Beyond the imagination gap: limits, constraints, and opportunities for sustainability research and practice

The literature on transformation suggests an imagination gap, or failure to deploy imagination optimally in conceptualising and mobilising sustainability. Applying a multi-case study, we engaged with four research projects that work across different sustainability transformation domains to understand the imaginative capabilities employed in project design and implementation, as well as the role of imagination in transformative change research. We report on the different ways imagination manifested across research projects, as well as the imaginative capabilities required to bring imagination into sustainability research. The research projects approached the future in different ways, deploying distinct theories of change, conceptual models, and varied practices of imagination. We also encountered a range of limitations to putting imagination into practice, and these were revealed at individual and collective levels. Understanding existing imaginative capabilities provides opportunities for addressing structural constraints faced by research projects and enabling a more strategic engagement with sustainable futures.