Transdisciplinary Exchange Research Articles

Exploring the uptake of advanced digital technologies in environmental assessment practice - Experiences from Austria and Germany

Environmental assessment (EA) evaluates the environmental impacts of proposed projects, plans or policies to inform decision making. While several studies have highlighted the potential and opportunities of digitalisation for EA, few have explored practitioners' perceptions using a mixed methods approach in order to discover concerns and risks identified by EA of novel technological approaches. In addition, this initial exploratory study examines the perception of benefits and contributions to quality and effectiveness of advanced digital approaches, such as the introduction of artificial intelligence, in EA practice. The research process was based on focus group discussions and exploratory interviews with EA consultants, environmental authorities, researchers, environmental associations and NGOs. Relevant technologies were identified from the existing scientific literature and their applicability, benefits and use were discussed in context of real-world experience made by the practitioner. It became evident that the majority of practitioners in the field of EA in Austria and Germany are not familiar with advanced digital approaches and tools. While other planning disciplines are exploiting the potential of advanced digital tools, EA practitioners still share concerns about data quality, security, legal uncertainties, but also skills and know-how. The study identifies a gap and a need for training and confidence building. It aims to contribute to the promotion of inter- & transdisciplinary exchange involving the wider EA community.

Concretisation of host-rock-dependent canister concepts through the development of a consistent but variable multi-barrier system for the future engineered barrier system

Abstract. A clear and necessary shift in the site selection process is emerging, as otherwise a participatory, science-based, transparent, self-questioning, learning and reversible process seems futile. The questions of guaranteeing safety and the careful trade-offs to be made with extensive participation of society therefore require a rethink with regard to the time set for site selection (StandAG – targeted site selection 2031). Since this also pushes the decision on the selection of a host rock even further into the future, the question arises as to how the preparation of technical developments can be continued in a manner as concrete as possible. In particular, answering questions about the type of technical barrier, i.e. the development of the barrier system, therefore runs the risk of not being able to be advanced with the necessary focus (“pressure on the vessel”). In this paper, a methodical approach is presented on how the container development can be advanced in a target-oriented manner through research and development, even without a quick decision for a host rock. The basis of the approach is the division of the consideration of the engineered barrier system (EBS) development into two approaches. The first approach is from the “inside to the outside” of the inventory, so that the questions of radiological safety, heat flow and nuclide release are focused and can essentially be regarded as independent of the host rock. The second approach then focuses on the environmental influences on the container, the “outside to inside”. With this, the individual systems can be worked out depending on the host rock, which can then be coupled modularly with the first approach. It is not necessary to know the exact coupling point or the number of possible barriers in such a system. Through an intelligent choice of the coupling point later on as well as the number of barriers, the previous requirements for the repository containers for highly radioactive materials can thus be regarded, and the necessary flexibility for the requirements that still need to be further specified is maintained nevertheless. The findings on this are based on the work in the completed collaborative project ENTRIA (Entsorgungsoptionen für radioaktive Reststoffe: Interdisziplinäre Analysen und Entwicklung von Bewertungsgrundlagen), the ongoing collaborative project TRANSENS (Transdisziplinäre Forschung zur Entsorgung hochradioaktiver Abfälle in Deutschland) and the associated interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary exchange in many scientific and societal discussions, as well as the disciplinary research project ElaBeMa (Recherche und Beschreibung für das Endlagerbehältersystem in Frage kommende Materialien), which is currently ongoing.

A Proximate Remove: Queering Intimacy and Loss in The Tale of Genji by Reginald Jackson

