Our paper has been substantially revised, and we have addressed the five suggested points for improvements by reviewer 1 (see below for more detail).
This paper seeks to develop the notion of a Natural Social Contract (NSC) to enable transformative governance based on co-evolution. In a nutshell, to quote, the NSC “involves the fine-tuning of top-down policy and visions with important bottom-up processes (…), and takes place in a hybrid sphere, in which there is room for collaboration between governments, businesses, knowledge institutions and civil society, among others, characterized by Penta-helix models and based on multiple value creation”. Because of this collaborative, polycentric approach, the papers draw on Evolutionary Governance Theory, and develops a perspective of “co-evolutionary steering of interrelated transitions”. The paper’s aspiration is clear and laudable; yet its elaboration is wanting. My recommendation therefore leans towards a strong ‘revise and resubmit’, based on these five points.