Transdisciplinary Perspective Research Articles

Mental Health and Crime: Exploring the Link

This paper discusses the complex connection present in factors of mental health and criminality in people, or how various psychological disorders may shape the inclination towards crime and the manner in which crime is dealt with by the justice system. We critique and evaluate literature catered towards various aspects such as the extent of mental illness in offenders, the influence of mental conditions on making decisions and addressing the factors related to mental illnesses that may hinder rehabilitation such as stigma. To add on, we assess in what ways such sociocultural structures as socio- economic positioning, and availability of mental care, relation to crime and mental health. Using a transdisciplinary perspective, we seek to develop implementation strategies and proposals that would serve people with mental health illness in correctional facilities, in a way that would not compromise fairness and encourage rehabilitation. The data indicate that enhancing mental health services and embedding mental health care into the criminal justice system can minimize the rates of reoffending and beneficially impact individual’s lives as well as the overall society.

Resilient Sustainability Assessment Framework from a Transdisciplinary System-of-Systems Perspective

The vital role of extensive information exchange among stakeholders across diverse sectors and the interconnection of various scientific fields with nonhomogeneous technology readiness levels has created a new form of a complex engineering problem in the climate change era. Comprehensive sustainability assessment to enable the realization of needs requires transdisciplinary thinking to achieve systematic solutions that bridge the gap between multiple collaborative systems in a portfolio. Although the principal aim of dedicated sustainability regulations is to force companies to move toward sustainability development, general and non-engineered metrics that have not defined clear thresholds for evaluation have encountered severe challenges regarding implementation and economic viability. Therefore, adopting a transdisciplinary systems engineering approach can address multifaceted challenges like sustainability by overcoming collaboration barriers, and traditional disciplinary limits. This paper systematically reviews sustainability-dictated regulations from a transdisciplinary perspective. Different standards are compared, raised opportunities and challenges are discussed, and future remarks are highlighted. The sustainability problem is analyzed from a transdisciplinary systems engineering lens. Finally, a two-level resilient system sustainability assessment framework is proposed to effectively handle and enhance the resilience of companies’ sustainability development roadmaps by enabling decision makers to find robust and highly reliable solutions regarding sustainable system design. The impact of this research is to create a new insight into addressing climate change which not only assesses the current situation but also considers uncertainty sources that affect decision making for the future.

A transdisciplinary perspective is indispensable to address the increased demand for transgender care

A transdisciplinary perspective is indispensable to address the increased demand for transgender care

Transformative Earth stewardship: Principles for shaping a sustainable future for nature and society

AbstractEarth stewardship is the proactive shaping of pathways of social‐ecological change to enable people and nature to thrive. Its strategy is to identify and shape sustainable pathways of human–nature interaction. I describe three Earth stewardship approaches to addressing global changes. Two of these (resisting unfavorable change; accepting and adapting to change) are well‐accepted approaches to conservation and sustainability. The third (transformative Earth stewardship to escape unsustainable traps) is more challenging but can sometimes overcome seemingly insurmountable barriers. It can be triggered by a change in vision for society, changes in feedbacks such as social norms and incentives, or engagement of influential actors or institutions. The innovation necessary to trigger profound transformation often requires transdisciplinary perspectives that draw on multiple knowledge systems, modes of communication, and sectors of society.

Traditional Medicine, Culture, and Psychedelic Science: New Pathways for Recovery From Substance Use Disorders.

This article provides an intercultural transdisciplinary perspective on the Indigenous roots of the resurging field of psychedelic science in the management of substance use disorders (SUDs). Ritual uses of entheogens (i.e., psychedelics of natural origin) are elaborate technologies for navigating, containing, and therapeutically directing non-ordinary states of consciousness induced by these compounds. A narrative review of the literature on the therapeutic potential of ayahuasca, peyote, psilocybin-containing mushrooms, Incilius alvarius-derived 5-MeO-DMT (5-methoxy-N,N-dimethyltryptamine), and iboga for the treatment of SUDs was conducted. This article also describes the application of some of these entheogens within a pilot intercultural clinical program implemented by the Yaqui tribe in Sonora, Mexico, for the treatment of SUDs and other mental health challenges. Observational research and preliminary clinical studies indicate the therapeutic potential and relative safety of these compounds in appropriate contexts, including the use of careful screening practices and complementary psychotherapeutic interventions. Preliminary research points to the potential therapeutic value of integrating entheogenic plant and fungi medicine with culturally attuned therapeutic strategies. Respectful intercultural dialogue across worldviews and scientific paradigms allows for the further development of new perspectives at the intersection of entheogens, addiction treatment, mental health, and traditional medicine. More interdisciplinary research is necessary in this field.

