Intervention-Research as a Social-Ecological Transition Belt, Steering Wheel, and Engine

Abstract Social-ecological transition refers to a social movement and a field of research. As a research field, social-ecological transition proposes tools for steering and inciting large-scale transformations toward sustainability. These transformations must take root in, and impact, the social-technical regimes (healthcare infrastructure, transportation system, food regime) that structure our everyday life. Academic research in itself can be seen as a social-technical regime in which changes may occur, so that science contributes to addressing current challenges. This chapter aims to describe and justify a specific research approach rooted in the spirit of transition: intervention-research, an innovative, transdisciplinary, and praxeological approach. Similar to action research, intervention-research implies active and prior involvement of research teams in transition initiatives, with the explicit intention of social transformation. This approach entails the diversification of roles for researchers toward facilitation, management, and mobilization. The proposed chapter examines three intervention-research projects conducted by LAGORA (Laboratoire de Gouvernances Alternatives) in the Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean region, Quebec. It illustrates the various stages of intervention-research, the new roles of research actors, as well as the challenges and limitations of such an approach.