Enabling people to reflect critically on societal changes and participate in meeting major challenges is the purpose of teaching transformative competencies. In a Perspective article published in the journal npj Climate Action, Dr. Nicole Aeschbach has examined how this approach can be systematically embedded in existing degree programs. The Heidelberg University scholar has developed a conceptual framework connecting research, teaching and learning in such a way that university education can empower students to engage in science-based reflection beyond their disciplinary context and enable them to become personally active.