Activism and academia: an interdisciplinary dialogue on academic freedom and social engagement

ABSTRACT This article focuses on the questions of academic freedom, scholar activism, public science, and social engagement. The five authors represent scholars from different disciplines and scientific paradigms as well as diverse gender, sexual orientation, nationality, ethnic, and class backgrounds, yet they share a joint passion for academic ‘activism’. The paper, therefore, reflects a multitude of transdisciplinary perspectives and positionalities. This dialogue was born out of the group’s desire to investigate the role of scientists in public and political matters, including engagement in social justice. The interdisciplinary nature of the dialogue allows for comparisons between how activism is defined, perceived, practiced, and considered (un)welcome in the disciplines of Sociology, Psychology, Law, Media Studies, and Medical Sciences.

Play biotopes put into practice—Creating synergies between children and nature

Abstract Global urbanisation reduces greenery and species richness (biodiversity) and limits opportunities for most children to gain experiences of nature. Disconnecting children from nature has implications for their play, health, well‐being, and comprehension of ecological systems, as well as their engagement with the environment as adults. In the competition for land for built infrastructure, the preservation of remaining greenery is essential to fulfill multiple functions. One way forward is to look for synergies between conservation of biodiversity and children's need for outdoor environments of high quality. In this paper, we synthesize the existing literature on how to understand the many interfaces between children and nature, suggesting perspectives and tools for the management and design of nature‐based play settings. We frame this transdisciplinary perspective using ‘play biotopes‘, as a conceptual framework in which both children's play and species are taken into account. We exemplify how the play biotope framework can be put into practice as part of (1) an overall approach to landscapes made more useful to both children and other species, (2) affordances for play in nature such as branches from dead wood, and (3) a design process of a playground by giving input to nature‐based solutions. A conclusion is that play biotopes as a conceptual framework within nature‐based solutions can help increase play and biodiversity by promoting structures for climbing, making huts and biotopes otherwise overlooked in urban planning. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog.

The role of the mental health nurse in pediatric hematology-oncology - Part 1: Developing an innovative practice.

Pediatric hematological and oncological illnesses present many coping challenges. Mental health issues can arise during and after treatment, in both patients and their families. The current model of care does not always seem to meet the needs identified by some young patients. In Quebec, nurses are allowed to assess and care for patients experiencing physical and mental health difficulties (Ordre des infirmières et infirmiers du Québec, 2016). Therefore, a mental health nurse clinician (MHNC) with experience in pediatric hematology/oncology could provide care that is complementary to that offered by psychologists, social workers, and other psychosocial professionals in the pediatric hematology/oncology unit in order to meet any needs that remain unmet. The MHNC project has three stages: (1) role development, (2) role implementation, and (3) role assessment one year after implementation. In this first article, we explain how the MHNC role was developed. We used the participatory, evidence-based, patient-focused process for advanced practice nursing (APN) role development, implementation, and evaluation (PEPPA Framework; Bryant-Lukosius & Dicenso, 2004) to develop this model. The first five steps in the PEPPA Framework were applied in the creation of the MHNC role to (1) select the target population, (2) identify the stakeholders to be involved, (3) ascertain needs, (4) determine and prioritize problems and set goals, and (5) define a new model of care. After multiple meetings involving numerous health professionals and managers, the MHNC role was developed with a versatile, transdisciplinary perspective to address better the needs of young cancer patients (especially those in their teens) and their families. The role was developed around four main areas of practice: (1) interventions offered to patient-family, (2) interventions offered to health professionals, (3) psychiatric consultation-liaison, and (4) education and research. The next steps are to use a strategic plan to implement the role and then to evaluate the impact of the role one year after implementation.

