Governance of Sociotechnical Transformations

The Governance of Sociotechnical Transformations (GoST) project will focus on transformation processes in three areas of crucial relevance to sustainable development, relating in particular to pressing imperatives in countries of the Global South: energy systems, agriculture, and urban digital infrastructures. Each implicates intricate North-South linkages that must be better understood for global sustainability efforts. Adopting a systematic comparative approach, GoST will use sociotechnical imaginaries as a conceptual tool to make sense of how collective imaginations of transformation have determined present conditions.

Many challenges in the three focal areas are related to the prevailing imaginary, and solutions may require radically new imaginaries. Through analysis of two interlinked parameters of transformation (dimensionality and temporality) across five nations (Germany, India, Kenya, UK, US), leading research centers in each will examine, in cooperation with key stakeholders, the differences between imagined and experienced states in each focal instance of transformation in each country. By rethinking transformation through these lenses, GoST presents a methodologically innovative,
integrative, empirically grounded approach that goes beyond usual characterizations of transformation as a linear process of development.

Expected outcomes and impacts: GoST will demonstrate feasible choices among alternative pathways for enacting socially progressive transformations towards sustainability, producing insights of immediate practical importance regarding how such transformations can best be governed in each selected area: by whom (Call Theme 1), to what ends, by what means (3), and with what welfare consequences for affected groups (2).

To ensure the broadest impact and highest level of dissemination of GoST results all project partners will be actively engaged in the dissemination process by: (i) providing content to the coordination team; (ii) making use of their own personal and/or institutional networks and websites to promote the project, including their contacts to stakeholders; and (iii) using the opportunity of relevant conferences and other occasions to present the project approach and results and distribute dissemination materials. Special emphasis will be put on integrating GoST into existing international
networks and organisations (Science and Democracy Network, Future Earth Knowledge Action Networks, T2S network and the International Social Science Council/ International Council for Science) and planning dissemination outputs for key events.

The main target groups are academic and non-academic stakeholders working on T2S (e.g., policy-makers at different levels, scholars, NGOs).

The project team intends to produce the following publications:

- Project reports for the Belmont Forum and NORFACE/ national funding agencies.
- Scientific papers in peer-reviewed journals, preferably with open access: We plan to publish the findings with high impact for scholarly audiences in leading social science journals possibly in the form of a special issue. This includes at least three country-specific academic papers on T2S in the three focal areas and two papers that draw comparative insights across the cases.
- Blog articles (target blogs: futureearth.org/blog, transformationstosustainability.org).
- Publications for non-academic audiences, such as policy briefs will be used to communicate with policy makers about research findings. Outcomes targeted towards non-academic audiences will be elaborated in cooperation with key local actors and partners, identifying specific beneficiaries and developing tailored engagement, evaluation, communications and learning strategies.

The GoST approach to impact moves beyond linear, end-of-pipe dissemination and outreach approaches which are ill-suited to conditions of complexity, and focuses instead on engaging local partners throughout the project. To this effect, we will develop an Engagement Strategy (including a plan of dissemination) tailored for the needs of various local audiences which will be evaluated during the project by the (cooperation) partners in India and Kenya and a variety of local actors in the UK, US and Germany (see WP5). To promote effective dissemination and enhance uptake, the dissemination strategy will include, inter alia, the following elements: a project website, blogs and (social) media, and engagement workshops. Knowledge utilisation: In addition to publication and dissemination the acquired knowledge will be utilised in the development of engagement workshops in India and Kenya, in the development or extension of course curricula at Harvard, Sussex, and UFZ, for in house training of the German Environment Agency (UBA) as well as in the design of policy briefs (see project description, section D).

All data will be securely stored in the project's central portal at UFZ, to which all partners will be guaranteed complete access during the study and beyond (see Data Management Plan).