Unpacking “Transformative Change” in Sustainability Discourse: A Survey of Authors’ Perspectives

The term “transformative change” has evolved into a one-stop-shop concept in sustainability circles. In peer-reviewed journals in the fields of environmental science, agricultural and biological sciences, and earth and planetary sciences, it appeared only 75 times prior to 2010, but 1,012 times from 2010 to 2019, and 3,534 times in just the first half of the current decade according to Elsevier Analytics in 2025. Nevertheless, transformative change remains broadly and inconsistently defined. For example:

• “a fundamental, system-wide reorganization across technological, economic and social factors, including paradigms, goals and values”; 
• “transforming how we think, live, produce and consume in order to achieve a new equilibrium that balances resilience, security and well-being, and does so in harmony with nature”; and 
• “a significant shift (e.g., radical, deep, fundamental) as opposed to incremental or adaptive change”. 

The way in which transformative change is discussed in high-level discourse influences the way it is put into practice. This underscores the need to agree on its meaning, on how to achieve it, and on the risks that accompany transformation. Various opinions have been offered in the literature; we wanted to know directly from a sample of authors who have written on the topic. 

We searched the electronic archives of Scopus for articles on transformative change and then individually contacted 250 authors with a short, structured survey, receiving 62 responses. We asked them how they rated their own understanding of the concept of transformative change; whether they thought of transformative change as a process or a goal; and how they viewed the relationship between incremental change and transformative change (Figure 1).