from around the world to show how societal transformations could achieve the Paris Agreement and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals through governance, innovations, lifestyle changes, education and new narratives. It examines how societal actors in different geographical, political and cultural contexts understand the agents and drivers of societal change towards sustainability, using data from the academic literature, international news media, lay people's focus groups across five continents, and international politics. This is a valuable resource for academics and policymakers working in environmental governance and sustainability. This is one of a series of publications associated with the Earth System Governance Project. For more publications, see www.cambridge.org/earth-system-governance.

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9781108487474

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'This deeply researched project, produced by two Swedish professors of environmental change, extracts the meanings of sustainability transformation from national and international policy documents, and completes the portrait through analysis of vivid focus group interactions from sites in Cabo Verde, Guangzhou (China), Fiji, Sweden, and Boulder (US) … Linnér and Wibeck (both, Linköping Univ.) conclude that strong, inclusive, and transparent institutions are essential for pursuing the path forward. The book includes an excellent bibliography, and will benefit advanced students and their instructors in international relations, public policy, and environmental studies.' D. B. Robertson, Choice

'This deeply researched project, produced by two Swedish professors of environmental change, extracts the meanings of sustainability transformation from national and international policy documents, and completes the portrait through analysis of vivid focus group interactions from sites in Cabo Verde, Guangzhou (China), Fiji, Sweden, and Boulder (US) ... Linner and Wibeck (both, Linkoeping Univ.) conclude that strong, inclusive, and transparent institutions are essential for pursuing the path forward. The book includes an excellent bibliography, and will benefit advanced students and their instructors in international relations, public policy, and environmental studies.' D. B. Robertson, Choice

Author Information

Björn-Ola Linnér is Professor of Environmental Change at Linköpings Universitet, Sweden. He leads internationally recognized research on transnational climate governance and geopolitics of sustainability transformations. He has long experience as advisor in international climate governance and sustainable development research policy. He is author of The Return of Malthus (2003) and co-author of The Political Economy of Climate Change Adaptation (2015). Victoria Wibeck is Professor of Environmental Change at Linköpings Universitet, Sweden. Her research focuses on communication studies. She is a recognized authority on sense-making of complex sustainability challenges, social representations of climate change, and communicative aspects of environmental management by objectives. Wibeck has internationally unique expertise in methodology for cross-country focus group research.

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