Longitudinal analysis of cortisol changes during pubertal development in indigenous Qom girls.

Pubertal research has primarily focused on hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis (HPG) regulation of puberty, though the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis (HPA) is increasingly considered critical. Heightened HPA function proxied by increasing cortisol levels may play a role in accelerated pubertal timing. However, the extent to which cortisol varies across ages and its relation to pubertal changes in linear growth are less well substantiated. We explored relationships between age, linear growth, adiposity, C-peptide (proxy for insulin), and cortisol across puberty, and we tested whether higher cortisol levels are associated with earlier ages at menarche and peak height velocity. We utilize longitudinal data (n = 777 urine samples) from Qom females ages 7-14 (n = 46) and test our pre-registered analysis using Bayesian longitudinal mixed effects models and joint modeling techniques. We find limited evidence supporting the overarching hypothesis that HPA upregulation is associated with pubertal maturation or timing. We find some evidence that HPA upregulation, as proxied by cortisol, may be more clearly related to differences in relative linear growth at early-mid puberty, as measured by height-for-age z-scores. Transdisciplinary perspectives on puberty, including the assumption that stressors acting via cortisol accelerate pubertal development, are discussed.

Transcendent thinking counteracts longitudinal effects of mid-adolescent exposure to community violence in the anterior cingulate cortex.

Adolescence involves extensive brain maturation, characterized by social sensitivity and emotional lability, that co-occurs with increased independence. Mid-adolescence is also a hallmark developmental stage when youths become motivated to reflect on the broader personal, ethical, and systems-level implications of happenings, a process we term transcendent thinking. Here, we examine the confluence of these developmental processes to ask, from a transdisciplinary perspective, how might community violence exposure (CVE) impact brain development during mid-adolescence, and how might youths' dispositions for transcendent thinking be protective? Fifty-five low-SES urban youth with no history of delinquency (32 female; 27 Latinx, 28 East Asian) reported their CVE and underwent structural MRI first at age 14-18, and again 2 years later. At the study's start, participants also discussed their feelings about 40 minidocumentaries featuring other teens' compelling situations in a 2-h private interview that was transcribed and coded for transcendent thinking. Controlling for CVE and brain structure at the start: (1) New CVE during the 2-year inter-scan interval was associated with greater gray matter volume (GMV) reduction over that interval in the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), a central network hub whose reduced volume has been associated with posttraumatic stress disorder, and across multiple additional cortical and subcortical regions; (2) participants' transcendent thinking in the interview independently predicted greater GMV increase during the 2-year inter-scan interval in the ACC. Findings highlight the continued vulnerability of mid-adolescents to community violence and the importance of supporting teens' dispositions to reflect on the complex personal and systems-level implications and affordances of their civic landscape.

Exploring Systemic Sustainability in Manufacturing: Geoanthropology’s Strategic Lens Shaping Industry 6.0

This seminal study explores systemic sustainability within the Industry 5.0 paradigm, using the strategic lens of geoanthropology to shape the emerging concept of Industry 6.0. A transdisciplinary approach is adopted, integrating geoanthropological insights into the analysis of the Italian ceramic district. Seven key factors are considered: resource consumption, production dynamics, innovation, environmental impact, social impact, market dynamics, and economic impact. Historical events such as changes in Italian industrial policy, market slowdowns, and the COVID-19 pandemic are identified as significant for the sector. A contingent analysis tailored to the unique characteristics of the ceramic district provides an in-depth understanding of its challenges and opportunities. The incorporation of geoanthropology provides a transdisciplinary perspective that allows for an in-depth examination of the complex interactions between people and their environment in an industrial setting. The study highlights the central role of innovation, digitalization, and government policies in driving positive changes in production efficiency, market dynamics, and economic impact. Nevertheless, challenges remain, including the delicate balance between environmental sustainability and resource consumption, as well as the effective management of the social impacts of digitization. To address these challenges, a systemic sustainability index derived from geoanthropological insights is proposed as a pragmatic tool to measure and guide the development of sustainability initiatives in the ceramic district. The results of this study not only pave the way for new horizons in sustainability assessment but also provide valuable insights for industrial district managers to formulate strategies that foster organizational flexibility and resilience.

