Transdisciplinary Perspective Research Articles

Emerging media: a transdisciplinary synthesis

ABSTRACT This study aims to shed light on the conceptual implications of emerging media or emergent media from a transdisciplinary perspective. Drawing on the philosophical thoughts of complex dynamic systems and emergentism, this study reviews the literature across various disciplines bearing on emerging media and illustrates the value of invoking the concept to understand the fast-evolving communication technologies. Emerging media is defined as complex dynamic systems that are constituted through and in communication practices, suggestive of both materiality and sociality, and characterized by emergent processes. By emphasizing a conceptualization of media as dynamic, emergent, relational, and situated systems, this study calls for empirical studies of emerging media employing a transdisciplinary approach.

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.

(356) Reframing The Bio-psychosocial Model. For Sexual Medicine

Abstract Introduction Most sexual medicine and sex therapy clinicians consider the biopsychosocial model the current gold standard for the diagnosis and treatment of sexual disorders. While paying lip service to that, both groups tend to focus on a couple aspects of the model overly exclusively, with insufficient awareness/attention to other contributing factors. Professionals tend to “stay in their lane,” but this can result in poorer patient care. Explicitly expanding the biopsychosocial model’s scope can help clinicians address “blind spots,” which can result in overlooking key etiological factors. Healthcare’s “medical model” perspective was upended with the publication of Engel’s (1977) “biopsychosocial model,” which emphasized multiple etiological determinants. The last decades since Engel have seen significant advances in our capacity to identify disorder’s biological causes through biomedical advances (imaging, etc.). Pharmaceutical marketing success has generated the greatest drug consumption in history, including drugs to improve sexual functioning. More people are living longer than ever with chronic disease and surviving cancer. Unfortunately, many of the ‘cures” result in iatrogenic sexual disorders because of their anti-sexual side effects. Explicitly recognizing that the prefix “bio’ represents both biological and biomedical will help enhance the re-recognition of the full range of organic factors in the diagnosis and successful treatment of sexual disorders. Doing so will lead to a greater appreciation of biomedical advances and improved recognition of iatrogenic causation for sex therapists and sexual medicine experts alike. Many sexual medicine specialists recognize psychosocial factors such as depression, anxiety, self-esteem, and satisfaction. But clinicians must also focus on specific cognitive and behavioral mechanisms and patterns (sexual scripts) that contribute to developing and maintaining sexual disorders. The need to explicitly incorporate “culture” within our sexuality model is best exemplified by current discussions surrounding gender and the continuing controversy about what constitutes “normal.” The various “identity movements’,” messaged tenants of the late 20th and early 21st century (amplified by social media), have raised international consciousness of additional psychosocial and cultural factors that should at least be considered when diagnosing and/or treating sexual disorders. There is a need for clinician sensitivity (especially in today’s world), which is enhanced by recognizing that despite culture’s complex, far-reaching constellation of factors, they must be incorporated when considering psychosocial factors. Objective Sexuality professionals need to recognize and accept an expanded view of the biopsychosocial model's scope. Methods Literature review. Results Limitations in how the biopsychosocial model is currently used may risk under-emphasizing the role of organic, behavioral, and cultural factors in sexual disorder etiology and treatment. Conclusions “Biopsychosocial” should be seen as an explicit “stand-in” for all predisposing, precipitating, and maintaining bio-medical/surgical, cognitive, behavioral, emotional, social, and cultural factors determining the etiology and treatment of sexual disorders. Such an explicit expansion of the model will provide multidimensional clarity and understanding that will help the next generation of clinicians adopt a transdisciplinary perspective, not merely a multidisciplinary one. Disclosure No.

