As 2025 draws to a close, we are more clearly seeing both the need for Transformative Innovation Policy and the difficulties of pursuing it in practice.
Meeting for a dialogue in October, our members agreed times have changed since TIPC was founded nearly a decade ago: there is greater agreement today on the scale of the social, environmental and economic challenges we face, but far less consensus – and increasingly active resistance – around the system changes needed to address them.
They are navigating shifts in the policy landscape too. Concerns about sustainability and long-term public value have been overshadowed by the language of competitiveness, security and strategic autonomy, with cooperation on innovation and transformation frequently assessed through a geopolitical lens.
Place-based leadership
Despite the headwinds, TIPC has kept sight of the shared mission. Members and partner networks have continued to experiment and build communities of practice, their work characterised by humility and a commitment to learning.
In Panama, the launch of a new call is creating experimental space to design, deliver and evaluate transformative projects that strengthen shared visions and networks for systemic change. In Catalonia, the regional government is developing participatory governance models to facilitate collective action among diverse actors on shared local challenges.
We’ve seen growing use of TIP to work on problems that matter to people in cities and regions. Action researchers have reinterpreted frameworks to improve cancer care in Colombia, reflect on regional energy systems in Finland, evaluate the transformative potential of living labs in Australia, and reverse deforestation in the Amazon. Projects supported by the Swedish Platform for Systems Innovation tackle energy supply, sustainable healthcare and cross-sector crime prevention, amongst other areas, creating a community for shared learning and practice.
Networks, partnerships and shared learnings
Our partnerships and networks have helped us to circulate ideas and learnings from demonstrations worldwide. Hubs in Africa, Europe and Latin America are strengthening links between regional practitioners, while collaboration with the Deep Transitions Lab on peer learning events and tools has created opportunities for novel public–private collaboration on system change.
In June, we co-launched the Transformative Innovation Charter with UN-ECE’s Transformative Innovation Network that helps to provide guiding principles for the diverse communities applying transformative approaches across policy, industry, finance and academia.
New research directions
Conceptual work in 2025 has also taken on new directions. Research on fluid spaces is helping us to understand what happens when diverse actors converge and new knowledge forms: transformative change emerges not through consensus, but in the spaces where different perspectives meet, conflict and are negotiated. There has been growing attention to human capabilities for TIP, including the use of the Capability Approach to evaluate directionality, while a new study from the Africa hub explored the transformative potential of innovations for sustainable transport.
A review of key methods and challenges has provided an in-depth overview of the TIP framework, while the launch of a new book on transformative innovation for sustainable human settlements offered practical, context-sensitive examples of TIP in action to address housing challenges in South Africa. These examples are the tip of the iceberg, with many more publications signposted online.
Building collective capacity
As always, I have valued most our ways of working across the knowledge community to organise and collaborate. Researchers, funders and policy practitioners have shown openness, generosity and good faith, sharing their own learnings and amplifying the work of others.
These conditions are crucial for building the trust and collective capacity required for transformation. They also help to mitigate the psychological impacts of the current conjuncture. The transition pain described by Kristina Bogner has felt sharper this year as long-held values and institutions come under strain.
Learning across contexts in the year ahead
Looking ahead to next year, we hope to deepen experimentation, making space and time for second-order learning. In one example, scholars and practitioners in Panama and South Africa have started an immersive action research project to understand the dynamics of transitions to a circular economy in each other’s unique contexts.
We’ll also explore new ways to collaborate that can help us adapt to political shocks and institutional pressures, organising an online conference to support more equitable participation in global networks and exchanges.
We wish everyone in the TIP knowledge community a happy and hopeful 2026, and our special thanks to the core professional team at SPRU – Pip Bolton, David Brimage, Dana Hunka and Jenny Witte – for their work this year to surface and tell the stories from across the international network.