The Deep Transitions project has emphasised how much the shaping of technology since the industrial revolution has been crucial in bringing us to the current environmentally threatening situation. Mass production, in particular, has brought the use of earth’s material resources and the emission of CO2 to dangerous levels. Excess possessions and waste in mass consumption…
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Blog - May 6, 2020
Computing: A Change in Rules for the Deep Transition?
It is commonly said that we live in the digital or information age, an acknowledgement of the centrality of information and communication technologies in our daily work and private lives. It is often believed that technologies such as the laptop computer and mobile phone come about because of the inventive genius of an individual or…
Blog - April 6, 2020
Conversaciones sobre COVID-19: consecuencias para la segunda transición profunda y la revolución de la sostenibilidad
Por: Johan Schot , Bipashyee Ghosh y Geraldine Bloomfield Traducido por: Diana Velasco, investigadora invitada de Ingenio UPV-CSIC. Comentarios para la versión en español de la entrevista, por Diana Velasco Un mundo en transición profunda, empujado a hacer cambios radicales en los patrones de conducta, de comportamiento, y de valores de las personas, más que por una dirección…
Blog - March 31, 2020
War, huh, what is it good for….?
According to Edwin Starr, “absolutely nothing” but when we present our work on the influential role of the World Wars in the culmination of the first deep transition, we keep being asked the same question: “So, you’re saying that we need a war then?” It seems the question is asked in relation to two considerations…
Blog - March 25, 2020
Conversations on COVID-19: Consequences for the Second Deep Transition and the Sustainability Revolution
The COVID-19 public health emergency facing the world is the worst in living memory. It is changing everyday life in an immediate and stark fashion not seen, arguably, since the Second World War. The, perhaps unhelpful, metaphor of ‘war’ is being used to evoke our attempts at mastering the attacking virus. In the worst-hit country,…
Blog - March 23, 2020
The Future of Investments in Transformative Change
James Anderson of the Scottish investment firm Baillie Gifford plays a crucial role in the Deep Transitions project. He has not only been a driving force in realising a substantial donation to the project but can be seen as an ambassador of investments into long-term system change at the most pivotal time. “Actual investors think…
Blog - March 2, 2020
First wave of Deep Transitions Research Unveiled in New Podcast Series
Deep Transitions researchers report project findings at Sussex in the sound studio, recording podcasts and writing dedicated blogs on their project’s unique contribution. The Deep Transitions workshop, held at the start of the year at the University of Sussex Conference Centre, had one crucial difference from the usual. Alongside project updates and writing sessions across…
Blog - February 24, 2020
What does it take to achieve radical societal change?
Try to imagine a person writing the following words: “Preponderance in aviation may give way to equality; planes may become as commonplace and unimportant in the balance of war and peace as rifles are today. The only possible superiority in the air may depend on morale, flying skill, strategy, and a ready supply of petroleum….
Blog - December 18, 2019
International organisations as drivers of transformative change: The case of the European Union and the circular economy
Global ecological degradation and growing social inequalities are two major challenges our world is facing in the 21st century. These challenges have been created by practices of mass production and consumption that have come to dominate societal systems since the onset of the industrial revolution, about 250 years ago. These practices, based for example on…