Sustainability Change Agents and Their Implementation Work: Lessons From Water Change Agents in Australia

ABSTRACT Sustainability transitions require extensive coordination work. Surprisingly, we know little about the actions of those driving them. Our research objective was to identify sustainability change agents and study their implementation work in the Australian water sector. Using key informant interviews, we sought to understand the efforts of change agents driving two sustainability transitions. Our key findings are that change agents: (1) Interpret their contexts; (2) Focus their energies; (3) Build trust among stakeholders; and (4) Share their visions of the future. As well as offering practitioner insights, this research lays the foundation for systematic studies of change agents and sustainable development.