Transformative research is a broad and loosely connected family of research disciplines and approaches, with the explicit normative ambition to fundamentally question the status quo, change the dominant structures, and support just sustainability transitions by working collaboratively with society. When engaging in such science-practice collaborations for transformative change in society, researchers experience ethical dilemmas. Amongst others, they must decide, what is worthwhile to be researched, whose reality is privileged, and whose knowledge is included. Yet, current institutionalised ethical standards, which largely follow the tradition of medical ethics, are insufficient to guide transformative researchers in navigating such dilemmas. In addressing this vacuum, the research community has started to develop peer guidance on what constitutes morally good behaviour. These formal and informal guidelines offer a repertoire to explain and justify positions and decisions. However, they are only helpful when they have become a part of researchers’ practical knowledge ‘in situ’. By focusing on situated research practices, the article addresses the need to develop an attitude of leaning into the uncertainty around what morally good behaviour constitutes. It also highlights the significance of combining this attitude with a critical reflexive practice both individually and collaboratively for answering questions around ‘how to’ as well as ‘what is the right thing to do’. Using a collaborative autoethnographic approach, the authors of this paper share their own ethical dilemmas in doing transformative research, discuss those, and relate them to a practical heuristic encompassing axiological, ontological, and epistemological considerations. The aim is to support building practical wisdom for the broader research community about how to navigate ethical questions arising in transformative research practice.

Decarbonization of the energy system to combat climate change poses a significant challenge for the Netherlands, often attributed to carbon lock-in: a persistent dependence on fossil fuels shaped by historical forces. Carbon lock-in also occurs at the discursive level, which is why research on sustainability transitions increasingly explores discourses as a crucial element for change. Our research contributes to this knowledge by exploring how counternarratives shape the discursive dynamics surrounding the fossil fuel industry's role in the Dutch energy system. Using an interpretive approach, we examine how the role of Shell, as the ‘epitome’ of the Dutch fossil fuel industry, is framed by both Shell itself and three discursive agents opposing fossil fuel-based pathways. To this end, we reconstruct the counternarratives by Friends of the Earth NL, Follow This, Code Rood and Shell around how they envision the role of Shell in the Dutch energy system, with the goal to identify how discursive agents position their narratives vis-à-vis each other and if coalitions are formed. Our findings reveal that discursive agents deploy a variety of strategic practices to increase the successful reproduction of their narratives: first, Code Rood strategically adopts a radical narrative that stimulates imagination, polarizing the discursive struggle surrounding Shell's role in the energy system. Second, Follow This strategically adopts a marginal narrative, designed to persuade incumbents of alternative interpretations, especially to rethink the profitability of fossil fuels. Third, Friends of the Earth NL and Follow This enhance their discursive agency through coalition building. Since unlocking institutionalized discourses becomes more important, further research should shed light on discursive dynamics within the institutionalized discourse. By offering insights into the pivotal role(s) of counternarratives in instigating discursive change, this study contributes to the growing body of knowledge crucial for accelerating the shift toward a decarbonized energy system.

Social innovation is an important dimension of current transformations in energy systems. It can refer to alternative business models, novel policy instruments, financing schemes, participatory governance approaches to energy questions, or new discourses. Its significance for energy systems is often considered in narrow instrumentalist terms, reducing it to a tool serving particular policy objectives. Grounding the concept in social science and humanities insights, this review essay proposes a broadened social innovation understanding. We propose 1) to open up the normative complexity of the concept; 2) to appreciate the multi-actor nature of social innovation; 3) to understand it as an analytical entry point for socio-material intertwinement; and, 4) to understand social innovation as premised on experimentalism-based intervention logics. The proposed social innovation understandings provide a broader imagination and strategizing of structural changes in energy systems.