Reviewed by: A Proximate Remove: Queering Intimacy and Loss in The Tale of Genji by Reginald Jackson Jindan Ni (bio) A Proximate Remove: Queering Intimacy and Loss in The Tale of Genji. By Reginald Jackson. University of California Press, 2021. xxii, 223 pages. $29.95, paper. Open Access. Scholars of Heian literature will be familiar with the opening of Genji monogatari (The tale of Genji) with its vivid description of the indignation of aristocratic officials at Emperor Kiritsubo's devotion to Kiritsubo Consort. Indeed, the courtiers "could only avert their eyes" ( me o sobame tsutsu). 1 I could not help thinking of "averted eyes" in a different sense when I first saw the word queering in the title of Reginald Jackson's latest study on Genji and guessing the kind of resistance his approach would likely encounter from some scholars. I admire the passion and determination it must have taken for Jackson to ignore those "averted eyes" and present these results of his quite audacious research. Jackson recalls in his preface the criticism he has faced for bringing queer theory into his Genji scholarship, and he believes these concerns originate from disciplinary and political ideologies reluctant to embrace the expanded interpretive possibilities he wants to open up. Drawing upon existing feminist and gender studies in Heian literature, such as works by Kawazoe Fusae, Kimura Saeko, Paul Schalow, and Rajyashree Pandey, as well as queer theories of Judith Butler, Eve Sedgwick, and others, Jackson boldly takes a step further to exclaim that "Genji is a queer text" (p. 1). In this, he attempts to reveal how the encounter between Genji and queerness can supplement conventional understandings in the fields of Heian literature and queer theory and enable a "transdisciplinary exchange" [End Page 229] (p. 15). The term "queer" in this book, Jackson points out, is not exclusively focused on homoerotic sexual identity. It is about challenging established readings, embracing "indeterminacy" (p. 15), and emphasizing the verb to queer in the broadest terms as meaning "to rework established patterns" (p. 16). For Jackson, queer indeterminacy is an effective lens for examining intimacy and loss in Genji that includes homosocial relationships alongside male-male bonding that is—as seen in Eve Sedgwick's influential study—no longer confined to the realm of eroticism but includes "rivalry, mentorship, paternalism, misogyny, and care" (p. 21). Jackson opens chapter 1 by inviting his readers to ponder the famous scene in Genji in which Tō no Chūjō secretly visits Genji in exile from the court in Suma. The close friends spend one night together exchanging poems, music, and keepsakes. Jackson quickly unsettles this scene as he wonders if something more is shared between them and compares their exchanges to "intercourse" (p. 32). Jackson contends that his method is "to read—and potentially misread" such scenes so as to offer wider possibilities for engaging textually with Genji. Jackson notes that English discourse after World War II downplayed Genji's "queerer facets" in favor of heterosexual romance as Genji ascribed a "cultish aestheticism" to Heian literature (pp. 38–39). This formed part of a U.S. political agenda to redefine postwar Japan as a "harmless" and "benign" nation whose most enduring literary text reflected an "effete" society (p. 39). Jackson's queer approach counters this and aims for a more transgressive interpretation of Genji and of readings such as these, with a particular focus on the issue of translation. By examining how Edward Seidensticker's English translation circumvents the queerness in the original Genji, Jackson effectively theorizes and enables a deviance in the established and well-guarded institutional boundaries set up for Genji and other Heian texts. However, Jackson has omitted a survey of the work of many other scholars who also question the "effete" image of Japanese literature that arose during Japan's modernization and the Allied postwar occupation. More references to this existing Heian literary scholarship would help in situating his claims. After setting up the theoretical grounds for queering Genji, the following four chapters analyze specific scenes in which intimacy and loss intersect with Jackson's queer gestures through which queering the text can "exert interpretive pressure" such that "meanings seem to surge, lapse, or...

The Platform Approach

In 2019, the German federal parliament issued a report on a nationwide exit strategy for coal-fired power stations. With this, the Rhenish lignite mining area – a region populated by 2.1 million people and located between Cologne, Aachen, Monchengladbach, and Dusseldorf – was confronted with unprecedented change. The fundamental political decision provoked a multitude of actions on all federal levels of government. Other institutions with historical partnerships in the region, such as the RWTH Aachen University, became embroiled, too. The ongoing transformation process has become an opportunity to rethink and further develop the role of the university as an intermediary in the region. In 2019, a group of researchers from different disciplines set up REVIERa as a transformation platform to strengthen interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary exchange, networking, and coordination. The platform has become an exploratory space both for researchers and regional partners; it has been set up with the hypothesis that knowledge is a key resource to shaping transformation processes. More importantly, it is based on the premise that existing knowledge becomes transformative when new linkages are stimulated. In transformation processes, system, goal, and transformation knowledge are highly related and fluid in the face of highly complex situations and uncertain outcomes. Analogous to the human brain, REVIERa aims to create new synapses that dissolve deadlocked patterns and hence open paths into the future. In this vein, the platform develops innovative methods that follow the principles of reflexivity, resonance, and open learning. This paper addresses the evolution of this platform and evaluates its activities and transformative moments, as well as its inherent contradictions and limitations.

