What is progress in transdisciplinary research?

Abstract

In disciplinary research progress is reached and assessed by referring to the state of research in a specific field. But what is progress in transdisciplinary research, where several disciplines and further societal actors may be involved? Based on the conception of transdisciplinary research as a collaboration of academic as well as non-academic thought-styles, and based on the understanding of transdisciplinary research as research that develops a comprehensive, multi-perspective, common-good oriented and useful approach to a socially relevant issue, the question of progress is discussed for four view-points: (a) the people concerned about the issue are much less interested in the question of progress in transdisciplinary research than in a better handling of the real world problem; (b) members of a disciplinary, business, governmental or civil society's thought-style, who gain a more comprehensive understanding of an issue through the transdisciplinary research process, are more interested in further elaborating the issue within their thought-style, than in general lessons on progress; (c) progress on the level of personal experience mainly means that members of academic or non-academic thought-styles realize that they are a member of a specific thought-style among others. Progress would be made by integrating this experience in general education and special training; (d) finally a lot of general lessons can be learned and elaborated as tools, cases studies and approaches form the perspective of a thought-style interested in how to understand and manage transdisciplinary research.