Skip to main navigation Skip to search Skip to main content
Rob Raven

View Scopus Profile

Rob Raven

Professor

 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6330-0831
20042026

Research activity per year

Personal profile

Biography

Prof. Dr. Rob Raven is an interdisciplinary scholar, professor of sustainability transitions and Director of the Sustainability Transitions Lab at Monash University. Prior to this he has served as (acting) Director and Deputy Director (research) of the Monash Sustainability Development Institute. He is also a 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. Originally trained as an electrical engineer, he has turned his gaze to the social, institutional, political, and spatial factors that influence successful innovation and transitions towards sustainable development. 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 2010, he co-designed a practitioner-oriented training program in the EU Climate-KIC’s program ‘Pioneers into Practice’. 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. From 2019 onwards, 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. From 2022 onwards, 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 2023 he was elected into the Clarivate Highly Cited Researchers list. He has co-hosted the 13th International Sustainability Transitions conference, which is the annual global gathering of sustainability transitions researchers, together with Stellenbosch University and Georgetown University. Rob holds and has held 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 160 articles and multiple books and special issues. He has secured and managed the equivalent of more than AUD$ 30M research funds. His research has been funded by national research councils in Australia, the Netherlands, the UK and Denmark, by the European Union’s Horizon program, as well as by governments and industry for contract-based and applied research. His current research agenda is focused on the analysis of transformative change in urban contexts such as smart, sustainable, and net-zero cities and precincts. A key question is how actors, place-based 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.

Expertise related to UN Sustainable Development Goals

In 2015, UN member states agreed to 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. This person’s work contributes towards the following SDG(s):

  1. SDG 1 - No Poverty
    SDG 1 No Poverty
  2. SDG 2 - Zero Hunger
    SDG 2 Zero Hunger
  3. SDG 3 - Good Health and Well-being
    SDG 3 Good Health and Well-being
  4. SDG 4 - Quality Education
    SDG 4 Quality Education
  5. SDG 5 - Gender Equality
    SDG 5 Gender Equality
  6. SDG 6 - Clean Water and Sanitation
    SDG 6 Clean Water and Sanitation
  7. SDG 7 - Affordable and Clean Energy
    SDG 7 Affordable and Clean Energy
  8. SDG 8 - Decent Work and Economic Growth
    SDG 8 Decent Work and Economic Growth
  9. SDG 9 - Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure
    SDG 9 Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure
  10. SDG 10 - Reduced Inequalities
    SDG 10 Reduced Inequalities
  11. SDG 11 - Sustainable Cities and Communities
    SDG 11 Sustainable Cities and Communities
  12. SDG 12 - Responsible Consumption and Production
    SDG 12 Responsible Consumption and Production
  13. SDG 13 - Climate Action
    SDG 13 Climate Action
  14. SDG 15 - Life on Land
    SDG 15 Life on Land
  15. SDG 17 - Partnerships for the Goals
    SDG 17 Partnerships for the Goals

Collaborations and top research areas from the last five years

Recent external collaboration on country/territory level. Dive into details by clicking on the dots or
Explore network further
View all 21 projects
View all 177 research outputs
  • 8 Contribution to conference
  • 1 Contribution to workshop, seminar, course
  • 1 Editorial responsibility
View all 10 activities