The Vice-Chancellor of Uppsala University (UU) has recently announced the establishment of the Uppsala Institute for Sustainable Transformations.
The Uppsala University main building. Photo: David Naylor.
The Vice-Chancellor of Uppsala University (UU) has recently announced the establishment of a new institute, UUniFI Sustainable Transformations, dedicated to studying conflicting objectives within society’s sustainability transition efforts.
The institute is part of the Uppsala University Future Institutes initiative (UUniFI), a university-wide research initiative that leverages UU’s broad research expertise to enable studies addressing complex societal challenges. The new institute is described as ‘’a platform for interdisciplinary, multidisciplinary and transdisciplinary research and collaboration focusing on conflicting objectives related to sustainable development’’.
Mats Målqvist, professor at the Department of Women’s and Children’s Health, has been appointed director of this new Institute. When asked about this new development, he explains that the aim is ‘’to build a research and collaboration environment to help discover pathways to sustainable development’’. Conflicts between objectives can often emerge when addressing major societal challenges, and it’s precisely these conflicts that the institute will study. A key focus of the institute’s activities will be to provide societal actors and decision-makers with a deeper understanding of the complexities surrounding societal challenges.
At the moment, the process is still in its early stages, with key tasks like appointing a board and drafting guidelines underway.