Here is a recording of our latest webinar for the SocSES webinar series.
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Title:
Transformative pathways towards sustainable and just futures: Insights from the Seeds of Good Anthropocene and the 3 Horizons Approach
Abstract:
Contemporary ecological, social, and economic crises highlight how deeply global societies remain locked into unsustainable pathways. Shifting these pathways requires fundamental transformative changes, guided by new ways of relating to nature and addressing inequalities based on compelling and actionable visions of just and sustainable futures. Sustainability scholars have emphasized the need to identify opportunities for transformative change and to understand the agency of different actors and their collaborations in pursuing such transformations. In this seminar, I approach transformation theory from a social-innovation lens, drawing on insights from the Seeds of Good Anthropocenes project to explore how alternative, non-mainstream initiatives can build (or erode) resilience and open space for systemic change. I illustrate these dynamics with examples from the Resilience Must-Knows report, showing how coping, adaptation, and transformation unfold in practice. I then share findings from a case study in southeast Spain, where the Three Horizons methodology was used as a participatory scenario-building process to create desirable future visions, identify current system traps, and develop actionable strategies for regional change. Finally, I discuss emerging research on the role of Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities-led initiatives as catalysts for social-ecological transformations. Together, these insights show how local “seeds” and participatory foresight can help guide pathways toward more sustainable and just futures.
Bio:
Amanda Jiménez Aceituno is a sustainability researcher and theme leader at the Stockholm Resilience Centre with a background in Environmental Sciences and a PhD in Environmental Education. Jiménez´s work focuses on sustainability transformations, contributing to its conceptual and methodological development, such as the use of the values-rules-knowledge framework or the leverage points approach to reveal the transformative potential of Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities (IPLC)- led initiatives (e.g., Jiménez-Aceituno et al. 2025). The Seeds of the Good Anthropocenes approach has been a key platform in her study of transformations. Jiménez also works on developing and implementing transdisciplinary research methods that can enhance our understanding of collective processes and foster sustainability in social-ecological systems.
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This is the latest in a series of webinars. Past recordings can be found here.
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