Prof. Dr. 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, 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. In 2019, 2020 and 2022 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. In 2022, 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 2022, he co-hosted the 13th International Sustainability Transitions conference, 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 over 100 articles, 3 books and 8 special issues.

His current research agenda is focused on analysis of transformative change in urban context such as smart, sustainable, and net-zero cities. A key question is how actors, socio-technical 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?