Call for papers

Background

After a period of increasing globalization of science, innovation and trade, geopolitical and other security-related tensions have risen globally. In some places, the developments have led to armed conflict within and between countries. Other places are affected by geopolitisisation of trade, disruptions in value chains and negative impacts on financial investments. Contemporary societies are also faced with other security threats and destabilizations, such as the advancement of climate change, air and water pollution, and nature loss (sometimes coined under the terms ‘climate security’ and ‘environmental security’), the polarisation of societies, and erosion of democracies. Such security threats emphasise the need to progress with sustainability transformations in a way that deals also with questions of human security and justice.

Security has been defined in many ways, traditionally as the absence of threats to acquired values (Wolfers, 1952). Security has been used to address the protection of states against military and other external threats and risks (i.e. national security), as well as of individuals. In 1994, a UN report on human security defined it as “safety from the constant threats of hunger, disease, crime and repression … and protection from sudden and hurtful disruptions in the pattern of our daily lives – whether in our homes, in our jobs, in our communities or in our environment” (UN 1994:3). Moreover, ontological security has been defined as a sense of stability being achieved through establishing collective routines and self-narratives in order to realize a sense of agency (Giddens 1991; Kinnvall & Mitzen, 2020). Given the multiplicity of security definitions, this special issue takes a broad perspective covering different dimensions and schools of thought of security, with a range of reference objects from states to human individuals and collectives.

The interconnections of sustainability and security has been an emerging topic for sustainability transitions and transformation research. Researchers have explored links with defence and militaries (Depledge and Santos 2025; Johnstone and McLeish 2022), peace building (Huda 2024), national security more broadly (Kivimaa 2024; Kivimaa et al. 2022), ontological security  (von Wirth, 2025) and the polycrisis (Scheffran, 2025). Much of the early research is focused on the energy sector, necessitating experiences from other sectors’ and cross-sectoral transformations. Moreover, work is needed to better fit transition and transformation research concepts, theories and frameworks with security questions, concepts and theories.

Protracted crises, natural disasters, violent conflict, persistent poverty, and a diversity of other slow and abrupt disruptions impose threats to the security and stability of individuals, collectives and countries. Severe insecurities undercut prospects for wellbeing and sustainable development. For example, increases in public and private defence spending have implications on other important causes of spending, such as environmental protection, social security and healthcare - with implications on sustainability transitions. The developments of insecurities are complex phenomena, touching upon multiple forms of human, geopolitical, or ontological security aspects. However, knowledge about the diverse interactions between the different aspects of security and sustainability transformations require further scholarly attention.

With an accelerating anthropogenic imprint of current production and consumption systems in the planet's biosphere, threats to peace and security due to environmental changes are increasing. We observe a growing frequency and severity of extreme weather events, the continuing degradation of ecosystems, and depletion of natural resources occurring at a rate faster than their ability to replenish, while existing governance proves widely unable to mitigate or manage these threats. The continuity of these unsustainabilities in human activities leads to a diverse set of interwoven stressors for security in many world regions. Yet, little work has been conducted to explicitly understand how transformative efforts and measures to accelerate sustainability transitions interact with ontological and human security.

Research on socio-ecological transformation and sustainability transitions aims to understand the dynamics of long-term change in systems and sectors towards more sustainable futures. This Special issue aims to collect novel research and perspectives positioned at the nexus of sustainability transformation and transition dynamics with different aspects of security. We welcome theoretical, empirical and methodological contributions to shed light on the plurality of interactions between transformation and security. Research at different scales from planetary to local perspectives (with global relevance), as well as different levels of analysis (e.g. individual, collective, country) is invited.

The editors welcome scholars from different scientific domains such as transition studies and transformation research, sustainability science, earth system governance, human geography, political geography, peace and conflict studies, international relations, security studies and beyond.

Central to your submission should be the objective to address the reciprocity between sustainability transformations (and sustainability transitions) with different aspects and types of security, such as national security, military security, human security, or ontological security. 

The submissions should address at least one of the following three core foci areas:

1. Conceptual and theoretical developments at the cross-section of sustainability transformation / transitions research and security.
2. Methodological innovations and novel scientific approaches to empirically study security in its interaction with sustainability transformation over time.
3. Empirical explorations on transformations that interlink security and sustainability, from single case studies to comparative research.

More specifically, the submissions can focus on:

●      Theoretical and conceptual contributions to provide an integrated perspective onto security in sustainability transitions and transformation, e.g. across scales, levels of analysis, or epistemic schools of security scholarship.

