Prof Fred Steward

Prof Fred Steward


Fred Steward is a political sociologist of transformative change with particular attention to the role of place.   An expert on interdisciplinary policy research on system innovation and sociotechnical transitions, he was a member of the Scientific Committee of the European Environment Agency, and a contributor to the 2017 EEA report Perspectives on Transitions to Sustainability.  As President of the European Association for the Study of Science & Technology, EASST he has played a leading role in promoting the international field of innovation studies. An associate of the Transformative Innovation Policy Consortium he has also been a member of Climate-KIC's Making Transitions Happen platform, Transitions Hub and Transition Cities network.  Currently researching transitions in urban infrastructure and lifestyle in the Japan Ministry of Environment programme: Policy design and evaluation for sustainable consumption and production patterns in Asia.


Recent publications include:

The Politics of the Green New Deal The Political Quarterly, Vol. 91, No. 4, October–December  770-779 (with Jon Bloomfield) (2020)

Transformative innovation policy: Addressing variety in an emerging policy paradigm  Research Policy 48 880-894 (with Gijs Diercks, Henrik Larsen) (2019)

Action oriented perspectives on system innovation and transitions. EEA Report 25/2017 Perspectives on Transitions to Sustainability ISSN 1977-8449 Ch 5 pp96-118 European Environment Agency (2018)

Transformative innovation policy to meet the challenge of climate change. Sociotechnical networks aligned with consumption/end-use as a new public arena for the transition to a low carbon society/green economy Technology Analysis & Strategic Management Vol. 24, No. 4, April 2012, 331–343 (2012)


  • Centre for the Study of the Production of the Built Environment