Explorative Transition Governance: Understanding by Engaging in Transitions in the Making

Abstract

Transition governance explores how societal transitions can be accelerated towards just and sustainable futures. This chapter presents an explorative and engaged approach, helping actors navigate complex, uncertain ‘transitions in the making’. It highlights the interplay between analytical and action-oriented, transdisciplinary methods. The chapter first outlines diverse analytical perspectives on actor interactions in transitions, from resistance to transformation. It introduces the X-curve framework, which identifies key actors and roles in both build-up and phase-out dynamics. The chapter then explores transformative and transdisciplinary approaches under Transition Management, a cyclical process involving strategic, tactical, operational, and reflexive activities. Methods such as transition arenas, reflexive monitoring, backcasting, and transition experiments facilitate social learning in multi-actor settings. The chapter concludes by reflecting on the challenges and opportunities for advancing transition governance amid growing resistance and the urgent need for transformative change.