Arjen Wals

Arjen Wals serves as Professor of Transformative Learning for Socio-Ecological Sustainability at Wageningen University, where he holds the UNESCO Chair of Social Learning and Sustainable Development. His research focuses on designing transformative learning processes that enable sustainable living through critical thinking and meaningful engagement. After earning his PhD, he has built an impressive career spanning multiple institutions, including visiting professorships at Norwegian Life Science University and Western Norway University of Applied Sciences, and received an Honorary Doctorate from Gothenburg University in 2020. His scholarly impact is evidenced by over 22,000 citations of his work, including influential publications on sustainability in higher education, transformative social learning, and environmental education. His recent work examines how to create conditions that support new forms of learning by leveraging diversity, creativity, and resourcefulness in addressing sustainability challenges. Through his UNESCO Chair position (2009-2024) and leadership in projects like Whole Schools Approaches to Sustainability, he continues to influence global discourse on education for sustainable development. He currently leads the MOOC on Transformative Citizen Science for Sustainability and maintains an active blog on sustainability education developments at transformativelearning.nl. His central research question explores how to create conditions that support learning forms that harness untapped diversity and creativity in pursuit of a more sustainable world.