In this talk, we aim to present the ideas behind the project “Understanding social-ecological transformations: the role of initiatives’ values, rules and knowledge”, which is embedded within the Kilimanjaro Social-Ecological Systems (SES) Research Unit. In this project, we aim to gain a deep understanding of the transformative potential existing in the Kilimanjaro SES. To do so, we draw on two existing sustainability transformation frameworks: (1) sustainability initiatives understood as ‘Seeds of Good Anthropocenes’, and (2) values-rules-knowledge. Specifically, we aim to (1) identify clusters of social-ecological transformations based on the decision-making patterns of the ‘Seeds’ as defined by their values, rules, and knowledge, (2) to characterize the resulting clusters based on their transformative outcomes, and (3) to explore the potential to leverage transformations within and beyond the Kilimanjaro SES by understanding their amplification strategies (scaling out, up, and deep). In the presentation, we will introduce the methodological approach, designed after applying it in other social-ecological settings, and discuss how these methodological tools can contribute to comprehensively and systematically identifying and characterizing transformations.