In this first episode of The DRIFT Transitions Podcast, we're talking you through how to draw an X-curve: a simple model that explains why so few sustainable and just initiatives break through. And why societies can plot the same course for years and years and then suddenly change at lightning speed. Applying the x-curve helps explain how change really happens across the systems, society, and sectors you are part of.
In ten minutes, this introductory episode explains how niche innovations—like mushroom snacks made from organic waste or biodiversity-boosting playgrounds—can struggle to challenge dominant structures, habits, and institutions.
Whether you’re a policymaker, activist, entrepreneur, or just transition-curious, here's an accessible and compelling audio gateway into a world of ideas that could help us steer toward a more just and sustainable future. Join us as we chart the path towards different futures, one X-shaped map at a time. Ready to draw your way into transitions theory? Let’s begin.
If you're keen to engage with accelerating transitions, or just want to know more about them, go to drift.eur.nl
Thanks to: Audrey Wientjes for voice-over, Marius Kooij for editing & mixing, Walvisnest for music, Lieven Heeremans for all kinds of advice, and various DRIFT colleagues for support & inspiration.
What is The DRIFT Transitions Podcast?
How is it that societies can plot the same course for years and years and then suddenly change at lightning speed? And why do sustainable innovations seem to pop up everywhere, while so few of them truly break through?
To understand this, perhaps a new perspective on fundamental change can help. If we want to grasp how our society can truly transform, we must look at it through the lens of transition thinking.
In this show, Wouter Mulders and a rotating cast of colleagues speak to a number of theoretical and practical experts about transition science. Because by understanding transitions toward sustainability and justice, we can also accelerate them—or at least, that’s what we hope.
The DRIFT Transitions Podcast is produced by DRIFT, the Dutch Research Institute for Transitions, part of Erasmus University Rotterdam in the Netherlands.