Was it really different? COVID-19-pandemic period in long-term recreation monitoring - A case study from Polish forests.

The COVID -19 pandemic posed serious challenge for securing public health worldwide. Public health preparedness and restrictions put in place impacted many aspects of human life, including recreational activities and access to outdoor recreational destinations. Green spaces have become one of the few sources of resilience during the coronavirus crisis due to their restorative effects on psychophysical health and community well-being. The aim of this study is to analyse the impact of the COVID -19 pandemic on forest visitation. The results are based upon long-term visitor data acquired via pyroelectric sensors (Eco-Counter) in three forest districts located in Poland (Browsk, Gdansk & Kozienice Forest Districts). The analysis covers the period between January 01, 2019 and December 31, 2020 and the results confirm changes in recreational use in the studied forest areas during the pandemic compared to the preceding year. However, observed changes in forest visitation vary by pandemic period and study area. The ban on access to forest areas significantly reduced the number of forest visits in all studied areas. The number of visits to sub-urban forests (Gdansk Forest District) and to remote nature-based tourist destinations (Browsk Forest District) increased in the later pandemic periods, especially in the summer months of 2020, while it remained the same in a popular nearby recreation area: Kozienice Forest District. There were only minor temporal shifts in the distribution of weekly and daily visits. The results are important for public health preparedness planning in crisis situations and for provisioning conditions supporting societal health and well-being. Objective data on forest visits are necessary for successful management of forest areas and surrounding amenities. More cross-sector collaboration and public participation would be desirable to create sustainable, resilient, and liveable spaces for the society.Management Implications•Long-term visitation monitoring is crucial for successful management of outdoor recreation destinations and their catchment areas.•Objective numbers concerning forest visitation from the pre-pandemic and COVID-19 pandemic period allow observing trends and making fact-based management decisions during period of crisis.•Changes in the investigated three forest study areas in Poland were not homogenous, which implies the necessity of systematic visitor monitoring in multiple destinations, in order to cover different types of forest areas and also local diversity in recreational use.•More intersectoral, interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary exchange would be desirable to better integrate existing on-site visitor monitoring data into decision making processes related to forest management, urban planning, transportation, tourism and public health.

Co-Creating and Implementing Quality Criteria for Citizen Science

Citizen science is increasingly recognized as a valid research methodology by the research community and policy makers alike. In our experience, however, citizen science is sometimes used as a catchall term for activities that involve scientific and democratic innovation, resource efficiency in scientific processes, outreach, and education. We fear that this use of the term citizen science risks undermining the recognition of citizen science in academia as well as among citizen scientists and the general public in the longer term. Informed by these concerns, we report on a transdisciplinary attempt to establish quality criteria to decide in a transparent manner which citizen science projects are listed on Osterreich forscht, an Austrian citizen science platform that is based on an established network of citizen scientists, academic researchers, funding institutions, and research institutions. We present 20 quality criteria and their relationship to existing literature, and describe the process by which they were formulated over a one-year period: a series of transdisciplinary exchanges, concerning what shape citizen science should take in the particular context of Austria, and the potential implications of certain quality criteria for individual disciplines and practitioners. While we realize that any demarcation process is bound to produce exclusionary effects, we argue that the bottom-up, transdisciplinary nature of our working group was a necessary step for Osterreich forscht to strengthen its identity and purpose.

