ABSTRACT
This chapter provides a chronological and thematic account of the work carried out in China, reflecting on the lessons these innovative transdisciplinary approaches bring to sustainability transformations and other concepts covered in the earlier chapters. It describes the identification and framing of the sustainability challenge – the problems of structural unemployment in the context of China’s green transition and policies to prevent local pollution from the cement sector. The chapter describes the theoretical approach adopted and the various participatory methods (e.g. policy impact simulations and gender analysis) that were applied. The chapter outlines key moments in the transformation laboratory (T-Lab) process and the lessons that were learnt as a result. The novelty of this transdisciplinary approach and its suitability to the Chinese context are discussed, with reflections on the processes of reframing and the contribution to outcomes and pathways. Attention to gender, in both analysis and intervention, is seen as particularly important in the search for caring and socially just transformations.
