Globally recognized as an early adapter to climate change, the city of Durban catalyzed a Municipal Climate Protection Programme in the early 2000s. Since then, the local government has been actively shaping Durban’s adaptation pathway, supported by a strong partnership with the local university. One contributor to Durban’s adaptation pathway was a transdisciplinary research project exploring transformative climate adaptation approaches. This project, led by early career researchers, involved collectively imagining and conceptualizing a holistic, partnership-based, transformative approach to managing flood-related climate risk through improved river management across the city. This chapter aims to critically reflect on the role that this transdisciplinary research project played in shifting the trajectory of Durban’s climate adaptation pathway toward transformative ambitions. Using the Outcome Spaces Framework (Mitchell et al. 2015) and methods associated with collaborative autoethnography (Miyahara and Fukao 2022), we assess the impact of the transdisciplinary research project on Durban’s climate adaptation journey. The chapter describes how the project aligned with a “window of opportunity” in Durban’s adaptation pathway and created a shared learning platform to merge theoretical knowledge on transformative adaptation with on-the-ground experiences and efforts. This helped to shape the vision and design of a transformative riverine management program. We reflect on the importance of transdisciplinarity for facilitating participatory governance and conclude with emerging lessons about how to support urban climate adaptation. The prospects offered by this paper provide valuable insights into processes, approaches, and lessons learned, highlighting the meaningful impacts university-driven research can have on climate adaptation.