• Energy Research

The language of the global sustainability discourse in science and society is laden with time rhetoric, and time has been identified as one major contextual condition for sustainability transformations. Still, time and temporal dynamics are often not explicitly considered or conceptualized in research and strategy-building towards sustainability transformations in social-ecological and socio-technical systems: While existing approaches to time such as the concept of time ecology mainly inform system knowledge, many transformation concepts are found to lack an in-depth integration of time. This sets up the challenge to acknowledge and operationalize temporal system dynamics in transformation processes, in order to be able to plan and act purposefully towards long-term sustainable development. In this article, we take a first step to meet this challenge and propose an approach towards operationalizing and integrating the findings of time ecology for these sustainability transformation concepts. The presented time-in-transformations-approach consists of three subsequent steps. Each step informs specific features of the transformation process and is operationalized on the basis of insights from time ecology. By applying these steps to the exemplary case of the mineral-energy nexus, we show how our approach might enable a better temporal system understanding and support a structured reflection on human perception of change and typical temporal patterns. The approach leads to two main outcomes: First, it can inform how to design and carry out interventions in a way that they consider a system’s temporal resilience and transformability. Second, an active consideration of temporal dynamics can inform strategy-building towards coherent sustainability transformations across sectors and regulatory levels, spatial and temporal scales. Therefore, it can contribute to a shared and operational understanding of temporal diversity and may thus meaningfully complement existing approaches to analyze, assess and purposefully intervene into systems across sector boundaries.

Abstract Urban heat waves are an increasing phenomenon around the world. Over the last decade the combination of climate change and the urban heat island effect have resulted in rising temperatures in cities. The related heat stress has severe impact on urban populations and infrastructure. However, it is unclear to what extent solutions to urban heat waves depend on context or if similarities can be identified that would support their adoption to different urban settings. The purpose of this study is to gain a better overview of solution characteristics and ultimately of their transferability. Based on a systematic qualitative and quantitative literature review we analysed solutions to urban heat waves with regard to geographical distribution, specific characteristics and pivotal actors. Results show that the sampled case studies concentrated on North America, Europe and Australia. The analysed solutions focus mostly on the use of green and blue infrastructure or grey infrastructure. Our review highlights city administration as pivotal actor for implementing solutions and emphasizes the importance of inhabitants as well as local governments as essential actors for adaptation to urban heat waves. We conclude by formulating recommendations to increase transferability of solutions to urban heat waves.

Ecosystem services research has become a major academic field, drawing in various academic disciplines, perspectives, and research approaches. The multifaceted concept of "ecosystem services" includes a normative component, which has strong implicit links to the notion of sustainability. Yet, how ecosystem services research relates to sustainability has received little attention. We reviewed the current state of research on ecosystem services, and examined whether the concept's original motivation has allowed it to act as an effective boundary object for the integration of the diverse knowledge related to sustainability. A full-text, multivariate statistical analysis of 1388 peer-reviewed publications on ecosystem services from 1997 to 2011 revealed a rapidly growing but fragmented body of research, which has emphasized the development of descriptive understandings of human-nature interactions. Future challenges for the ecosystem services concept include greater integration of currently fragmented knowledge domains and stronger engagement with the concept's normative foundations. ?? 2014 Elsevier B.V.

Formalised knowledge systems, including universities and research institutes, are important for contemporary societies. They are, however, also arguably failing humanity when their impact is measured against the level of progress being made in stimulating the societal changes needed to address challenges like climate change. In this research we used a novel futures-oriented and participatory approach that asked what future envisioned knowledge systems might need to look like and how we might get there. Findings suggest that envisioned future systems will need to be much more collaborative, open, diverse, egalitarian, and able to work with values and systemic issues. They will also need to go beyond producing knowledge about our world to generating wisdom about how to act within it. To get to envisioned systems we will need to rapidly scale methodological innovations, connect innovators, and creatively accelerate learning about working with intractable challenges. We will also need to create new funding schemes, a global knowledge commons, and challenge deeply held assumptions. To genuinely be a creative force in supporting longevity of human and non-human life on our planet, the shift in knowledge systems will probably need to be at the scale of the enlightenment and speed of the scientific and technological revolution accompanying the second World War. This will require bold and strategic action from governments, scientists, civic society and sustained transformational intent. Energy Research & Social Science, 70 ISSN:2214-6296