Research Data Management - Current status and future challenges for German non-university research institutions

This report describes the results of a workshop on research data management (RDM) that took place in June 2019. More than 50 experts from 46 different non-university institutes covering all Leibniz Sections participated. The aim of the workshop was the intra- and transdisciplinary exchange among RDM experts of different institutions and sections within the Leibniz Association on current questions and challenges but also on experiences and activities with respect to RDM. The event was structured in inspiring talks, a World Café to discuss ideas and solutions related to RDM and an exchange of experts following their affiliation to the different Leibniz sections. The workshop revealed that most institutions, independent of scientific fields, face similar overarching problems with respect to RDM, e.g. missing incentives and no awareness of the benefits that would arise from a proper RDM and data sharing. The event also endorsed that the Research Data Working Group of the Leibniz Association (AK Forschungsdaten) is a place for the exchange of all topics around RDM and enables discussions on how to refine RDM at all institutions and in all scientific fields.

Editorial

Transdisciplinary exchanges and interdisciplinary debates have always lain at the heart of Transfers, but such movements generate challenges and unanswered questions as well as productive tensions. Has a new amorphous multidisciplinary field called “mobility studies” emerged, or do disciplinary debates and imperatives still underscore mobilities scholarship? How do “mobility studies,” “transport studies,” “mobility history,” “transport history,” “media history,” “migration studies,” and other fields intersect, differ, or interact with one another? Do the variations among different strands of mobilities research reflect distinct differences in method, approach, and style in the social sciences, arts, and humanities, or do they generate interesting questions that cross disciplines? How are different journals—Transfers, Mobilities, The Journal of Transport History, and Applied Mobilities—(re)positioning themselves, and what makes them distinct and different? Should we stop forming camps or drawing boundaries around subdisciplines, and stop asking questions like those framed above? There are no easy or correct answers to any of these questions, but I would suggest that Transfers occupies a privileged position at the intersection of the humanities, arts, and social sciences.

Civic Science in Urban Forestry: An Introduction

Civic science in urban forestry is a means of engaging the public in the study, management, and care of urban trees, and includes varied approaches with different disciplinary foundations. For instance, citizen science has been gaining prominence in urban forestry, with municipalities and nonprofits engaging volunteers in data collection for inventories and monitoring. Residents can also get involved in other stages of urban forest research and management, including framing goals and questions, conducting analyses, interpreting data, and applying results. Diverse forms of public engagement have brought expanded stakeholders into the fold of knowledge production and stewardship of urban greenspaces, including co-management and civic ecology practices. As municipalities, states, nonprofits, and scientists undertake these various forms of civic science, there is a need for basic research about the nature of civic engagement in urban forestry, empirical evidence about best practices for different approaches, and the impacts of volunteering on the participants themselves. This special issue of Arboriculture & Urban Forestry aims to advance the scholarship of civic science in urban forestry by addressing these topics, among others, with contributed articles. In this introduction to the special issue, we briefly review terms related to civic science to connect these interrelated bodies of inquiry to urban forestry, and present the research studies and practitioner notes included in this special issue. We then conclude with a discussion of future research needs for civic science in urban forestry, including technological tools to enable data democratization, engaging marginalized and under-represented urban communities, and supporting transdisciplinary exchanges between research and practice.

Joint problem framing in sustainable land use research: Experience with Constellation Analysis as a method for inter- and transdisciplinary knowledge integration

Land use is an important field of interest regarding sustainability transformations. Research projects which deal with the multiple dimensions of sustainable land use usually apply an inter- and transdisciplinary design and are confronted with challenges of integrating heterogeneous knowledge.In this paper we refer to experience we had during the ELaN project, which followed a systemic approach by linking research on water and land management. Due to this relatively uncommon approach it was necessary to bring together scientists and practical actors as well as distributed knowledge from different areas of expertise. Considering the heterogeneity of the actors it was of great importance to establish a shared understanding of the research problem the project was to deal with during the initial phase. For this step the method of Constellation Analysis (CA) was applied: a visualisation and analysis tool which aims at joint problem framing by focusing on the dominant elements of a social-ecological problem and their relations in a discursive process. Due to the size of the project team and the necessity to involve a broad range of actors, a group of scientists led the iterative process and prepared CA drafts which were validated by practitioners. This design can be categorised as ‘consulting’ rather than ‘participatory’ transdisciplinarity. Proceeding this way can be seen as a compromise between more intense forms of transdisciplinary exchange and forms that are manageable when considering time and resource constraints in third-party funded projects.CA has proven to be a suitable tool for organising processes of mutual understanding between heterogeneous actors and fostering social integration in inter- and transdisciplinary research groups. In ELaN the main benefit of the process was an adjustment and enrichment of problem framing which was formulated in the project proposal thus contributing to integrated system knowledge as a basis for the interdisciplinary project consortium and involved practitioners. The insights gained during this process led to changes in the design of some of the sub-projects as well as the targeted end products. This experience confirms the importance of a structured process of joint problem framing in inter- and transdisciplinary projects, especially for thematic fields of such high complexity as land use research.