Transdisciplinary perspectives on ‘the narrative’ and ‘the analytical’ for critical literacy

This paper reports on the design of a multimodal metalanguage developed by teacher education researchers to support pre-service teachers’ understandings of critical literacy and critical health literacies in a changing communication landscape. The design of metalanguage constitutes the first stage of an ongoing transdisciplinary project, Multiliteracies Across Teaching Areas (MATA), which aims to design and implement cohesive disciplinary multiliteracies pedagogies across teaching areas of an initial teacher education (ITE) programme. The focus on metalanguage design is motivated by concerns shared by critical literacy scholars and scholars in health literacy to balance deconstruction of texts with actionable response through the ‘deep moral grammar of narrative’ Kindenberg and Freebody (Australian Journal of Language and Literacy, 44(2), 90-99, 2021). Such concerns also align with recent World Health Organisation calls for the use of solution-oriented literacies to empower communities. These sociocultural understandings of critical literacy and Kindenberg and Freebody’s (Australian Journal of Language and Literacy, 44(2), 90-99, 2021) call to balance ‘the analytical’ and the narrative’ in critical literacy practice provide the starting point for designing metalanguage for transdisciplinary research in Health and Physical Education (HPE) and English. We firstly review relevant models of the critical informing both subject areas to establish synergous understandings and then analyse expectations of critical practice in descriptions and elaborations of the HPE and English curricula. We provide an overview of the semiotic resources available for transdisciplinary conversations within the English curriculum with clarifying ‘bridging’ terminology informed by social semiotic descriptions. Through close analysis of four representative texts selected for critical literacy practice by English and HPE teacher educators in the MATA project, we demonstrate how such metalanguage was shared to build understandings of both critical analysis and actionable response. Along with analytical features to build and analyse issues according to disciplinary criteria, we show how stories are used to build rapport with their diverse audiences and to motivate their peers to take positive health action.

Empowering intermediate cities: cost-effective heritage preservation through satellite remote sensing and deep learning

ABSTRACT In the capitalist rush to attract more visitors, cities are committing significant resources to heritage conservation, driven by the substantial economic benefits generated by the tourism industry. However, less famous or less well-resourced cities, often with smaller populations, also known as intermediary cities, find it difficult to allocate funds to protect their most significant heritage sites. In this conservation context, intermediary cities, often on the periphery or ‘at the margins’, can fill the gaps and needs of urbanism through a better strategic understanding of the challenges of global touristification, thus this research provides urban planning tools for local governments with limited resources to preserve their architectural heritage through remote sensing, for its advantages in terms of lower economic cost, as a valuable monitoring tool to effectively identify high-vulnerability sites that require priority attention in the conservation of architectural heritage. In other words, it allows for a reduction in the territory of those areas located ‘at the margins’ in terms of urban planning and management, by approaching the territorial, urban, architectural and tourism problems from a transdisciplinary perspective in the preservation of the architectural heritage. This study explores the application of optical (Sentinel-2) using neural networks for classifying the land cover and radar (Sentinel-1 and PAZ) satellite images to obtain the ground motion as a geotechnical risk study, together with geospatial data, for the monitoring of architectural heritage in intermediate cities. Focusing on the districts of Bragança and Guarda in Portugal, the approach allows the direct identification of vulnerable architectural heritage, identifying 9 highly-vulnerable areas using PAZ data and 7 areas using Sentinel-1 data. Furthermore, this work provides an understanding of the potential and limitations of these technologies in heritage preservation because compares the processing results of freely accessible medium-resolution Sentinel-1 radar imagery with the high-resolution radar images from the innovative PAZ satellite.