Хеджинг-стратегия в оценочном научном дискурсе: междисциплинарное исследование

The article presents the research into hedges and hedging strategy realization in evaluative academic genres viewed from a transdisciplinary perspective. To this end, 64 dissertation reviews written by Russian male and female scholars in humanities (linguistics, literature studies, history) and sciences (physics, chemistry, medicine) were analyzed. Hedging is understood as a system of linguistic means, which perform a mitigating function associated with expressing vagueness, uncertainty, skepticism and doubt. Perlocutionary effects of hedging are connected with reducing the illocutionary strength of the writer's claims or risks of opposition, face saving, positive and negative politeness. The following classification of hedges is proposed: self-mentions, mitigation hedges, hedged performatives, evaluations of propositions and vagueness hedges. The results of the comparative quantitative and qualitative analyses reveal that hedging strategy is determined by a number of discursive and personal factors such as sphere of communication, speech genre, gender and professional experience of the writer. In dissertation reviews hedges show high frequency of occurrence, which can be explained by the public nature of reviews, their potential traumatic effect on the reader, the existing requirements for scientific data presentation in a tentative and indeterminate way, as well as high academic competence of reviewers. The research proves that in humanities hedges demonstrate a higher frequency rate than in sciences. At the same time, male reviewers reveal higher hedging frequency than female reviewers.

Drivers of men's use of intimate partner violence in conflict-affected settings: learnings from the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Intimate partner violence against women (IPVAW) is prevalent in conflict-affected settings. Yet, there is limited knowledge about the risk factors that influence men's use of IPVAW in conflict-affected settings. This paper adopts a transdisciplinary perspective to understand how experiences hypothesized to increase men's use of IPVAW relate to each other and to men's use of IPVAW. The findings may help researchers and interventionists to better select and target interventions for IPVAW in conflict-affected settings. We used baseline data from the Tushinde Ujeuri project in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Men with at least partial data for the variables of interest were included in the analysis (n = 2080). We estimated a structural equation model that explored how five constructs - interpersonal violence, mental health, socioeconomic adversity, gender inequitable attitudes, and conflict violence - influenced men's self-reported past-year use of physical and/or sexual IPVAW. The model had acceptable fit (χ2 = 1576.574, p = 0.000; RMSEA = 0.041; CLI = 0.882; SRMR = 0.055). There was a statistically significant path from interpersonal violence to IPVAW (β = 0.875; OR = 2.40). Interpersonal violence also was linked to gender inequitable attitudes (β = 0.364), which were linked to increased use of IPVAW (β = 0.180; OR = 1.20). Moreover, interpersonal violence was linked to trauma symptoms (β = 0.331), which were linked to increased use of IPVAW (β = 0.238; OR = 1.27). Use of IPVAW decreased as conflict exposures increased (β=-0.036; OR = 0.96), and there was no path from socioeconomic adversity to IPVAW. Our findings suggest interpersonal violence exposures, trauma symptoms, and gender inequitable attitudes are all risk factors for the use of IPVAW in a conflict-affected setting. While continuing to focus on gender inequitable attitudes and norms, interventionists should also consider addressing men's experiences of victimization and mental wellbeing. Doing so can help to improve trauma symptoms and may hold promise to reduce IPVAW in conflict-affected settings.

