Overview

This panel discussion will bring together emerging scholars from diverse regions to explore the intersections of sustainability transitions, innovation economics, and decolonizing perspectives. It will be hosted as part of the 10th-anniversary celebration of the International NEST (Network for Early Career Researchers in Sustainability Transitions) Conference, held at the University of Sussex, UK in May 2025. The NEST Forum, originally founded over a decade ago by PhD researchers at Sussex, has become an international platform advancing sustainability transitions research in a decade. The YSI-supported event will take place on Day 1 of the two-day NEST event, offering a dedicated space for young scholars to engage deeply with these essential themes. Sustainability transitions involve profound shifts in industries, societies,  technologies, and cultures towards more sustainable practices, and these shifts are deeply influenced by economic factors. The proposed session will focus on how novel technologies, business models, social innovations, and institutional changes drive these transitions, with a particular emphasis on the economic dynamics that enable or inhibit innovation. While the session is open to all NEST Conference participants and contributors, it will provide financial support for young scholars from the Global South to attend, ensuring their participation and contribution. This inclusion is essential to enrich the conversation by incorporating perspectives from regions where systemic barriers and urgent sustainability challenges require innovative approaches. The funded scholars will bring insights from the Global South, offering a valuable contrast to dominant Western narratives in the field and enhancing our understanding of how innovation pathways differ across economic and cultural contexts. The discussion will also focus on integrating decolonizing perspectives, prompting participants to critically examine how global inequalities and historical power imbalances influence sustainability transitions. By challenging dominant frameworks in innovation economics, the workshop will encourage a reimagining of how innovation can better serve historically marginalized communities and regions. Participants will explore how economic models and innovation systems can be adapted to promote more just, inclusive, and equitable transitions. These discussions will foster a global dialogue, with scholars from different regions sharing insights and learning from each other’s experiences. This session will serve as a crucial step in bridging the knowledge gap on addressing inequalities within sustainability transitions from an innovation economics perspective, especially in contexts where just sustainability transitions may hold a different significance, as in many Global South regions.

Structure and Format

The session will be conducted as an opening event to the NEST Conference, that integrates both the economics of innovation and decolonising perspectives in sustainability transitions. This panel will feature senior scholars from diverse backgrounds within the UK and Europe who will discuss the role of innovation for sustainability transitions in diverse economies. The discussants will be asked to deliberate on the following key questions, such as:

• How can decolonising perspectives inform innovation strategies for sustainability?
• How can alternative economic models, such as circular economies or community wealth-building, contribute to more equitable and sustainable outcomes globally?
• In what ways can international cooperation and policy reforms address the systemic inequalities perpetuated by current economic models?
• How can we challenge and transform practices that perpetuate Global North-South inequities, fostering a more equitable world through decolonizing perspectives?
• How can state and non-state actors leverage innovation-driven economic policies and mechanisms to promote just sustainability transitions in the Global South?