About Us

Founded in 2009, the STRN is the international network of scholars interested in sustainability transitions. The network has grown considerably since its inception and now numbers over 3000 scholars. It has also become increasingly diverse with respect to geography, methods, and themes.

Anyone who is interested or involved in research on sustainability transitions is welcome to join the network. What unites our community is a shared interest in studying and realizing sustainability transitions – major shifts in established industries, socio-technical systems, and societies toward more sustainable modes of production and consumption.

Supported by the voluntary efforts of transition scholars, our overarching mission is to advance the field of sustainability transitions. Four specific goals follow from this and orient the activities of the network.

Knowledge

Deepen understanding of sustainability transitions

Education

Foster intellectual and professional development

Exchange

Provide platforms for knowledge exchange

Outreach

Promote transition perspectives in policy and practice

Governance of the STRN is based on the following structural elements:

A Board, including a chair, which coordinates the network and has responsibility for core operational tasks
The Steering group, which elects the board members from its midst, gives strategic advice to the board members on the development of the network and fulfills a number of tasks
STRN is managed by a secretariat, which is currently based at the Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development, Utrecht University
STRN is financially supported by a group of institutional members, which are national or international centers for sustainability transitions research
Working groups that coordinate strategic tasks in a temporary, project based fashion

Jochen Markard
ZHAW, Winterthur & ETH Zurich
Chair of STRN

Wouter Boon
Utrecht University, Utrecht

Katharina Schiller
Fraunhofer ISI, Karlsruhe

Secretariat

The secretariat professionally supports existing activities, day-to-day operations, the development of strategic projects and the volunteer work of the steering group. It is based at the Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development, Utrecht University.

Adriaan van der Loos

Network manager

Copernicus Institute

Utrecht University, Utrecht

Lisa Bettoni

Secretarial support

Copernicus Institute

Utrecht University, Utrecht

The steering group (SG) gives strategic advice to the board members on the development of the network. SG members are experienced transition scholars and / or those who play or want to play an active role in developing the STRN network further. The SG strives for representational diversity, e.g. in terms of gender, age, topics, research groups and region.

Bipashyee Ghosh
SPRU, University of Sussex, Brighton

Ingrid Johansson Mignon
Department of Technology Management and Economics, Chalmers, Gothenburg

Wisdom Kanda
Linköping University, Linköping

Florian Kern
Institute for Ecological Economy Research, Berlin

Tom Hawxwell
HafenCity University, Hamburg

Merin Raju Jacob
CST, Stellenbosch University

Anton Sentic
ZHAW Zurich University of Applied Sciences, Winterthur

Sophie-Marie Ertelt
Center for Sustainable Business, Örebro University, Örebro

Bernhard Truffer
Eawag, Dübendorf

Bruno Turnheim
LISIS, Paris

Kejia Yang
TIK, University of Oslo, Oslo

Xiao-Shan Yap
Eawag, Dübendorf

Institutional Members

Institutional members support STRN and transitions research through a financial contribution and provide input and advice to the network. Institutional membership is open to any independent research organization active in transitions. Please reach out for more information if you feel your institute may be interested in joining as an institutional member.