How to create and sustain an open and radical innovation capability in the fuzzy front end: the case of Vodafone Group R&D Germany and selected ongoing radical innovation projects

Research has increasingly addressed the question of which capabilities are required to manage Radical Innovation (RI), but so far, a common framework is missing. This paper develops an improved theoretical framework that enhances the existing literature and integrates the Open Innovation (OI) concept to support processes through accelerated learning, access to new capabilities and the creation of new markets. In a case study approach, we apply our framework to the German part of the Research and Development (R&D) unit of Vodafone Group R&D (VF Group R&D.DE). Analysing their RI capabilities in the fuzzy front end, we identified a new type of transdisciplinary exchange that integrates art and design in the RI process. Through cooperation with artists and designers, VF Group R&D.DE creates a transdisciplinary environment that influences the processes of idea creation and opportunity recognition, as well as the approaches to reduce uncertainties. In conclusion, management implications are derived from the theoretical findings.

Integrating art as a trans-boundary element in a radical innovation framework

Companies have learned that radical innovations (RIs) are a prerequisite to grow organically. However, companies struggle to identify and introduce RIs, as their inherent high uncertainties and novelty challenge established organisations and management routines. To address the first challenge, companies need to take a holistic approach and design a trans-boundary environment of creativity, trans-disciplinary and entrepreneurial spirit. This environment attracts and retains visionary people, fosters generation of new opportunities and cultivates adaptability. By adapting evaluation metrics for RI, setting up flexible processes, and promoting trans-disciplinary exchange, the second challenge can be addressed. Increased research has concentrated on several aspects of RI lately, but so far a combining framework is missing. Our paper bridges this gap by developing an improved theoretical framework, enhancing the existing literature and introducing art as a method to advance trans-disciplinary interchange. In a case-study approach, we have applied our framework to the research and development department of Vodafone Research and Development, Germany, as they integrate art methodically in their research and development process. Analysing their RI capabilities, we identify the trans-disciplinary exchange with artists as a novel initiator and driver of RI, which has not yet been adequately considered.

The time and place for political ecology: An introduction to the articles honoring the life-work of Piers Blaikie

Political ecology (PE) is experiencing a renaissance and embrace similar to that of Geography itself. Just as there is a rediscovery of the importance of place and thus Geography, Geographers and others are discovering that this critical approach to the human-environment dialectic provides unique theoretical, methodological, and practical insights for unravelling the complexities of this contentious nexus. The host of new volumes that introduce students and the larger academic community to PE each emphasize different theoretical and thematic confluences. This volume is organized around the life-long work and intellectual history of a leading political ecologist, Piers Blaikie, and as such it is both a tribute to that work, and an alternative means to discover what PE is today. Piers Blaikie’s life-work also encompasses research and writing on natural disasters and risk, development policy and practice, international environmental policy, conservation and biodiversity, AIDS in Africa, livelihoods, and books on India and Nepal. By assessing Blaikie’s long and productive career, from pioneering foundational texts, through transdisciplinary exchanges in the fields of Geography, Development Studies, and policy, to constructive and critical engagement with the post-modern turn, and questions of epistemology and methodology, the contributions to this themed issue provide a diverse yet coherent set of insights. The three sessions of the Association of American Geographers (AAG) Conference in Denver in 2005 and group of articles that emerged from them to form this collection serve to clarify the major convergences and dissonances in the field and its ongoing vitality. In Piers Blaikie’s case, as a central actor in both the theory and practice of PE, a collection based upon a critical overview of his contributions to PE provides a new window into seeing and understanding the past, present, and future of the field.