●      Conceptual and methodological development to study the securitization and transformation nexus.

●      The ways in which peace and positive aspects to security are associated with sustainability transformations.

●      Experiences from different regions/countries and sectors (e.g., agri-food, energy, water, transport, cleantech industries) in how transformation and security are intertwined.

●      Impact of geopolitical security on progress of sustainability transformations.

●      Role of state and non-state actors in transformation/security interface.

●      Dual-use technology development from the perspective of sustainability transformation.

●      Governance of sustainability transformations and geopolitical security, e.g. policy coordination issues, role of innovation or exnovation policies.

●      Mapping the beneficiaries of insecurities and destabilization due to stalled or abandoned transformation activities by governments, industry, or civil society.

●      The ways in which discourses, narratives or policies accelerate sustainability transitions, e.g., perceived vis-a-vis ontological security.

●      The role of ontological security or positive security in transition repercussions, such as resistance, backlash or counterstrategies.

●      The ways in which transition policies affect security/insecurity, and how policy design could acknowledge and address anticipated (ontological) insecurities to accelerate transitions.

●      Perspectives on just security and the unequal landscape of security in sustainability transformation (e.g. uneven distributed capabilities in climate security measures).

●      Long-term perspectives on forms of security in a climate-changed world: e.g. types of security anticipated in the long-term (e.g. adaptive resilience, sheer survival, other navigating or protective abilities to secure stability).

●      From security to flexibility and adaptability: opening up security-seeking towards transformative and adaptive capacities in times of crises.

Timeline:

Extended abstract deadline: 28th February 2026, please send directly to the Publisher (laetitia.beck@cambridge.org)

Decisions and invitations will be sent by: 16th March 2026

Full paper deadline: 30th September 2026

Abstract requirements:

Extended abstracts (min. 500 to max. 1000 words) should provide a clear overview about the envisioned paper format, structure, expected key insights and novelty of the contribution. Authors are also requested to highlight the addressed foci areas as well as providing a compact overview of key references.  

Guest Editors

Prof. Paula Kivimaa, The Finnish Environment Institute (SYKE), Finland

Prof. Timo von Wirth, Frankfurt University of Applied Sciences, Germany

 

References

Depledge, Duncan, and Tamiris Santos (2025). “The UK Ministry of Defence and the Transition to ‘Low-Carbon Warfare’: A Multilevel Perspective on Military Change.” European Journal of International Security 10(3):374–93. doi:10.1017/eis.2024.52.

Giddens, A. (1991) Modernity and Self-Identity: Self and Society in the Late Modern Age, Stanford CA: Stanford University Press.

Huda, Mirza Sadaqat. (2024) “Renewable Energy Diplomacy and Transitions: An Environmental Peacebuilding Approach.” Environmental Innovation and Societal Transitions 50:100815. doi:10.1016/j.eist.2024.100815.

Johnstone, Phil, and Caitriona McLeish (2022). “World Wars and Sociotechnical Change in Energy, Food, and Transport: A Deep Transitions Perspective.” Technological Forecasting and Social Change 174:121206. doi:10.1016/J.TECHFORE.2021.121206.

Kinnvall, C., & Mitzen, J. (2020). Anxiety, fear, and ontological security in world politics: Thinking with and beyond Giddens. International theory, 12(2), 240-256. https://doi.org/10.1017/S175297192000010X

Kivimaa, Paula (2024). Security in Sustainable Energy Transitions: Interplay between Energy, Security, and Defence Policies in Estonia, Finland, Norway, and Scotland. Cambridge and New York: Cambridge University Press (CUP).

Kivimaa, Paula, Marie Claire Brisbois, Dhanasree Jayaram, Emma Hakala, and Marco Siddi. (2022) “A Socio-Technical Lens on Security in Sustainability Transitions: Future Expectations for Positive and Negative Security.” Futures 102971. doi:10.1016/J.FUTURES.2022.102971.

Scheffran, J. (2025). Systemic risks and governance of the global polycrisis in the Anthropocene: stability of the climate–conflict–migration–pandemic nexus. Global Sustainability, 8, e39. doi:10.1017/sus.2025.10026

Unted Nations (UN) (1994) Human Development Report 1994: New Dimensions of Human Security. Geneva: United Nations.

Von Wirth, T. (2025). Ontological (in) security and sustainability transitions: A theoretical perspective and future research prospects. Environmental Innovation and Societal Transitions, 57, 101042. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eist.2025.101042