Shifting the Working/Teaching Environment: A Transdisciplinary Perspectives

Our presentation is based on our study on the “Effects of Covid-19 on Teaching, and Learning: Stories of Racialized Faculty Members and Students''. This was a qualitative narrative study and we conducted focus group discussions and individual interviews. We employed snowballing techniques to recruit study participants. We invited 32 racialized students (domestic and international) and 10 racialized faculty members. The results of this research will be published in a co-edited book and will also invite media houses to feature the results of the project to bring awareness to issues of equity, diversity, and inclusion in the classroom and school environment. The objective of this study was to understand deeper the experiences of racialized faculty members and students and how they have navigated their racialized positions within the on-going pandemic.  Covid-19 has affected and compounded issues faced by Racialized populations in ways that have affected their education. On top of inaccessible classrooms and a curriculum that is foreign to them, many racialized students and educators have to deal with inaccessibility of the virtual class because of lack of strong internet connection; mental health issues brought about by the effect of Covid-19 on racialized communities.
 This oral presentation is to address the question on “how do we shift the working and teaching environments from multidisciplinary to transdisciplinary”?  How can we teach, learn, and work; knowing well that care in teaching, working, and learning has contributed to spatial elimination of some students and faculty members who look different because of race, class, gender,  sexual orientation or other social markers? This presentation will focus on understanding the unique experience of racialized faculty members and students in the age of virtualized learning and teaching. This presentation pays attention to the ethics of equity, diversity, and equity when it comes to care in a virtual classroom. It seeks to expand these existing multidisciplinary to transdisciplinary forms of care in order to address the working/teaching environment.  This presentation attempts to understand racialized educators and student’s everyday experiences in terms of accessibility to virtual classrooms and the curriculum. The objective of this presentation is to present the experiences of racialized faculty members and students and how they navigate their racialized positions within the on-going pandemic. In our presentation we will focus on the findings of our study. The following themes will define our presentation :(1) the different educational experiences of racialized students and educators during Covid-19 pandemic; (2.) the challenges and success racialized educators and students have faced in a virtual classroom during Covid-19 pandemic; and (3.) the different ways in which the racialized students and educators have negotiated the challenges of virtual classrooms during Covid-19 pandemic. We will also include a discussion of our research design that is focused on qualitative narrative study. Then, we conclude.
  

Introduction

The International Journal of Literacy, Culture, and Language Education (IJLCLE) is an open-source, peer-reviewed international journal dedicated to publishing research in the field of literacy, culture, and language education from multi-, inter-, and transdisciplinary perspectives. Its mission is to promote the academic exchange of ideas and dissemination of research among scholars and researchers from diverse fields of study worldwide. Authors are invited to submit manuscripts describing scholarly research on a wide range of topics related to language, literacy, and culture in education. Theoretical and conceptual studies, empirical and applied research using qualitative and/or quantitative methodologies, critical papers, special issues, and book reviews are all invited. Contributions from a host of disciplines such as sociolinguistics, sociology of language, psycholinguistics, educational linguistics, applied linguistics, linguistic anthropology, raciolinguistics, literacy studies, cultural studies, language and gender studies, language and political economy, media and technology, language education, teacher education, educational policy, semiotics, pragmatics, language policy and planning, language revitalization, and linguistic landscapes are very welcome. The intended audience of IJLCLE is researchers, scholars, educators, and graduate students from around the world.

Theorizing architectural research and practice in the metaverse: the meta-context of virtual community engagement

PurposeThis article explores the implications of virtual social spaces for conceptualizing community engagement in the practice of architecture and design by critically analyzing multidisciplinary approaches to conceptualizing community namely space, place, and context to envision social spaces of virtual community engagement by architects and designers.Design/methodology/approachThis conceptual article utilized narrative literature review as the primary method for conducting a transdisciplinary theoretical integration. First, the authors defined the metaverse as all manner of human-technological interaction. Second, the authors discussed theories of place from architecture, social geography, and human ecology and employed neoecological theory to describe the interactional processes inherent in research and practice with virtual communities. Finally, the authors documented specific types of virtual engagement strategies in architectural research and practice.FindingsVirtual environments provide varied opportunities for effective collaborations among architects, designers, and community members. The primary strategies identified by the literature review of virtual community engagement were collaborative, augmented reality, and situated digital experiences. In addition, researchers have found that the most effective community engagement bridges interactions in the physical space and digitally mediated interactions.Research limitations/implicationsThe authors advocate for increased research towards understanding how the expanded availability of more complex technological tools, such as future versions of artificial intelligence (AI) software, may further layer the landscape of community engagement in ways that may be unpredictable and currently less understood. Additional research is also needed to address participants' perspectives in virtual community engagement and explore how the building of communities in the meta-context is felt, lived, and understood by those who act in them.Practical implicationsThe availability of new technological tools and digital platforms challenges diverse professionals to expand their community-engaged practice into the metaverse. Although not every community has broadband Internet or software access, many physical locations whether community centers, libraries, schools, or one’s own home may serve as safe spaces for novel virtual engagement experiences by individuals and groups. Digital engagement can increase opportunities for involvement from persons who are home-bound, lack transportation or child-care to attend in-person community events, or may desire the anonymity afforded by virtual engagement.Social implicationsVirtual environments can provide varied opportunities for effective collaboration among architects, designers, and community members by overcoming physical or nonphysical barriers to in-person engagement. For example, recent case studies of civic and community organizations have successfully integrated physical and virtual community engagement during the global COVID-19 pandemic by overcoming physical or nonphysical barriers to in-person engagement. Community development theorists have referred to such contexts as a “post-place community” in which individuals find solidarity through digital global networks.Originality/valueThis article theorizes virtual community engagement in the metaverse from a transdisciplinary perspective and coins the innovative concept of meta-contexts to describe a global “post-place” community. Integrating theories of place from architecture, social geography, and human ecology guides an original review of effective strategies for meta-contextual digital community engagement by architects and designers.

