Victoria Reyes-García, Valerie Nelson, Martha Bonilla-Moheno, Vera H. Hausner, Julia Leventon, Helen C. Wheeler, Zuhre Aksoy, Peter Bates, Joji Carino, Juan Martin Dabezies, Niki Frantzeskaki, Ethan Gordon, Hannah Gosnell, Camille Guibal, Janita Gurung, Máret J. Heatta, Yesenia Hernandez, Mariaelena Huambachano, Chinwe Ifejika Speranza, Rafael A. Magris, Lelani Mannetti, Andressa V. Mansur, Maiko Nishi, Karen O’Brien, Sherry Pictou, Kristina Raab, Nick Roskruge, Rodion Sulyandziga, Sebastian Villasante
Achieving just, equitable, and effective sustainability transformations requires diverse social engagement. This paper identifies five key roles played by Indigenous Peoples and local communities as agents of transformative change: embodying sustainable lifeways, resisting harm and defending rights, extending their practices to influence broader systems, and offering foundational models for care-oriented economies and governance. Through illustrative examples, we show how Indigenous Peoples and local communities actively contribute to global transformation. We emphasize the importance of engaging with a wide range of actors in supporting, expanding, and deepening these contributions to realize meaningful, systemic change toward a sustainable and just future. Equitable, just, and effective transformative change for sustainability requires diverse actors and knowledge systems. Indigenous Peoples and local communities play critical roles in advancing strategies and pathways that halt biodiversity loss and reverse nature’s decline.