Contextualizing the integration of social learning processes within a transformative environmental governance framework: a qualitative study from Tehran

The present study aims to qualitatively contextualize the integration of social learning processes within a transformative environmental governance framework in Tehran and to understand how this linkage can be strengthened to more effectively address complex environmental challenges. Adopting an interpretive–critical paradigm, this qualitative research combines two sequential methods: first, a content analysis of scientific documents to identify thematic axes, followed by a qualitative analysis of in-depth, semi-structured interviews conducted with 28 key stakeholders in the Tehran metropolitan area between May and October 2025. Interview data were analyzed using open, axial, and selective coding procedures grounded in constructivist grounded theory principles (Strauss & Corbin). The findings reveal that the relationship between social learning and transformative governance constitutes a complex, multidimensional, cyclical, and self-reinforcing network. Social learning functions both as the driving engine and the epistemic foundation of transformative governance by generating collective knowledge, reducing uncertainty, building social capital, and fostering institutional innovation, thereby enhancing the legitimacy, flexibility, and resilience of the governance system. This relationship is shaped within specific spatio-temporal contexts and by a diverse set of actors, including civil society, academic elites, governmental institutions, and intermediary facilitators. The most significant barriers to integration in Tehran include institutional resistance, power imbalances, weak communicative and educational infrastructures, an authoritarian political culture, and the inherent complexity of measuring this relationship. The study concludes that integrating social learning into transformative environmental governance in Tehran is feasible but complex, time-consuming, and highly context-dependent. Successful integration requires institutional reforms (such as decentralization and the institutionalization of participation), investment in capacity building, strengthening social trust, developing qualitative and quantitative assessment mechanisms, and cultivating intermediary facilitators. This transition ultimately depends on political commitment, institutional will, and the active participation of all stakeholders.