How Translating Transformations Got Started: The Story Behind Our Toolbox

How can we improve the efficacy of transdisciplinary transformative change initiatives (TTCIs)?

This question lies at the heart of our project, Translating Transformations.

As the urgency to respond to climate change, biodiversity loss, and social inequalities grows, the need for transformative change—defined by IPBES as “a fundamental, system-wide reorganization across technological, economic and social factors, including paradigms, goals, and values”—becomes more widely recognized.

TTCIs, which aim to bring together diverse academic and non-academic actors, are often seen as the most promising spaces to enable such transformation. Yet many of these initiatives fall short of their ambitious goals. One key reason: a lack of common framing of the problem. In many cases, participants speak different ‘disciplinary languages,’ making it difficult to build a shared understanding of the problem—and, in turn, to strategize effectively around solutions.

While many TTCIs manage to bridge knowledge between natural sciences and practice, the integration of critical social science (CSS) perspectives remains rare. And it’s precisely these perspectives—those that critically engage with power, knowledge systems, and structural inequalities—that are crucial to enacting the kinds of deep transformations these initiatives aim for.

That’s where our project comes in: Translating Transformations is a research project funded by the SNSF, led by a small team of four researchers based at the University of Zurich. We’re part of the Space, Nature and Society group in the Department of Geography and our project is guided by Dr. Sierra Deutsch. As the Translating Transformations team, we’re developing CSS literacy tools to help TTCIs better engage with issues of power and build stronger, more reflective, and more equitable collaborations.

The Translating Transformation core research team, from the left: Jinat Hossain, Norman Backhaus, Sierra Deutsch, Mirjam Steiger

Listening First: Insights from two TTCIs

We began our work by studying two major TTCIs in Switzerland: ValPar.CH and the University Research Priority Program on Global Change and Biodiversity (URPP-GCB).

We wanted to understand:

• What’s already working well?

• What kinds of knowledge are included (or left out) in decision-making processes?

• Where are tensions, gaps or space for improvement?

• What role could CSS concepts play in strengthening these collaborations?  

To explore these questions, we used a mixed method approach. We started with a questionnaire, which helped us identify key themes across the two programs. In a second phase, we conducted in-depth, semi-structured interviews with selected participants to delve deeper into their experiences.

In total, 54 people participated in the questionnaire (with 37 fully completing it), and 9 researchers took part in follow-up interviews. Our questions focused on participants’ understandings of power, agency, hegemony, diversity, intersectionality, and transformative change, as well as the collaborative dynamics between social scientists, natural scientists, and non-academic stakeholders.

From this work, several key themes emerged—especially around the need to address power dynamics more directly, and the challenges of integrating critical social science perspectives in practice.

Turning Insights into Practical Tools

Based on our findings and through deep engagement with CSS concepts within our core research team, we began developing and testing CSS literacy tools and strategies. We piloted these in internal team and public workshops, using an iterative process to refine them based on feedback.

The result is the CSS Literacy Toolbox: a growing collection of tools designed to support TTCI teams in understanding and addressing how power operates — through discourse and structures — and how these dynamics shape both the research process and the kinds of change that become possible. These tools are not about offering fixed answers, but to foster critical reflection and meaningful dialogue. They are designed to use for researchers and practitioners alike.

We hope this toolbox becomes a practical resource for all those working in TTCI, and a step towards more just transformations.

🔗 Check out our CSS Literacy Toolbox and explore the first tools we’ve developed—more are on the way!

💡What’s Next?

• In upcoming blog posts, we’ll share more about how we co-developed and tested our CSS literacy tools in workshops. These posts will give a behind-the-scenes look at how the tools evolved through practice, reflection, and collaboration.

  
  

• More tools are on the way!

  We’re continuing to develop and refine additional tools based on upcoming workshops, new insights, and our evolving understanding of power and collaboration in transdisciplinary work.