The concept of systemic ecosocial transitions is emerging as a strategy against climate change and the polycrisis. Yet, there is little experience about how such transitions can be realized in practice.

Transition visions in the North and South are often at odds conceptually and politically. As a joint initiative between scholars and activists based in Colombia and Switzerland, this research project aims at developing a shared epistemic and practical framework for transitions, based on collaborative work undertaken in Switzerland and Colombia.

To ground our project locally, we engage with river-centered transition design in the Cauca valley, Colombia and the Limmat valley, Switzerland. As a transnational initiative, the project is organized around two workshop weeks, one in Cali and another in Zurich, and will include transdisciplinary exchanges, as well as a joint outreach initiatives.

Our activities are funded by the Leading House for the Latin American Region of the University of St. Gallen, Research Partnership Grant.

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Project lead Colombia
Arturo Escobar
Mario Alejandro Pérez-Rincón

Project lead Switzerland
Federico Luisetti︎︎︎
Emiliano Guaraldo︎︎︎
Flurina Gradin︎︎︎
Rony Emmenegger︎︎︎
Christoph Miler
Beat Müller 
Christopher Robinson ︎︎︎

Research Partnership Grant participants

Diana Bernal
Maria Campo
María Ximena Dorado Velasco
Renata Moreno
Andrea Melenje
María del Pilar Ramírez Gröbli ︎︎︎

Other participants
Anna Barseghian ︎︎︎
Joos de Bloois ︎︎︎
Sophie Gosselin ︎︎︎
Nikolaus Heinzer
Stefan Kristensen
Clemence Mathieu
Marin Schaffner
Peter de Vries