Transformative adaptation aims to leverage climate change adaptation to enhance progressive and informed development. This ambition has become mainstreamed in climate change adaptation policy rhetoric. At the same time there are few examples of truly transformative processes in action. Part of the challenge of moving from ambition to application is the challenge transformation makes to business-as-usual.  The result is inaction. Science processes that draw pout and present local perspectives on the future offer one response.  But this is not enough, local visions need to be translated into languages understood by policy makers and to be tested by the reality of climate change and natural hazard risk. This paper presents an approach developed through the Tomorrow’s Cities project – an interdisciplinary effort built over five years to reduce disaster risk in future cities for the urban poor and marginalised.