The COVID-19 lockdown and pathways for sustainable transition

This chapter focuses on the proclaimed windows of opportunity for a sustainable transition in a grand scale of our society during the COVID-19 lockdown, an opportunity yet to be realised. However, a rare phenomenon occurred between depression and despair: a new form of broadly publicly articulated expressions of resonance and hope for continued societal change after the pandemic. Generally, theoretical schools of deliberate, radical societal change, such as the reversal of climate change and negative environmental health issues, address the right political and economic conditions and socio-technical and organisational interventions to guide sustainable transition. The background and role of the unexpected emergence of highly articulated experiences and discourses of hope in the middle of a crisis are not part of these traditions. Thus, this chapter studies the anticipated radical sustainable changes generated by the COVID-19 lockdown in order to unfold the content and background of these articulated hopes. The findings point towards further research areas that need to be explored to open the theoretical positions for transition and critical state theory. The conclusion also leads to an important question: How is the experience of hope related to a substantial sustainable transition?.