Implementing a circular business model for reusable packaging: Multidisciplinary learnings from reusable pizza packaging

This article explores practical challenges in developing and implementing circular business models in the context of reusable takeaway food packaging from a transdisciplinary perspective. It touches upon the desirability, feasibility, viability, and sustainability dimensions of a reusable pizza packaging circular business model. First, a literature review is conducted to highlight current knowledge and gaps around circular business models for reusable packaging and the key factors addressing the desirability, feasibility, viability, and sustainability. Second, a case study approach is taken for an in-depth exploration of these factors and their effect on the successful implementation of a reusable packaging business model. A real-life pilot is structured and implemented; questionnaire, workshops and semi-structured interviews with consumers and key stakeholders of the novel business model as well as technical laboratory tests of used packaging are used as key data sources in the case study. This study contributes to research and practice with a novel framework for circular business model innovation in the context of reusable packaging highlighting the need to iteratively address packaging as well as system conditions affecting the desirability, feasibility, sustainability, and viability of such ecosystem-based business models. Future research should inherently take a systemic perspective to address interconnections between these four dimensions and explore in which steps and order experimentations should be developed to balance trade-offs between feasibility and desirability while ensuring sustainability and viability of the business model.

Emerging media: a transdisciplinary synthesis

Emerging media: a transdisciplinary synthesis

Patchy Anthropocoasts: A transdisciplinary perspective on dunes, plants, rabbits, and humans in the United Kingdom

In recent years, there has been increasing societal awareness of the crucial role that coastal dunes play in protecting against rising sea levels, mitigating climate change impacts, promoting biodiversity, and providing recreational opportunities. In some regions, dune management has been particularly focused on biodiversity and ecosystem restoration and the presence of alien species on dunes raises concerns about how these species become 'native,' 'invasive,' or 'hybrids' and whether they belong in their new ecosystems. These concerns illustrate how certain animals and plants assume different statuses according to normative categories associated with varying objectives. This article explores how perceptions of coastal dunes in the UK have transformed over time, from marginal resource frontiers to highly valued environments shaped by multispecies relations. In addition, this work explores how dunes around the UK emerge as ‘patchy anthropocoasts,’ that is, uneven landscapes designed by human purposes linked to economic activities, conservation, rabbit populations, unwanted vegetation, and the control of unpredictable sand movements. Bringing together diverse historical materials and scientific literature, this article links human and nonhuman histories with present debates on dune restoration from a transdisciplinary perspective rooted in anthropology, environmental history, and the natural sciences.

Adapting food environment frameworks to recognize a wild-cultivated continuum.

Food environments, or interfaces between consumers and their food systems, are a useful lens for assessing global dietary change. Growing inclusivity of nature-dependent societies in lower-and middle-income countries is driving recent developments in food environment frameworks. Downs et al. (2020) propose a food environment typology that includes: wild, cultivated, informal and formal market environments, where wild and cultivated are "natural food environments." Drawing from transdisciplinary perspectives, this paper argues that wild and cultivated food environments are not dichotomous, but rather exist across diverse landscapes under varying levels of human management and alteration. The adapted typology is applied to a case study of Indigenous Pgaz K'Nyau food environments in San Din Daeng village, Thailand, using the Gallup Poll's Thailand-adapted Diet Quality Questionnaire with additional food source questions. Wild-cultivated food environments, as classified by local participants, were the source of more food items than any other type of food environment (37% of reported food items). The case of Indigenous Pgaz K'Nyau food environments demonstrates the importance of understanding natural food environments along a continuum from wild to cultivated.

