CITEEC Reflects on Science, Policy and Transformative Change for Global Sustainability

This morning, the Centre for Technological Innovation in Building and Civil Engineering (CITEEC) at Universidade da Coruña hosted the lecture entitled “Planetary Boundaries and Transformative Change for a Sustainable and Just World“, delivered by Sebastián Villasante. The event is part of the training and outreach programme promoted by CITEEC, which has been awarded the official label of collaborating event of Green Week 2026.

During his presentation, the researcher introduced an interdisciplinary line of work focused on the role of values, institutions and knowledge in promoting transformative change in the oceans and human diets. He also addressed the environmental crisis and biodiversity loss, analysing their structural causes and identifying possible responses through transformative global change. In this context, he particularly emphasized the importance of so-called “positive tipping points”, understood as changes capable of accelerating the transition towards more sustainable and equitable systems.

Sebastián Villasante is Director of EqualSea Lab, part of CRETUS at USC, and a distinguished Oportunius researcher of the Xunta de Galicia. His laboratory is funded through the prestigious European Union ERC Consolidator Grant. He is also Co-Chair of the PECS Programme on Ocean Equity for Sustainable Futures and Coordinating Lead Author of the IPBES Transformative Change Assessment, the Global Tipping Points Reports, and the Third World Ocean Assessment.

The Green Week Programme

Sebastián Villasante’s lecture comes at the midpoint of the Green Week programme organized by CITEEC, following a scientific and technical outreach event for early-career researchers (“Interlabs”) and an open day that welcomed families, students and engineering professionals.

The programme continues this week with a lecture by Adrian Krezlik on Thursday, June 18, entitled “Decarbonization Strategies in the Built Environment”, followed by a climate walk through the city of A Coruña and a course on Friday, June 19, on applied and practical Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) for infrastructure.