Transition is defined as moving from one state to another, usually slowly and gradually. When interviewed by journalists, students at our universities often define themselves as the “transition generation”. This statement is consistent with a definition from Pascal Chabot’s book, L’Âge des Transitions, in which transition is defined as “desired change”.
However, when we look at the issue of transition, whether environmental, digital or societal, the outlook is bleak. In 2021, more than three-quarters of the world’s energy sources — and on a global scale, the main source of electricity generation — is still coal. More than 8,000 tons of coal were consumed in 2022. These figures lead some to say that the transition, especially in energy, never took place, but that elements were added to meet new needs without the previous ones disappearing.
On the societal level, studies reveal that in the space of ten years, between 2011 and 2021, the proportion of the world’s population living under autocratic regimes rose from 5% to 36%, which means 2.8 billion people. In 2021, there were five military coups and one regime overthrow. These developments raise questions, because at the same time, calls for a renewal of democracy and respect for freedoms and human rights have never been so numerous or so loud.
These examples illustrate the discrepancies between the reality of the notion of transition and the aspirations it covers. These discrepancies call into question and make it necessary to conduct research and develop new training programs in order to meet the expectations of new generations.