Designing a Framework for Regional Ecosocial Transitions: A River-centered Approach

The concept of systemic ecosocial transitions is emerging as a complex strategy against climate change and the polycrisis. Yet there is little experience for how such transitions can be realized in practice. Moreover, transition visions in the North and South are often at odds conceptually and politically–either too radical or streamlined. Our project purports to contribute to develop a shared theoretico-political and epistemic-practical framework for transitions, based on collaborative work in Switzerland and Colombia. Its objectives are: To outline the contours of an integrated framework for transitions based on current European and Latin American transition proposals and dynamics. To ground such a framework locally, we engage with river-centered transition design strategies in the Cauca river valley and the Limmat valley as exemplary cases in Colombia and Switzerland; and develop policy briefs and an outreach initiative to strengthen transition activist practice and public policies of relevance in Switzerland, Colombia and beyond