Transformation without Drama: Navigating the Social Dynamics of Sustainability
10.09.2026
In the transformation towards sustainability, the interests of societal, economic, and political actors often clash, making conflict inevitable. Understanding these dynamics and learning how to engage with them constructively is therefore crucial. In a new study published in the journal Sustainability Science, RIFS researchers explore this challenge. They identify four interrelated characteristics that foster successful transdisciplinary processes.
When the stakes are high, time is short, and responsibilities are contested, collaboration often becomes difficult. Discussions become polarised, with actors blaming one another. Some feel powerless, while others step up and assume responsibility for finding solutions.
In their study, Beyond the Sustainability Drama: Transformative Response-Ability and Relational Dynamics in Transdisciplinary Processes, Thomas Bruhn and Man Fang analyse these recurring patterns. Drawing on the psychological model of the “Drama Triangle,” they examine how the roles of victim, persecutor, and rescuer emerge and reinforce one another within sustainability and climate contexts.
Relationships and Interactions
“These dynamics are not simply the result of difficult personalities,” explains Thomas Bruhn. “They often emerge relationally—through the interactions between people—and are amplified by structural conditions, power asymmetries, emotional intensity, and the moral urgency characteristic of sustainability transformations.”
But how can collaboration remain constructive when these dynamics cannot be overcome? The authors introduce the concept of “Transformative Response-Ability” (TRA) as a relational perspective on this challenge. TRA is an evolving quality of a relationship: the ability of a group to remain connected and act constructively, even in the face of conflict, frustration, unequal power dynamics, or feelings of helplessness.
Four characteristics are particularly central to TRA:
- Relational presence: Participants remain consistently aware of their connection to others and act accordingly. This manifests in subtle interaction patterns, such as acknowledging others as vital voices in the conversation, actively eliciting absent perspectives, and recognizing how one's own contributions affect the group.
- Managing the fragility of interaction: Complex cooperation processes are often marked by frustration, blame, moral judgments and feelings of helplessness. The goal is not to avoid these dynamics, but to strengthen the group's capacity to navigate them without descending into defensiveness, escalation, or rigid roles.
- Relational understanding of responsibility and agency: Responsibility is viewed as a situated and relational capacity to act. Rather than relying on individual ‘heroes,’ agency emerges from the interplay of different contributions. Responsibility is negotiated collectively, and power is understood as “power with” rather than “power over.”
- Addressing power asymmetries: Relational fields shaped by TRA do not ignore power imbalances and asymmetries; instead, they integrate them into the collaborative process. Differences in influence, resources, and institutional positioning can be discussed openly without immediately triggering defensive reactions or rigid role-playing. Furthermore, individuals with greater influence can identify their own opportunities for action and their limitations without feeling the need to justify themselves or being pushed into a "rescuer" role.
These recommendations are illustrated by experiences from experimental communication spaces at UN climate conferences (COPs). In these settings, participants from diverse institutional and professional backgrounds were encouraged to move beyond established negotiation routines and connect in new ways.
Relational approaches do not require conflict-free spaces
“Ultimately, we disagree with the notion that successful collaboration requires the absence of conflict. Sustainability transformations inevitably entail tensions, competing interests, historical responsibilities, and strong emotions. The more relevant question, therefore, is how to create relational conditions that enable people to remain capable of acting,” says Bruhn. Rather than promising an escape from the “sustainability drama,” Transformative Response-Ability provides a lens through which we can learn to navigate these complexities differently.
Bruhn, T., Fang, M. Beyond the sustainability Drama: Transformative response-ability and relational dynamics in transdisciplinary processes. Sustain Sci (2026). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11625-026-01882-0
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