On 31 March 2014, the International Social Science Council (ISSC) launched a new global research funding programme called Transformations to Sustainability.

The Transformations to Sustainability programme aims to build scientific understanding of transformative social change in the face of global change and sustainability. More specifically, the programme seeks to:

• Increase the social science contributions necessary to craft more effective, durable and equitable solutions to the problems of global change and sustainability.
• Increase the use of such knowledge by policy makers, practitioners, the private sector, citizens and activists.

This initiative is intended as a major contribution to the work of Future Earth, a global research platform that provides knowledge and support to accelerate transformations to a sustainable world. Future Earth is co-sponsored by the members of the International Science and Technology Alliance for Global Sustainability.

First Call for Seed Funding

Seed funding will be provided to prepare researchers from all parts of the world to respond meaningfully to the call for Transformative Knowledge Network proposals that will be launched in October 2014. The seed funding is intended to allow social scientists to build necessary partnerships with colleagues in other disciplines and fields and other countries, to identify and establish contact with relevant societal stakeholders, and to engage them as knowledge partners in the co-design of proposals to develop Transformative Knowledge Networks.

• Submission deadline: Saturday, 31 May 2014 18:00 CET

Successful applicants will be expected to participate in a Transformative Knowledge Workshop, to be held in Potsdam, Germany, from 9-11 September 2014.

For more detailed information please see the Transformations to Sustainability programme description and call for proposals.

If you have any questions the Transformations to Sustainability Programme Management Team can be contacted at transformations@worldsocialscience.org.