Geography of Sustainability Transitions
Webinars
The GeoST thematic group hosts an ongoing webinar series that brings together leading scholars from geography and sustainability transitions research. These webinars serve as a dynamic platform for critical dialogue on how spatial perspectives can deepen our understanding of socio-technical change, fostering interdisciplinary exchange and advancing the integration of geographical thinking into transition studies. Open to researchers, practitioners, and students alike, the series aims to cultivate a vibrant community around emerging GeoST themes.
Webinar Series IIII: The ‘global’ dimension of sustainability transitions
Feb/Mar/Apr 2026
This STRN GeoST thematic group webinar series aims to foster interaction between scholars working on Global Production Networks (GPNs) and Global Value Chains (GVCs) and those engaged in the (geography of) sustainability transitions research.
The webinar series covers the following topics: a) a general introduction and panel discussion on potential trading zones, b) a session on actors, value chains, and governance, c) a session on developmental outcomes and just transitions, and d) a session on geopolitical turbulences and transitions.
Our intentions with the webinar series are:
- first, to create a space for cross-fertilization, exchange and debate to advance understanding of sustainability transition processes and outcomes across space and scale
- second, to invite GPN/GVC scholars from which sustainability transition scholars could draw conceptual inspiration (and potentially also vice versa)
- third, to use the webinar series as one of several steps in developing a broader research agenda at the sustainability transitions and GPN/GVC interface
24 February 2026 │Setting the scene
11 am CET
This webinar series aims to create a space for cross-fertilisation between the GPN/GVC research communities and the sustainability transitions field, with the goal of better understanding the multi-scalar nature of transitions. The first webinar will introduce the topic by bringing together leading scholars who work at the intersection of transitions research and GPN/GVC studies. It will cover core conceptual foundations, highlight recent research, and explore future opportunities for further cross-fertilisation. The discussion will focus in particular on global regimes and global innovation systems from a transitions perspective, as well as GPN/GVC research on green windows of opportunity and energy transition minerals.
The webinar will be organised as an interactive panel discussion, with participants invited to ask questions and actively engage in the conversation.
Panelists: Dr. Neil Coe (University of Sydney), Prof. Dr. Roberta Rabellotti (University of Pavia), Dr. Lea Fuenfschilling (Lund University) & Dr. Christian Binz (Eawag)
Moderator: Dr. Jonathan Friedrich (Lund University)
10 March 2026 │Incumbents, Power and Governance in Value Chains
3 pm CET
Presenters: Dr. Stefano Ponte (Copenhagen Business School), Dr. Oliver Bugge Hunt (University of Copenhagen) and Djamila Lesch (Eawag)
Moderator: Dr. Markus Steen (SINTEF)
24 March 2026 │Developmental Outcomes and Just Transitions
1 pm CET
Presenters: Dr. Felix Malte Dorn (University of Vienna), Dr. Marta Cifuentes (BOKU Vienna) and Dr. Ulrich E. Hansen (DTU Denmark)
Moderator: Dr. Jonathan Friedrich (Lund University)
14 April 2026 │GVC/GPN lenses to understand Geopolitical Disruptions in Sustainability Transitions
1 pm CET
Presenters: Dr. Marie-Claire Brisbois (University College London), Dr. Linus Kalvelage (University of Cologne) and Ibrahim Abatcha Umar (Hong Kong Batist University)
Moderator: Prof. Dr. Huiwen Gong (University of Stavanger)
Archive
Webinar Series III: Nature-Society Interactions
27 March 2025 │Setting the scene: understanding nature and society interactions and the implications for the geography of sustainability transitions
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10 April 2025 │The natural environment and regional industrial development
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24 April 2025 │Governance of land use and bioeconomies
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22 May 2025 │What insights can we gain from a political ecology perspective?
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Webinar Series II: Spatial Inequalities and Global Linkages in Transition Processes
28 April 2021 │Just energy transitions: a spatial perspective
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05 May 2021 │Geographies of green industrial path development
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12 May 2021 │Unpacking transnational linkages, global-local encounters and relations in sustainable energy transition (solar PV) in East Africa
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19 May 2021│ Geographical perspectives on grassroots innovations: diffusion and place-making
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26 May 2021 │Roundtable: A geographical perspective on mission-oriented innovation policies
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Webinar Series I: Foundations of a Geographical Lens on Sustainability Transitions
04 Nov 2020 │Webinar Introduction + Developing a multi-scalar perspective on sustainability transitions
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11 Nov 2020 │Towards an institutional conceptualization of regional transition dynamics
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25 Nov 2020 │Reframing urban and place-based transitions: a GeoST perspective
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02 Dec 2020 │Roundtable discussion: what is next for GeoST
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News
Call for Abstracts – 4th Workshop of the Thematic Group on ‘Multi-system Dynamics’ in Sustainability Transitions
Call for Abstracts – 4th Workshop of the Thematic Group on ‘Multi-system Dynamics’ in Sustainability Transitions After three successful workshops in Oslo (2023), Gothenburg (2024), and Winterthur (2025), we are happy to announce that the […]