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Transitions to
sustainable futures.

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How do we build a sustainable world?

The world is at a tipping point. The actions we take over the coming years will have a profound impact on the future of our planet. But finding the best way forward can be hard – especially given the scale and complexity of the challenge facing us.

That’s why we need to approach the problem in a new way.

Focusing on transitions

This website is based on a research report jointly created by the R&D Group of Hitachi, Ltd. and Takram, a design innovation studio based in Tokyo, London and New York. The report explains nine transitions we can make toward a more sustainable world.

A transition is a gradual, progressive shift from one state to another. In this context, we’re talking about moving from one social, political, or economic system into another.

The power of transition thinking

It’s hard to imagine a world you don’t yet live in. Before World War II, the dissolution of the Soviet Union, or the modernisation that came with Japan’s Meiji Restoration, few could have imagined what life would be like afterwards.

Thinking in transitions can give us a much fuller picture of how we build a sustainable future. And it gives us practical, concrete steps we can take to help get us there.

‘When you are forecasting a future, you’re thinking within the paradigms that you’re already embedded in. Your social, political, and economic paradigms and current worldviews. All of which are part of the problem, because all of those paradigms are inherently unsustainable in the long term.’

— Terry Irwin, Director of the Transition Design Institute

Crises showed us that, when we act together, rapid, multi-dimensional transformation of the way we live is possible.

2020 as a tipping point

2020 was a year of crisis. The coronavirus pandemic caused untold disruption to mental and physical wellbeing, as well as to the global economy. Meanwhile, wildfires, extreme weather, conflicts, famines and political upheaval devastated many corners of the globe. These problems are linked, and illustrate both the scale and the urgency of the challenge we face.

But 2020 also showed us that, when we act together, we can achieve incredible things.

The same is true when it comes to building sustainable futures. Multi-dimensional transformation of the way we live is possible. But if we are to succeed, we need to act decisively at every level – as societies, companies, communities, and individuals.

How we created this report

This report covers:

126

people and organisations

28

key frameworks

12

Detailed interviews and profiles of 12 leaders in sustainability:

Arup, Dan Hill, Ellen MacArthur Foundation, Forum for the Future, Human After All, Institute for Global Environmental Strategies, IPBES, Kiko Network, Renewable Energy Institute, Terry Irwin, The International Energy Agency, Yoji Yoshimura


Mechanistic → Systemic

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mechanistic cover icon

When we start thinking about the world as a set of interconnected systems, everything changes.

The organisation

Forum for the Future

Forum for the Future is a nonprofit that encourages ‘systems thinking’. Instead of looking at each problem in isolation, Forum for the Future advocates seeing them as part of an interconnected set of global systems.

This way of thinking can help us better understand problems like climate change, and lead to radical and unexpected solutions.

‘Things are viewed in isolation and I think with a system, what's really really important is to understand how living beings, social issues, and environmental issues aren't separate things.’

— James Payne, Associate director, Transformational Strategies at Forum for the Future

Key concepts

Systems thinking

Treating the world as a set of interconnected systems.

Leverage points

Places where you can intervene in a system to create change.

Key frameworks

6 STEPS TO SIGNIFICANT CHANGE

Adapted from 6 significant steps to change ↗, Forum for the Future (2018)
6 STEPS TO SIGNIFICANT CHANGE

Creating systems change for sustainability

Forum for the Future believes we can harness systems to build a more sustainable future. This framework shows how systemic change is created.

KEY DYNAMICS SHAPING THE 2020S

Adapted from The Future of Sustainability Report 2020 ↗, Forum for the Future (2020)
Key Dynamics Shaping the 2020s

Key Dynamics Shaping the 2020s

Forum for the Future have defined five dynamics they see as key to shaping the decade. Understanding these can help us spot signals of change, and transform systems.

LIVING SYSTEMS ARE NESTED

Adapted from Four Levels of Work framework in Regenerative Development ↗, Regenesis Group
LIVING SYSTEMS ARE NESTED

Working on multiple levels

Systems operate on different, interconnected levels. The inner levels describe activities that are already happening; the outer levels describe future potential.

SYSTEMIC PRACTICES

Adapted from Systems practices — what might these be? ↗, Forum for the Future (2019)
SYSTEMIC PRACTICES

Systemic practices

Thinking in systems means working in a different way. Here are the shifts Forum for the Future believes we need to make.

Transition in detail

Systems are naturally resistant to change. But leverage points can help us make big changes that ripple across systems, multiplying their effect.

Current worldPreferable world
Worldviewone-directional march towards successmade up of structures, history, and contexts
Purposesiloed, isolated successwholistic, for flourishing planet and people
Workfocus on doing work within established scopework across many levels concurrently
Problemsreducible, understandable, focus on the particularswicked, systems-level, understand whole picture
Powerconcentrate power in the topdistribute power to change relationships
Changeachieved through focussed action within key areaachieved through systems transformation
Technologypolarising, disruptive, fragmented, powerfulregulated, understood

Transition pathways

Forum for the Future’s pathways to change involve empowering people and communities to support the emergence of regenerative, self-sustaining systems. Traditionally, this has been seen as a side-effect of thriving systems, rather their starting point.

‘Things aren't simplistic and linear, but equally they're not completely random. Navigating complexity is what systems change is all about.’

— James Payne, Associate director, Transformational Strategies at Forum for the Future
MECHANISTICSWIPE →SYSTEMIC
Forum for the Future - pathway diagram

What you can do

Think in systems

Embracing interconnectedness helps us all understand the wider effect of our actions.

Be transparent (and ask for transparency)

Transparency helps us see connections more clearly. We should demand it from organisations, as well as embed it in our own lives.

What this research tells us

We need to move beyond our current way of thinking

Many of the organisations featured in this report are radically different, and see different pathways towards the future. But there are also several common themes.

Perhaps most importantly, these organisations agree that we must move beyond the status quo in a few important ways:

Addiction to the short-term

Our actions are biased towards immediate or short term effects, whether that’s annual profits or personal convenience. This means we can overlook long term outcomes.

Consuming without consequences

People and companies ignore the external effects of their actions, focusing too narrowly on the ‘bottom line’.

Endless growth narrative

If we pursue growth in all circumstances, it is almost impossible to reduce our impact on the planet.

Faster is better

Some activities need to be fast – but many don’t. Fast behaviour is generally more destructive, especially when we don’t fully understand its consequences.

To build a sustainable world, we have to work together

It’s tempting to look for quick fixes or technological innovations that could make our current way of living more sustainable. But this report shows that there are multiple transitions we need to make, at every level of society.

This research also underscores the vital role consensus-building has. By listening to those who have been ignored in previous conversations about sustainability, and by shifting decision making to local people and communities, we can create a future that everyone owns, and bring fresh ideas and perspectives into the conversation.

Ultimately, a sustainable future will only work if it works for everyone.

What you can do

Frameworks for seeing the world differently

Together, these frameworks help us better understand our world, and the transitions we need to make toward a more sustainable future.

They are not an end in themselves. Rather, they are a starting point for a diverse set of actions, which can be undertaken by individuals, communities, businesses and governments to improve our relationship with the natural world – and with each other.

These ways of thinking can be applied to other complex, multi-faceted problems. They help us make progress on issues that would otherwise feel too big or too difficult to contend with.

By taking the time to understand these frameworks, we can make them second nature, so they drive our choices and actions day to day.

‘If you really want to work on behalf of sustainable transitions, if you want to ignite positive, systems-level change, you have to change many things about yourself. You have to change your posture, you have to change your attitudes toward collaboration. You have to, I think, revise your ideas.’

— Terry Irwin, Director of the Transition Design Institute