This presentation is about ongoing research investigating the legal formalization and governance of social metabolisms towards the deep and badly needed socioecological metamorphosis that would allow mankind to overcome the Anthropocene predicament. The first endeavour is to draft a legal theory of socioecological regimes and their transitions, which means describing social metabolism in legal terms and concepts. The second challenge is to make this formal approach a tool to design blueprints for norms, institutions and policies contributing to the transformation of epochal scale that has to be thoroughly achieved in the coming decades. If we are to do that with the least troubles and conflicts and with the highest environmental and social standards, there is a need for coordinated decisions at every level. I hope to contribute with transdisciplinary transformative science and a pluralistic ethos allowing this long-winded transition to occur in a democratic manner (i.e. compatible with political changeover).