Visions and strategies to improve evaluation of health information systems: Reflections and lessons based on the HIS-EVAL workshop in Innsbruck

Background: Health care is entering the Information Society. It is evident that the use of modern information and communication technology offers tremendous opportunities to improve health care. However, there are also hazards associated with information technology in health care. Evaluation is a means to assess the quality, value, effects and impacts of information technology and applications in the health care environment, to improve health information applications and to enable the emergence of an evidence-based health informatics profession and practice. Objective: In order to identify and address the frequent problems of getting evaluation understood and recognised, to promote transdisciplinary exchange within evaluation research, and to promote European cooperation, the Exploratory Workshop on “New Approaches to the Systematic Evaluation of Health Information Systems” (HIS-EVAL) was organized by the University for Health Sciences, Medical Informatics and Technology (UMIT), Innsbruck, Austria, in April 2003 with sponsorship from the European Science Foundation (ESF). Methods: The overall program was structured in three main parts: (a) discussion of problems and barriers to evaluation; (b) defining our visions and strategies with regard to evaluation of health information systems; and (c) organizing short-term and long-term activities to reach those visions and strategies. Results: The workshop participants agreed on the Declaration of Innsbruck (see Appendix B), comprising four observations and 12 recommendations with regard to evaluation of health information systems. Future activities comprise European networking as well as the development of guidelines and standards for evaluation studies. Conclusion: The HIS-EVAL workshop was intended to be the starting point for setting up a network of European scientists working on evaluation of health information systems, to obtain synergy effects by combining the research traditions from different evaluation fields, leading to a new dimension and collaboration on further research on information systems’ evaluation.

Visions and strategies to improve evaluation of health information systemsReflections and lessons based on the HIS-EVAL workshop in Innsbruck

Background: Health care is entering the Information Society. It is evident that the use of modern information and communication technology offers tremendous opportunities to improve health care. However, there are also hazards associated with information technology in health care. Evaluation is a means to assess the quality, value, effects and impacts of information technology and applications in the health care environment, to improve health information applications and to enable the emergence of an evidence-based health informatics profession and practice. Objective: In order to identify and address the frequent problems of getting evaluation understood and recognised, to promote transdisciplinary exchange within evaluation research, and to promote European cooperation, the Exploratory Workshop on “New Approaches to the Systematic Evaluation of Health Information Systems” (HIS-EVAL) was organized by the University for Health Sciences, Medical Informatics and Technology (UMIT), Innsbruck, Austria, in April 2003 with sponsorship from the European Science Foundation (ESF). Methods: The overall program was structured in three main parts: (a) discussion of problems and barriers to evaluation; (b) defining our visions and strategies with regard to evaluation of health information systems; and (c) organizing short-term and long-term activities to reach those visions and strategies. Results: The workshop participants agreed on the Declaration of Innsbruck (see Appendix B), comprising four observations and 12 recommendations with regard to evaluation of health information systems. Future activities comprise European networking as well as the development of guidelines and standards for evaluation studies. Conclusion: The HIS-EVAL workshop was intended to be the starting point for setting up a network of European scientists working on evaluation of health information systems, to obtain synergy effects by combining the research traditions from different evaluation fields, leading to a new dimension and collaboration on further research on information systems’ evaluation.

Transdisciplinary working: Evaluating the development of health and social care provision in mental health

The NHS Plan (DoH, 2000), consistent with earlier policy documents, emphasises the need for integrated working between health and social care. However, the path to achieving integration appears to be littered with as many failures of teamworking as successes. This paper reports on an evaluation of the development of a team of practitioners working with clients with severe enduring mental health problems. Soft systems methodology enabled the researchers to inform service development rather than merely describing its process and outcomes. Care management was proactive rather than crisis orientated, with prompt response to subtle changes in clients' needs, facilitated by the employment of Community Support Workers. New care processes and structures enabled client and professional knowledge to be used as a resource to inform decisions about care. The practitioners managed this knowledge through informal trans-disciplinary exchange, promoting access to the fine detail of the relationship between user need and service provision.