Conflict and contestations

Recently, this research line has also come to include analyses of the ‘dark side’ of sustainability transformations, as potential negative or unintended consequences – such as loss of cultural heritage, displacement of communities or the exacerbation of power imbalances – may arise from attempts at fostering transformative change. Recognizing and addressing the dark side of transformative change is essential for ensuring that sustainability transformations are truly beneficial and equitable.

This research line further strives to understand the relevance and implications of observed value conflicts and varying risk perceptions for governing transformations. For this purpose, we use framing and discourse analysis, deliberative governance methods, valuation methods, and action-research methodologies to study how different values play out in policymaking and governance. Studying the role and contestation of values in practice and relating these to different normative governance theories enables us to engage in a reflexive manner in debates on evaluation of existing and emerging policy making and governance arrangements and in processes of co-creating new ones.

• Legitimacy in an Era of Fragmentation: The Case of Global Climate Governance
• Conceptualizing controversies in the EU circular bioeconomy transition
• Developing multiscale and integrative nature–people scenarios using the Nature Futures Framework