About UUniCORN
Uppsala University Conflicting Objectives Research Nexus (UUniCORN) is the first of Uppsala University’s Future Institutes (UUniFI), dedicated to advancing world-leading research on complex societal challenges through a transdisciplinary lens. Initiated by vice-chancellor Anders Hagfeldt and launched in Autumn 2024, UUniCORN seeks to initiate, facilitate and conduct research on goal conflicts in sustainability transformations, and to contribute to societal transition through collaborative action.
Our Mission
Our mission is to Re-Think, Re-Search and Re-Pair as an iterative process that emphasises a shift in values, thinking, and acting, moving us from a mindset of mere sustainability to one of (sustainable) transformation.
Through co-created collaboration and collective action, we aim to become a resource hub, conducting trans-disciplinary research and uniting tools, knowledge, and people to contribute to a lasting positive change.
%20uunicorn.jpg)
%20Blue.PNG)
Why We Exist
Today's urgent sustainability challenges - climate change, species extinction, injustices and inequalities - are all so-called wicked problems, affecting the most vulnerable the hardest. And ultimately, these challenges are an existential threat to all of humanity. There is therefore an imminent need to find new ways to do things, new structures and systems; there is a need for transformative change!
The Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) defines sustainable transformations as “fundamental, system-wide reorganizations across technological, economic, and social factors, including paradigms, goals and values, needed for the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity, long-term human wellbeing and sustainable development”. Our work is to make these transformations a reality by moving beyond siloed approaches to embrace collaboration and mutual understanding.
Conflicts in sustainability transformation
There is a global need to build a more sustainable society—one that reduces poverty and inequality, improves health and well-being, and combats climate change. However, the societal transformation needed for this to happen often triggers conflicts at different levels, from conflicts of interest on how to prioritze resourc allocation to wicked problems, such as the balance between economic growth and environmental sustainability. These “goal conflicts” represent the difficult choices and compromises that arise when pursuing conflicting objectives. Past research has underscored both the importance of recognising these conflicts and the potential for governance to turn conflicts into synergies.