What about citizens? A literature review of citizen engagement in sustainability transitions research

Public engagement is understood as a prerequisite for sustainability transitions. Yet, it has remained peripheral to the transitions research agenda and the efforts to engage citizens in transitions research remain scattered. Thus, there is a need to create a more holistic understanding of how citizens participate in knowledge co-creation for sustainability transitions. We review the sustainability transitions literature from the perspective of citizen engagement in research and provide an overview of the current situation. Overall, citizen engagement was relatively rare, and the reviewed articles remained only loosely connected to transitions approaches. We identified four key forms of citizen engagement in transitions research: (1) envisioning sustainable futures; (2) local transition implementation; (3) revealing public perceptions; and (4) developing participatory methods to facilitate transitions. These forms facilitate transitions in terms of participant empowerment and providing a broader understanding of practical circumstances. However, citizens rarely participated throughout the research process and the acknowledgement of citizens' local knowledge remained limited. There is a need to deepen citizen engagement in transitions research and more explicitly address power relations. More creative methods can better enable the active contribution of citizens. Finally, there is a need for more theoretical consideration on knowledge co-creation with citizens in sustainability transitions research. •Citizen engagement in sustainability transitions research was reviewed.•Citizen participation in transitions research is still relatively uncommon.•Citizens are engaged in different roles and through various methods.•Four forms of citizen participation in transitions research are identified.•More reflectivity is needed regarding the process and benefits of participation.