Identity in sustainability transitions: The crucial role of landscape in the Green Heart

•We highlight the influence that identity formation can have on the course of a sustainability transition.•We identify the most important elements of the transition challenge in the Green Heart.•We show how attachment to a regional landscape can form a lock- in a sustainability transition.•We study the discrepancies and interaction between different narratives in the Green Heart.•We integrate an identity perspective with a geographical lens on sustainability transitions.