Transformations in a complex and uncertain world: Implications for stewardship and understanding progress towards change

By Professor Ioan Fazey, University of York

Abstract: Transformative change across society is needed to respond to challenges like climate change, obesity, or burgeoning mental health. Yet practical capacity to support such change is chronically lacking. In this presentation I explain how transformation is qualitatively different to other forms of change and use a simple heuristic to draw out some key lessons for how transformations can be more effectively stewarded in practice. One of the core implications is the need for different kinds of research and learning to support stewardship, which raises significant challenges and questions about how progress towards change might be understood or evaluated.

Bio: Ioan Fazey is Professor of the Social Dimensions of Environment and Change and Director of Strategy for the Department of Environment and Geography at the University of York, UK. His research focuses on how to steward transformations to regenerative futures and bring about the systemic kinds of changes needed to overcome 21st century challenges like climate change. Ioan has over 70 research publications in resilience, transformation and sustainability and on how our knowledge systems – universities, research institutes, and the way we go about learning in complex environments – need to transform to support wider societal change. He supports and facilitates a growing field of research, teaching and action associated with transformation, including leading the system change work on FixOurFood.org, a large transdisciplinary action and research project seeking to transform the Yorkshire food system in the UK. He is a co-founder of the Transformations Community and conference series (https://www.transformationscommunity.org/) and trustee of H3uni.org: an action oriented organisation promoting transformative thinking and capacity building for working within a rapidly changing world.

ActEarly Methods Club: Transformations in a complex and uncertain world