Abstract
This paper describes the development, conceptualization, and implementation of a transdisciplinary research pilot, the aim of which is to understand how human and planetary health could become a priority for those who control the urban development process. Key challenges include a significant dislocation between academia and the real world, alongside systemic failures in valuation and assessment mechanisms. The National Institutes of Health four‐phase model of transdisciplinary team‐based research is drawn on and adapted to reflect on what has worked well and what has not operationally. Results underscore the need for experienced academics open to new collaborations and ways of working; clarity of leadership without compromising exploration; clarification of the poorly understood “impacts interface” and navigation toward effective real world impact; acknowledgement of the additional time and resource required for transdisciplinary research and “nonacademic” researchers. Having practitioner‐researchers as part of the research leadership team requires rigourous reflective practice and effective management, but it can also ensure breadth in transdisciplinary outlook as well as constant course correction toward real‐world impact. It is important for the research community to understand better the opportunities and limitations provided by knowledge intermediaries in terms of function, specialism, and experience.
Highlights
This paper describes a novel and informative transdisciplinary research collaboration that explores complex challenges in urbanization involving multiple, disparate disciplines, and sectors: linking quality of urban habitat to human health and associated economic cost, exploring where and how health features—and might feature—in upstream decision-making
With regards key aspects of terminology, we assume interdisciplinary encompasses transdisciplinary working practice, and we are primarily interested in real world “external” impact, rather than academic impact.[1,2,3,4,5]
As set out early on this paper, the research team included those in the academia world, those in the “impacts interface” and those from the real world
Summary
This paper describes a novel and informative transdisciplinary research collaboration that explores complex challenges in urbanization involving multiple, disparate disciplines, and sectors: linking quality of urban habitat to human health and associated economic cost, exploring where and how health features—and might feature—in upstream decision-making. The aim of this pilot is to understand how human and planetary health could become a priority for those in control of urban development processes. The research is impact-focused and the team is co-coordinated (and the various workstreams integrated) by a steering group that includes experienced university academics in public health and economics as well as independent researchers with significant real world experience in public health, urban development, and corporate decision-making. With regards key aspects of terminology, we assume interdisciplinary encompasses transdisciplinary working practice, and we are primarily interested in real world “external” impact, rather than academic impact (we are focused on external impact in relation to human and planetary health).[1,2,3,4,5] In addition, there is no accepted definition of the use of the term “upstream” when referring to the impact of the built environment on health. Frumkin uses the term “upstreamism” to describe the urban environment (in relation to health impacts downstream), while our pilot study and this paper uses the term “upstream” to define the agents, decisions, and processes even further upstream that determine the quality of that urban environment, which we define as “midstream.”[6,7]
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