Sustainable and modern bio-based technologies: new approachs to food safety and security

AbstractTwo major challenges in the modern world are ensuring food security and using sustainability in limited areas, in the face of climate change and population growth. It is aimed to raise awareness on the importance of working from a multidisciplinary perspective, together with developing technology and science, in solving current problems/troubles, and that the simultaneous use of modern bio-based technologies with innovative techniques will ensure an effective role in overcoming many difficulties that future generations will face, as well as sustainability can be achieved. The review provides a detailed systematic review and analysis of the mutually supportive use of modern bio-based technologies and sustainable agricultural system technologies within the framework of this subject. The review, in which universally reliable databases were used, was carried out using information obtained from practice and approach-based articles (> 4000). The fact that the main topic has the lowest publication content in terms of "sustainability and biotechnology" according to the analysis carried out within the determined keywords indicates the need for additional research and applications and to contribute to the literature. Similar to review aim, it has also been concluded that the development of a multidisciplinary, interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary perspective that provides a comprehensive and broader focus on eliminating the deficiencies in the fields will play a major role in solving problems related to the sustainability of food safety and security. Thus, contributing to the protection of world food security should be considered as another important outcome that should not be forgotten. In short, being aware that the world, especially its resources, are not infinite and for the continuity of healthy generations, the sustainability of the world, food and agriculture, food safety and security must be meticulously protected, developed with innovative technologies and also carried a step forward by developing more effective strategies in this field of work, which is of great importance for life.

In search of better methods for the longitudinal assessment of tech-derived X-risks: How five leading scenario planning efforts can help

This mixed methods article discusses the role of scenario analysis as a tool to assess the broadest possible specter of positive and negative effects of technologies and social processes within current existential risk assessment and research. To do so, it compares and contrasts case studies of five ongoing, longitudinal scenario planning efforts of global nature– the Shell scenarios, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the CSIS Seven Revolutions Scenarios, The Millennium Project's State of The Future, and the NIC's Global Trends 2040, to derive lessons for whether and how the adjacent existential risk (X-risk) and tech assessment communities can better deploy scenario planning methodology. Observations are derived from interviews with practitioners involved in these efforts as well as an assessment of the publicly available material issued by each project, including the scenarios produced. The emphasis is on the methodologies used, the timelines considered, the forces each identifies as important scenario drivers, and the process of engagement once scenarios are created. Three practices identified include (1) constructing narratives based on strong data, (2) sticking to plausible scenarios (not wild cards), and (3) designing a process of engagement, which each of these does well albeit in different ways. The article concludes with a few brief recommendations for future scenario planning efforts, particularly relevant for x-risk studies that aim to be relevant for tech assessment and governance. Overall, this review shows global scenario efforts aimed at influencing governance would benefit from (a) a more uniformly shared vocabulary, (b) an underlying theory of cascading systemic change, (c) deeper methodological transparency, (d) increased transdisciplinary perspectives, yet (e) maintaining scientific rigor. These improvements would particularly benefit emerging tech-risk derived X-risk scenario efforts where the stakes are the highest they could be, safeguarding humanity's future.

Her Parasites: A poetic ecospiritual perspective of the COVID-19 pandemic and nature's intelligence

In this transdisciplinary perspective, I present my initial ecospiritual thinking about the COVID-19 pandemic in a poem, titled Her Parasites. I identify with other thinkers – both those in science and not – who articulated ecophilosophical musings about the pandemic in various ways, some of whom were met with mockery and censure. In the hope that it will inspire openness and a sense of curiosity, I draw on metaphysical insights from Vedic treatises and the literature on environmental decline, zoonotic epidemiology, health science, animal agriculture, animal ethics, and animal sentience to explain my poem’s philosophical and ecological framework. I focus on the scientific knowledge of epidemics caused by viruses that transcend species boundaries, why cross-species hopping occurs, and the nature (and incredible intelligence) of such viruses. I invite readers to consider ancient Vedic principles that articulate the rationale for living harmoniously with other sentient beings and entities. Considering the unseen metaphysical association between the pandemic and animal cruelty explained through the Vedic laws of Karmā, I present the possibility that one of the lessons Mother Earth might have wanted the Homo sapiens species to learn from the COVID-19 pandemic is its need to alter its diet. I end with a discussion on the possibility and value of this change. The downplaying or denial of animal sentience (strategies to overcome the psychological discomfort of incongruence between loving animals and eating them, as described in social psychology), is a barrier to this change. However, observed through a Vedic lens, this cognitive dissonance suggests that the Homo sapiens species is innately humane, the realisation of which might hold the key to this dietary change.