About this Book
Sustainable development is the 21st Century’s wicked problem. For over 40 years,
the world has known about ecological limits to economic growth and social limits
to economic inequality. Yet, our attempted solutions—mostly more efficient technologies—have reversed few unsustainable trends. So sustainability advocates now
call for a paradigm shift, Great Transformation, radical change or system innovations—changes which evolve the current design of incentives, policies and
institutions.
This book describes the path ahead. It combines system transformation research
with political economy and change leadership insights when discussing the need for
a great mindshift in how human wellbeing, economic prosperity and healthy
ecosystems are understood, illustrating its nature through mapping pioneering
practices and their commonalities.
Maja Göpel places individuals and their world views centre stage and shows
why empowering individual’s through transformative literacy is essential for the
Great Transformations ahead to lead to more sustainabiltiy. She presents the case
for radical incremental strategies in the socio-ecological-technical systems which
humans shape the planet’s future.
This book
• Combines a scientific critique of what needs to change and why (here: the
economic paradigm) with an equally scientific discussion of how this change
can happen and who can engage in it (here: system transformation theory).
• Brings a political economy lens into sustainability transition research that
highlights how system innovations cannot be understood without addressing
economic drivers, vested interests and power relations.
• Puts human transformative literacy centre stage when proposing radical incremental transformation strategies for large-system change.
• Showcases empirical assessments of pioneering movements working for a
recoupling of economic processes with nature and human wellbeing.
• Provides an easily accessible introduction to system transformation research and
key aspects of an emerging new economic paradigm for sustainability.
© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2016
M. Göpel, The Great Mindshift, The Anthropocene:
Politik—Economics—Society—Science 2, DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-43766-8
183
Sustainable development is the 21st Century’s wicked problem. For over 40 years,
the world has known about ecological limits to economic growth and social limits
to economic inequality. Yet, our attempted solutions—mostly more efficient technologies—have reversed few unsustainable trends. So sustainability advocates now
call for a paradigm shift, Great Transformation, radical change or system innovations—changes which evolve the current design of incentives, policies and
institutions.
This book describes the path ahead. It combines system transformation research
with political economy and change leadership insights when discussing the need for
a great mindshift in how human wellbeing, economic prosperity and healthy
ecosystems are understood, illustrating its nature through mapping pioneering
practices and their commonalities.
Maja Göpel places individuals and their world views centre stage and shows
why empowering individual’s through transformative literacy is essential for the
Great Transformations ahead to lead to more sustainabiltiy. She presents the case
for radical incremental strategies in the socio-ecological-technical systems which
humans shape the planet’s future.
This book
• Combines a scientific critique of what needs to change and why (here: the
economic paradigm) with an equally scientific discussion of how this change
can happen and who can engage in it (here: system transformation theory).
• Brings a political economy lens into sustainability transition research that
highlights how system innovations cannot be understood without addressing
economic drivers, vested interests and power relations.
• Puts human transformative literacy centre stage when proposing radical incremental transformation strategies for large-system change.
• Showcases empirical assessments of pioneering movements working for a
recoupling of economic processes with nature and human wellbeing.
• Provides an easily accessible introduction to system transformation research and
key aspects of an emerging new economic paradigm for sustainability.
© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2016
M. Göpel, The Great Mindshift, The Anthropocene:
Politik—Economics—Society—Science 2, DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-43766-8
183