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What does this study entail?

Whether in energy, food, mobility, healthcare, or finance: the institutional, technological, and social systems we have historically developed are not sustainable and need to transform in ways we cannot predict nor control. In academia, we call this ‘societal transitions’. A societal transition is a “a process of structural, non-linear systemic change in a dominant societal regime that takes place over a period of decades (Rotmans et al, 2001, Grin et al, 2010)”. 

Facilitating and managing societal transitions requires us to experiment, initiate and transform the status quo. We need to acquire skills and knowledge that transcend disciplinary boundaries and enable us to synthesize and draw connections between multiple perspectives.

The Master Societal Transitions equips you with the knowledge and skills necessary to understand, interpret and work on complex societal transitions. It is transdisciplinary, integrating knowledge from various disciplines – including philosophy, ecology, and law - and practice. Herein, it focuses especially on the socio-economic and institutional dimensions of societal transitions: the role of power, agency, culture, beliefs, values and social movements, in areas such as energy, food, care, mobility and construction.

The master provides you with the knowledge needed to embrace complex, systemic, persistent (un)sustainability issues. Since no one can address today’s challenges alone, you will collaborate with other professionals (peers, teachers, researchers and societal stakeholders) and co-create interventions for a just and sustainable society. Hereby, you will move beyond theory and apply your learnings in a real-life context.