Global climate change encompasses a fundamental challenge to efforts of implementing sustainable development and requires human societies to realize significant socio-ecological transformations. In the face of limited effectiveness of regulatory initiatives in the field, the project will focus on processes of social learning and societal change in relation to climate change. The theoretical concept is based on approaches from evolutionary economics and learning theory that should offer the opportunity to conceptualize intentional and non-intentional changes of individuals, groups, companies, networks, and social systems. Participatory processes offer a high potential for mutual learning between different actors and groups and to facilitate decision-making processes. They allow for the articulation and interaction between different perceptions, interpretations and argumentation by the actors involved.