Sustainability science: progress made and directions forward

I am honored to contribute an editorial for the inaug­ural issue of Challenges in Sustainability (CiS). It has provided the opportunity for me to take a step back and reflect on both the developmental progress in the field of sustainability science since its formal launch, now over twelve years ago [1,2], and where the field might head in coming years. While it may always feel that the field is changing too slowly to keep up with the challenges it addresses, the developments have been noteworthy, especially in academia. I will discuss three areas: education, research and institutional development