Transformative Change Network

The Transformative Change Network supported activities to enhance the impact of the ongoing IPBES transformative change assessment. The work on this assessment began in 2022 and will be completed in 2025. The objective of the network was to contribute to a transformative process based on three activities: 1) Three online "Transformative Conversations" organized in collaboration with the IPBES/OneNet Social Sciences and Humanities Network (SSH Network) to broaden the field of actors engaging with the objectives of the assessment., 2) A Transformative Challenge leadership course offered to assessment authors to develop skills and capacities among researchers to increase their impact; 3) to ensure that Indigenous and Local Knowledge (ILK) is included in the assessment, based on a synthesis of IPBES workshop reports and reviewer comments, and 4) travel support for IPBES meetings. Overall, the network support helped to increase transformative skills and practices within the assessment processes, and to build a wider and more diverse community for dialogues and outreach on transformative change.

The Transformative Change Network project supported the IPBES assessment process by increasing the understanding of what transformative change means in practice, and how the way that we work, write, and communicate can generate a stronger impact. The authors who participated in the program offered through the network gained insights about themselves and how their values influence their work, and in general felt an increased commitment to the assessment process. The conversations and dialogues set the stage for further reflections on the role and impacts of assessments in addressing biodiversity loss and sustainability challenges. The key issues raised in these conversations will be considered again once the assessment is published in 2025, and through outreach and follow-up activities, including those organized at the Transformations 2025 conference in South Africa in August, 2025.

This project will support network activities that will enhance the impact of the ongoing IPBES Transformative Change Assessment and ensure that it will be carried out as a uniquely transformative process for maximum results. This project will be carried out independently of formal IPBES structures, yet support the IPBES Transformative Change Assessment through activities and capacity building that will: 1) build networks and capacities to maximize the impact of the assessment and 2) align activities within networks in Norway and abroad, including perspectives related to Indigenous and Local Knowledge (ILK) through conversations, workshops, and dialogues. This project will develop a strong network interested in transformative responses to biodiversity loss, climate change, and other sustainability challenges, and develop synergies with the Transformations Community. To realize the transformative potential of any global assessment calls for a strategic design process, coordination, and implementation, including capacity development within and beyond the network of researchers engaged with transformations to sustainability.