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Topic · Global and Planetary Change

Sustainability and Climate Change Governance

Sustainability and Climate Change Governance is a research topic within Global and Planetary Change. Science Explorer counts 17k research works in it since 1950. 35.6% of them reached the world's top 10% most cited for their field and year.

This cluster of papers explores sustainability transitions and resilience in social-ecological systems, focusing on topics such as adaptive governance, climate change adaptation, renewable energy, policy mixes, scenario planning, and transition management. It emphasizes the socio-technical perspective and the need for transformative change to address global environmental challenges.

  • Sustainability Transitions
  • Resilience
  • Social-Ecological Systems
  • Adaptive Governance
  • Climate Change Adaptation
  • Renewable Energy
  • Policy Mixes
  • Scenario Planning
  • Transition Management
  • Socio-Technical Perspective
Research works
17k
fractional, since 1950
In the world top 10%
6k
per year above
Top-10% rate
35.6%
share of its works in the world top 10%
Growth, 2013–17 → 2018–22
+44%
the tick is no change

Which countries lead Sustainability and Climate Change Governance research?

By volume, the United States and the United Kingdom publish the most (621 and 470 works in 2022–2025).

By volume, 2022–2025

  1. 1 United States 621 works
  2. 2 United Kingdom 470 works
  3. 3 Germany 461 works
  4. 4 Netherlands 270 works
  5. 5 China 235 works
  6. 6 Sweden 214 works
  7. 7 Australia 210 works
  8. 8 Italy 158 works
  9. 9 Canada 157 works
  10. 10 France 153 works

How concentrated that is

The same countries as shares of everything the list above accounts for. A node where two countries do two thirds of the work and one spread evenly across twelve read alike as a ranking and not at all alike here.

United States: 21.1%United Kingdom: 15.9%Germany: 15.6%Netherlands: 9.2%6 others listed: 38.2%21%largest
United States621 · 21.1%United Kingdom470 · 15.9%Germany461 · 15.6%Netherlands270 · 9.2%6 others listed1,127 · 38.2%

Shares of the rows listed above, not of the whole node.

Which institutions lead Sustainability and Climate Change Governance research?

By volume in 2022–2025, Utrecht University publishes the most Sustainability and Climate Change Governance research, followed by Wageningen University & Research and Lund University.

By volume, 2022–2025

  1. 1 Utrecht UniversityNetherlands 41 works
  2. 2 Wageningen University & ResearchNetherlands 32 works
  3. 3 Lund UniversitySweden 31 works
  4. 4 Delft University of TechnologyNetherlands 30 works
  5. 5 Linköping UniversitySweden 27 works
  6. 6 University of HelsinkiFinland 23 works
  7. 7 University of OxfordUnited Kingdom 22 works
  8. 8 University of ManchesterUnited Kingdom 21 works
  9. 9 University College LondonUnited Kingdom 19 works
  10. 10 University of SussexUnited Kingdom 19 works

Who are the leading researchers in Sustainability and Climate Change Governance?

The most-cited researchers publishing on Sustainability and Climate Change Governance include Johan Rockström, W. Neil Adger and Carl Folke.

  1. 1 Johan Rockström Germany 3.9k citations
  2. 2 W. Neil Adger United Kingdom 3.7k citations
  3. 3 Carl Folke Sweden 3.2k citations
  4. 4 Stephen R. Carpenter United States 3.2k citations
  5. 5 Frank W. Geels United Kingdom 3.1k citations
  6. 6 Benjamin K. Sovacool Denmark 2.9k citations
  7. 7 Simon A. Levin United States 2.7k citations
  8. 8 Detlef P. van Vuuren Netherlands 2.6k citations

Ranked by citations received across their whole record, among researchers with at least three works on this topic.

Where is Sustainability and Climate Change Governance research done?

The largest centres of Sustainability and Climate Change Governance research in 2022–2025 are London (United Kingdom), Beijing (China), Stockholm (Sweden) and Berlin (Germany). Among places with at least 20 works in it, it is an unusually large share of all research in Linköping, Wageningen and Brighton.

Largest cities, 2022–2025

  1. 1 London United Kingdom 102 works
  2. 2 Beijing China 64 works
  3. 3 Stockholm Sweden 56 works
  4. 4 Berlin Germany 53 works
  5. 5 Paris France 51 works
  6. 6 Helsinki Finland 51 works
  7. 7 Vienna Austria 50 works
  8. 8 Melbourne Australia 47 works
  9. 9 Utrecht Netherlands 43 works
  10. 10 Delft Netherlands 42 works

Where it is the local speciality

  1. LinköpingSE · 28.6 works20×
  2. WageningenNL · 32.5 works18×
  3. BrightonGB · 21.5 works14×
  4. PotsdamDE · 25.9 works12×
  5. DelftNL · 42.4 works12×
← less than its size predicts1×more →

Location quotient: how much more of its research is in Sustainability and Climate Change Governance than the world average.

See Sustainability and Climate Change Governance on the map

Where is the best place to study Sustainability and Climate Change Governance?

Among universities, judged by research, Utrecht University, Wageningen University & Research and University of Sussex score highest, combining excellence, specialisation, size, growth and international reach. Research strength is one signal when choosing where to study; it does not measure teaching.

0%20%40%60%mean 44.64%fractional works in this node (log) →share in the world top 10% →Utrecht University: 40, 47.0%Wageningen University & Research: 32, 46.7%University of Sussex: 19, 45.1%Lund University: 31, 43.3%Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences: 11, 49.3%Leuphana University of Lüneburg: 13, 49.4%University of Bergen: 14, 34.2%Linköping University: 27, 37.5%University of Groningen: 16, 45.3%Erasmus University Rotterdam: 12, 48.6%Utrecht UniversityWageningen Universit…University of SussexLund University
above the meannear itbelow it

One dot per university in the table below. The upper left is the interesting corner: small places doing unusually strong work.

#UniversityScoreTop 10%SpecialisationWorksGrowth
1 Utrecht UniversityNetherlands 76.847.0%16.5×40 +87.8%
2 Wageningen University & ResearchNetherlands 70.846.7%19.0×32 +20.7%
3 University of SussexUnited Kingdom 70.645.1%20.9×19 +168.0%
4 Lund UniversitySweden 67.943.3%11.7×31 +33.8%
5 Swedish University of Agricultural SciencesSweden 67.049.3%15.2×11 +129.6%
6 Leuphana University of LüneburgGermany 64.049.4%36.1×13 +121.8%
7 University of BergenNorway 63.334.2%11.4×14 +211.1%
8 Linköping UniversitySweden 62.837.5%20.9×27 +43.7%
9 University of GroningenNetherlands 62.445.3%6.8×16 +497.7%
10 Erasmus University RotterdamNetherlands 61.448.6%8.8×12 +125.9%

Universities only. Score blends excellence (30%), specialisation (25%), size (20%), growth (15%) and international reach (10%), 2015–2022; growth compares 2010–14 with 2015–19.

Is Sustainability and Climate Change Governance research growing?

Output in 2018–2022 was 44% higher than in 2013–2017, peaking in 2026. The fastest-growing topics are Sustainability and Climate Change Governance.

19801990200020102020
grewheldshrank

The same series as a ribbon — one cell per year, darker for more. The line above answers how much; this answers when.

Which topics inside it are moving

Growth and decline on one axis around a shared zero. Two lists side by side hide the thing that matters: whether the growth dwarfs the decline, or the other way round.