Where large technology projects resort to standardized tools, there is often a gap in transdisciplinary projects. This refers to tools that record the maturity of solutions that have been developed. In sustainability research, such solutions usually have a systemic character: Firstly, they encompass institutional and social innovations, and secondly, they address their regional embedding. This complexity and multi-layeredness requires new and appropriate instruments to assess the development status of solutions.

inter 3 is leading the scientific accompanying project of the BMBF funding priority "Innovation Groups for Sustainable Land Management", in which nine projects are developing precisely such system solutions. In the light of this background and from the broad experience of previous projects in the field of sustainability, a working paper has now been produced that contributes to closing this gap. The paper presents the nine-level "Solution Readiness Level" scale (SRL), an adaptation of the well-known "Technology Readiness Level" for transdisciplinary projects.

The SRL system defines nine maturity levels of system solutions, starting with basic research and ending with market readiness. It pays particular attention to regional and institutional aspects: Both in terms of the participation of practical actors and possible effects from the project into practice.