Tipping Points and Multi-system Interactions in the Acceleration of Sustainability Transitions

Monday, July 20, 2026, 11:00 AM

Session: SOC Poster Session (Overflow 2) (In-person)

Research on sustainability transitions (STs) has increased considerably over the last two decades. Despite major scholarly progress and growing recognition of STs' scholarship in policy circles, a key question remains: how do transitions accelerate? Contemporary research on accelerating transitions frequently examines tipping points (TPs) in multi-system interactions (MSIs) as key mechanisms. However, as of today, there is limited understanding of the interplay between TPs, MSIs and acceleration in STs’ studies. Hence, the aim of this study is to clarify this relationship and identify a research gap on these three interconnected themes. The literature review findings indicate that despite growing attention to acceleration, TPs, and multi-MSIs in transition studies, the literature still leaves several important gaps. Four gaps found in the literature: (1) the limited theorisation of acceleration within STs’ frameworks; (2) the fragmented discussion of TPs and MSIs as separate mechanisms in the acceleration; (3) the lack of integrated modelling approaches that capture tipping and multi-system dynamics in accelerating STs; and (4) the limited research on acceleration in Global South contexts. Future research can further explore the study through modelling to simulate and analyse the interplay between TPs in the context of MSIs in accelerating STs.