This thesis aims to investigate what strategic guidance can be given to design transformative ESD (Education for Sustainable Development) programs in order to bring about the necessary shift away from our dominating mechanistic and transmissive educational model towards one that is transformative. ESD programs are of high importance when moving towards a more sustainable society, however, a lack of a strategic, full systems approach for planning in the field of complexity can be observed. This gap can be bridged by the use of the FSSD, the Framework for Strategic Sustainable Development, which is used as a conceptual framework throughout this paper. The field of transformative education was researched by using a mixed-methods approach, revealing what key elements and best practices are present that enable transformation to happen. The Cocoon model presented in this paper is derived from the results and intends to give strategic guidance for program designers on how to create a transformative ESD program. It is a process model that aids program designers to create the space for transformational learning to occur by strategically putting into place the elements that are conducive to transformation.