Prof. Rob Raven is an interdisciplinary scholar, professor of sustainability transitions and deputy director (research) at Monash Sustainable Development Institute. He is also 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. 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 and mobility transition processes in Europe and Asia. 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. In 2019 and 2020 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. He has published over 80 articles, 3 books and 7 special issues. His current research agenda is focused on analysis of transformative change in urban context such as smart and sustainable cities. A key question is how socio-technical experimentation, institutional change and incumbency in urban regimes co-produce sustainable city futures.