On the 4th and 5th of October, the interdisciplinary symposium “Transformation zur Nachhaltigkeit. Hindernisse – Wege – Strategien” ("Transformation to Sustainability. Obstacles - Paths - Strategies "), organized jointly by the ZIN and the Katholische Akademie Franz Hitze Haus, took place. The event, which was attended by people both with a background in science and practice, focused on the profound socio-economic transformation that is urgently needed to safeguard the natural foundations of human life. However, the conference not only analyzed the obstacles that currently slow down a successful transformation, but also put a special focus on discussing ways of action and implementation within the ever-shorter remaining time. At the beginning of the event, ZIN spokeswoman Prof. Doris Fuchs urged the participants to listen to each other and to discuss ideas constructively in order to cope with existing challenges.

In order to facilitate a thematically comprehensive exchange of ideas, four thematic blocks focused on four central aspects of a transformation to sustainability. Dr. Antonietta di Giulio (University of Basel) opened the conference with her keynote address „Wege zu nachhaltigem Konsum jenseits der kleinen Schritte“ ("Towards Sustainable Consumption Beyond the Small Steps"), in which she discussed (among others) the basic ambivalence of consumption, consumption beyond buying and the meaning of “protected needs” for the definition of sustainable consumption. The co-speakers Prof. Marianne Heimbach-Steins (WWU Münster) and Prof. Christa Liedtke (Wuppertal-Institute) added interesting aspects, such as the importance of justice issues for sustainable consumption as well as the political dimension of issues of product design.

In the second block, Prof. Ingolfur Blühdorn (University of Vienna) took a very self-critical look at sustainability research: In his presentation “Der post-ökologische Verteidigungskonsens. Nachhaltigkeitsforschung im Verdacht der Komplizenschaft“ (“The post-ecological defense consensus. Sustainability research suspected of complicity”), he critically asked to what extent sustainability research contributes to the preservation of the status quo by communicating insufficiently proven narratives of hope. ZIN member Prof. Samuel Mössner (WWU Münster) confirmed the relevance of the questions raised by the main speaker in his co-presentation. He continued to illustrate the often contradictory effects of an attempted implementation of sustainability: For example, in Freiburg, progress in ecological sustainability was accompanied by a loss of social sustainability; at the same time, the implementation of urban sustainability is in some cases closely linked to the maintenance of the “non-sustainable” lifestyle in the surrounding rural areas. Following the main and co-presentation, a lively discussion ensued on the role of sustainability research and its actual contributions to a transformation to sustainability.

At the end of the first day of the event, the topic "participation" took center stage. Prof. Doris Fuchs and Carolin Bohn (both WWU Münster) dedicated their contribution, which was titled „Transformation durch Partizipation? Die zentrale Rolle politischer Urteilsbildung“("Transformation through Participation? The central role of political judgment formation”), to the challenges of successfully implementing sustainability-oriented participation in liberal (post-) democracies. They explained how these challenges could be addressed by promoting political judgement formation in participatory processes, and they also looked at opportunities and obstacles to its practical implementation. While the keynote address focused on community-based participation in the Global North, Dr. Georg Stoll (MISEREOR) commented on the specific challenges of participatory processes in the Global South. He also raised the question of how participation can promote understanding between the Global North and the Global South, and emphasized that opportunities for real influence are central to people from the Global South. Following the main and co-presentation, the participants discussed further questions related to sustainability-oriented participation in small groups.

On the second day of the conference, the focus was on “Zeit als kritischer Faktor” (time as a critical factor). The contribution of Prof. Rinderspracher discussed various topics at the interface of sustainability and time, such as advantages and disadvantages of a “five to twelve” – narrative and chances of positive ecological effects of time prosperity. Co-referee Dr. Martin Held (member of the disccusion group “Die Transformateure”) commented on the main speaker’s theses very carefully and added further points. Among others, he addressed questions of the relationship between economy and society and the temporal aspects of the “all metal age”. This was followed by a discussion in small groups, after which Prof. Marianne Heimbach-Steins and Dr. Georg Stoll systematically summarized the results of the conference, formulated further questions and led a final discussion.

The results of the interdisciplinary symposium „Transformation zur Nachhaltigkeit. Hindernisse – Wege – Strategien“ ("Transformation to Sustainability. Obstacles - ways - strategies ") will be documented in a conference transcript.