Chapter 1 Introduction 1.1. Anticipating change 1.2. Problem statement: the future as an object of governance 1.3. Research questions and structure 1.4. Theoretical contributions to main bodies of literature 1.4.1. Unpacking diverse understandings of anticipatory governance 1.4.2. Futures studies and anticipation 1.4.3. Governing sustainability transformations 1.4.4. The politics of anticipation 1.5. Research design and methodology 1.6.Thesis roadmap Chapter 2 Four approaches to anticipatory governance 2.1. Introduction 2.2. Methodology 2.2.1. Identifying and selecting literature 2.2.2. Process and method of review 2.3. Anticipating and seeking to govern the future: a brief overview 2.3.1. Explicit engagement with the concept of anticipatory governance 2.3.2. Implicit engagement with the concept of anticipatory governance 2.4. Four approaches to anticipatory governance: diverse conceptions of the future, actions in the present and ultimate aims 2.4.1. Approach 1: Probable futures, strategic planning and risk reduction 2.4.2. Approach 2: Plausible futures, enhanced preparedness and navigating uncertainty 2.4.3. Approach 3: Pluralistic futures, societal mobilization and co-creating alternatives 2.4.4. Approach 4: Performative futures, critical interrogation, and political implications 2.5. Methods and tools of anticipation: overlapping use and varying ends 2.5.1. Anticipatory tools and methods to assess probable and improbable futures (Approach 1) 2.5.2. Anticipatory tools and methods to explore plausible futures (Approach 2) 2.5.3. Anticipatory tools and methods to imagine pluralistic futures (Approach 3) 2.5.4. Assessing how imagined futures are performative (Approach 4) 2.6. Conclusion Chapter 3 Approaches to anticipatory governance in West Africa 3.1. Introduction 3.2. Four approaches to anticipatory climate governance 3.3. Methodology 3.3.1. Case study region: West Africa 3.3.2. Data collection 3.3.3. Data analysis 3.4. Approaches to anticipatory climate governance in West Africa3.4.1. Anticipation processes and decision-making 3.4.2. Three processes: conceptions of the future, implications for actions in the present and ultimate aims 3.5. Discussion and conclusions 3.5.1. Conflicting assumptions within hybrids of approaches 1 and 2 3.5.2. Placing politics central in anticipatory governance 3.5.3. Consequences for anticipatory climate governance in West Africa 3.5.4. Reflections on the framework Chapter 4 Anticipatory governance of sustainability transformations 4.1. Introduction 4.2. Anticipation for food system transformations 4.3. Methodology 4.3.1. Case study: The Foresight4Food Initiative 4.3.2. Data collection methods 4.3.3. Approach to the data analysis 4.4. Results: Anticipatory governance of food systems in practice 4.4.1. Diverse conceptions of the future 4.4.2. Ultimate aims 4.4.3. Implications for policy action in the present 4.5. Discussion and conclusions 4.5.1. Hybrid approaches and dominant perspectives: privileging prediction and uncertainty over pluralistic transformation and fundamental crit...