2019/2020: A recap and outlook

This interview with Johan Schot was originally published in his January 2020 Newsletter. Make sure to stay up to date on projects, publications and events by subscribing here.

“For me, 2019 was a year of true transition, from being director of SPRU with a wide range of responsibilities to a void, a situation with no responsibility and no people around me. I had two platforms to work from, Deep Transitions and TIPC, so two large-scale projects with many people attached to it that helped me through the year. But one key aspect of 2019 was building up a team in Utrecht (this was successful as you can see on the picture above) and integrating with the Centre for Global Challenges.

We’ve worked hard on the Centre’s mission of which a focus on transformation and experimentation now resonates with the Deep Transitions project and TIPC very well.

A highlight of 2019 and something I am proud of is the work I did in Colombia with the Misión de Sabios. To participate in such a high-profile scientific and political process and work on Colombia’s national strategy through the lens of science and technology was very interesting. I am pleased to see that the thinking and ideas we’ve been developing over the past years resonate in a Colombian context and with a lot of Colombian people.

The fact that Baillie Gifford has decided to invest into the future of the Deep Transitions is of course great news. It means that we can keep exploring and doing the exciting work that has been happening. With Deep Transitions, there are many things in the pipeline for 2020, with the dedicated Deep Transitions website launching shortly as a first milestone.

I’m happy that I got to reconnect with the Making Europe project this year. With the final volume published in May 2019, and the book series thus being completed after a decade of work of some 250 scholars involved, it was great to reconnect with the authors and the topic at a very opportune time.

For 2020, I intend to find more time for research. With all the interactive work that is ongoing, developing ideas and agendas, publishing at the same time can get challenging. But some exciting projects such as an Advanced Introduction to Sustainability Transitions, a book that will be published with Edward Elgar and which I’ll be writing together with Bipashyee Gosh, are lined up already.

Generally, I’m looking forward to continuing all the collaborations across cultures and continents with policymakers and researchers, there’s a lot of positive energy and surely many interesting encounters to come.

For now, I’d like to wish you all a happy, productive and interesting 2020 ahead!

Johan”