Timing transitions

Where institutional pathways are unclear, responses to sustainability transitions are largely individualised, marked by subjectivity and complexity, thereby placing the burden of navigating social change on individuals. This article argues that engaging with temporalities – particularly through rhythms and the practice of rhythmanalysis – offers valuable support for making sense of life-course transitions under uncertain and contested social change conditions. Drawing on biographical narratives with adults in professional transition, the paper examines how individuals connect personal life-course transitions to broader sustainability challenges. Using rhythms as a conceptual lens, the analysis and the subsequent discussion explore processes of sense-making, complex thinking, and engagement with wicked temporalities. This approach is advanced as a relevant resource for adult education in the context of rapid socio-ecological change. In doing so, the article contributes to ongoing debates on rethinking learning by expanding how the unfolding of lives can be framed and understood under complex and uncertain conditions.