Research and education for desired transitions: a plot twist?

Economic and societal progress is powered by research and education. Academia informs policy and practice and educates the professionals that manage society. But we are facing existential crises: biodiversity loss and climate change, overconsumption, growing inequalities, decreasing access to health care, rise of populism and resistance and escalating geopolitical conflicts. Could it be that academia itself is the villain in this? Could it be that the way we research and educate is helping to cause these multiple crises? This is the story of how established structures and cultures that have worked so well in the past have now become barriers against real progress. But it is also the story of how heroes within and outside academia are paving the way and transforming academia. By critically reflecting on their own ‘regime, by enga