Academy Fellow

Prof. Dr. Rob Raven is an interdisciplinary scholar, professor of sustainability transitions and deputy director (research) at Monash Sustainable Development Institute. He is also a visiting professor at the Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development at Utrecht University. His interest is in understanding the dynamics and governance of sustainability transitions and socio-technical innovation. Originally trained as an electrical engineer, he has turned his gaze to the social, institutional, political, and spatial factors that influence successful innovation and transitions towards sustainable development. Rob has made major contributions to multi-level theories of transformative change, socio-technical experimentation, and strategic niche management. His empirical work has covered urban, energy, mobility and circular economy transition processes in Europe, Asia and Australia. In 2012 Rob co-founded the global Sustainability Transitions Research Network and won the EASST Chris Freeman award for a significant collective contribution to the interaction of science and technology studies with the study of innovation. From 2019 onwards, he was selected into the Lifetime Achievement Leaderboard of The Australian – Australia’s top 40 researchers – and 1 of 5 top-performing Australian social scientists, and as a Field Leader in Business, Economics & Management. From 2022 onwards, Rob was included in Elsevier’s top 2% of the most influential researchers in the world in all scientific disciplines, with recognized impact in three fields: Energy, Business and Economics, and Enabling & Strategic Technologies. In 2023 he was elected into the Clarivate Highly Cited Researchers list. He has co-hosted the 13th International Sustainability Transitions conference, which is the annual global gathering of sustainability transitions researchers, together with Stellenbosch University and Georgetown University. Rob holds several editorial positions, including Environmental Innovation and Societal Transitions, Global Sustainability, Nature Urban Sustainability, Technological Forecasting and Social Change and Routledge Studies in Energy Transitions. He has published numerous articles, books and special issues. He has won the equivalent of more than AUD$ 18M research funds. His research has been funded by national research councils in Australia, the Netherlands, the UK and Denmark, by the European Union’s Horizon program, as well as by governments and industry for contract-based and applied research. His current research agenda is focused on the analysis of transformative change in urban contexts such as smart, sustainable, and net-zero cities and precincts. A key question is how actors, place-based experimentation, institutional change and incumbency in socio-technical regimes shape the governance of sustainable city futures in line with the Sustainable Development Goals and the climate urgency?

Professor of Sustainability Transitions and Deputy Director (Research), Monash Sustainable Development Institute, Monash University

Visiting professor at Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development, Utrecht University

2023 - Included in Clarivate’s Highly Cited Researchers List of top 1% most influential researchers in the world

2021 - Included in Elsevier’s top 2% of most influential researchers in the world

2021- Recognised to be among the top 10 most cited authors in Technology, Innovation and Management globally

2019- Recognised by The Australian as one of Australia’s best 40 researchers in their Lifetime Achievement Leaderboard

2015 - Ranked 7th in the top 40 of influential Dutch academic scholars in Economics & Business

2012 - EASST Chris Freeman award for a significant collective contribution to the interaction of science and technology studies with the study of innovation.

1. Kaufman, S., Upham, P., Bögel, P., Raven, R.P.J.M., forthcoming. Behaviour in sustainability transitions. Introduction to the special issue. Journal of Cleaner Production. 

2. Raven, R.P.J.M., Linday, J., Lane, R., Reynolds, D., 2024. Household niche experimentation in sustainability transitions and everyday life: a novel framework with evidence from low-waste living in Melbourne. Environmental and Societal Transitions. 53, 100893

3. Sharp, D., Raven, R.P.J.M., Farrelly, M., 2024. Pluralising place frames in urban transition management: net-zero transitions at precinct scale. Environmental Innovation and Societal Transitions. 50, 100803. 

4. Fastenrath, S., Tavassoli, S., Sharp, D., Raven, R., Coenen, L., Wilson, B., Schraven, D., 2023. Mission-oriented Innovation Districts: towards challenge-led, place-based urban innovation. Journal of Cleaner Production. 418, 138079.

5. Biermann, F., Hickmann, T., Sénit, C., Beisheim, M., Bernstein, S., Chasek, P., Grob, L., Kim, R.E., Kotzé, J.J., Nilsson, M., Ordóñez Llanos, A., Okereke, C., Pradhan, P., Raven, R.P.J.M., Sun, Y., Vijge, M.J., van Vuuren, D., Wicke, B., 2022. Scientific evidence on the political impact of the Sustainable Development Goals. Nature Sustainability. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-022-00909-5