Abstract
While there has been significant progress regarding the research mode “transdisciplinary research” (TDR) on a theoretical level, case studies describing specific TDR processes and the applied methods are rare. The aim of this paper is to describe how the first phase (Phase A) of a TDR project can be carried out in practice and to evaluate its accomplishments and effectiveness. We describe and evaluate Phase A of a TDR project that is concerned with tipping points of riparian forests in Central Asia. We used a TDR framework with objectives for Phase A and selected a sequence of methods for transdisciplinary knowledge integration. Semi-structured expert interviews for eliciting problem perceptions prepared for two transdisciplinary workshops, in which perception graphs, interest-influence diagrams and stakeholder network analyses were applied in addition to discussions in the plenary and in break-out groups. Scientists and stakeholders achieved to jointly frame the real-world problem, formulate research objectives, design a framework for knowledge integration, build a TDR team and decide on specific research activities for the main project phase. TDR context, process and products were judged by workshop participants positively, with average ratings above 3 on a scale from 0 (worst) to 4 (best). Strengths of our particular TDR approach during Phase A were the direct contact (interviews and two workshops) with potential TDR participants and the ability to allocate sufficient time and money to Phase A due to the funded project pre-phase of 1 year. TDR in countries foreign to the scientists, as in our study, is hampered by language barriers as well as by a lack of familiarity with local conditions, in particular regarding stakeholder interrelations that cannot be simply overcome by a stakeholder analysis. We believe that the presented approach for setting up a TDR project can serve as a good basis for the design of other projects.
Highlights
It is state-of the art that effective environmental research needs to take a transdisciplinary research (TDR) approach (Pohl 2011)
We describe and evaluate Phase A of a transdisciplinary research’’ (TDR) project that is concerned with tipping points of riparian forests in Central Asia
We have shown how a TDR project about tipping points of riparian forests in Central Asia was set up in less than a year, presenting in detail the specific TDR methods we applied for achieving the goals of such an initial phase that were formulated by Lang et al (2012)
Summary
It is state-of the art that effective environmental research needs to take a transdisciplinary research (TDR) approach (Pohl 2011). TDR is a comprehensive, multi-perspective, problem- and solution-oriented approach to a societally. Handled by Christian Pohl, ETH Zurich D-USYS TdLab, Switzerland. Sustainability Science (2019) 14:697–711 practice does not keep pace with the progress of the theoretical discourse. Publications about empirical research on TDR, with coherent analyses of case studies that describe and discuss the peculiarities of TDR processes are rare. A literature review of 167 research papers of TDR with focus on land-use science by Zscheischler and Rogga (2015) found that only a minority (12%) encompasses TDR methods Durham et al 2014). The implementation of TDR remains a substantial challenge
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