Transdisciplinarity and the Curriculum: Reading UNESCO’s “Reimagining Our Futures Together” with Transdisciplinarity in Mind

This paper delves into the concept of transdisciplinarity and its potential application in education by conducting a critical analysis of UNESCO's report titled "Reimagining Our Futures Together: A New Social Contract for Education." The report emphasizes the pressing need to address existential risks and climate change, thereby advocating for transformative educational practices. The paper explores the historical development of transdisciplinarity, encompassing structuralist-systems, holistic, and postmodern approaches. Using a transdisciplinary lens, the study examines crucial themes from the UNESCO report, including ecological, intercultural, and interdisciplinary learning integration, the concept of the Knowledge Commons, and the proposition for a new social contract between individuals and governments. This examination serves as an exemplar of how to interpret and question educational texts through a transdisciplinary perspective. Keywords: transdisciplinarity, transdisciplinary education, UNESCO reports, educational policy

The patent landscape in the field of stem cell therapy: closing the gap between research and clinic

Stem cell technology is a powerful tool ready to respond to the needs of modern medicine that is experiencing rapid technological development. Given its potential in therapeutic applications, intellectual property rights (IPR) as a protection resource of knowledge are a relevant topic. Patent eligibility of stem cells has been controversial as restrictions to access the fundamental technologies open a gap between research and clinic. Therefore, we depicted the current patent landscape in the field to discuss if this approach moves forward in closing this breach by examining patent activity over the last decade from a transdisciplinary perspective. Stem cell therapeutic applications is an area of continuous growth where patent filing through the PCT is the preferred strategy. Patenting activity is concentrated in the USA, European Union, and Australia; this accumulation in a few key players leads to governance, regulation, and inequality concerns. To boost wealthiness and welfare in society - stem cell therapies' ultimate goal - while at post-pandemic recovery, critical elements in the field of IPR rise to overcome current limitations: to promote bridge builders able to connect the research and business worlds, regulatory updates, novel financing models, new vehicles (startups, spinouts, and spin-offs), and alternative figures of intellectual property.

Religion, Media, and Materiality

This introduction to the Special Issue “Religion, Media, Materiality” succinctly outlines the central themes of media and authority, serving as tertia comparationis within the volume, and evokes their significance in addressing media changes from a transdisciplinary perspective. It surveys three theoretical frameworks and general perspectives on the interplay between religion, media, and authority, as put forth by Stewart Hoover, Birgit Meyer, and David Morgan. The discussion emphasises how the case studies examined by Sarit Shalev-Eyni, Ines Weinrich, Hanna Staehle, Giulia Evolvi, and Tim Karis actively engage with these frameworks. In doing so, they contribute to a more nuanced understanding of the intricate connections between media, authority, and religion, offering a detailed exploration of these overarching concepts.

Critical Doses: Nurturing Diversity in Psychedelic Studies

ABSTRACT In this introduction to the thematic issue Critical Psychedelic Studies we argue that many and diverse critical analyses of psychedelic cultures and practices are needed to counter the current hype around the biomedicalization of psychedelic substances. The social sciences and humanities offer insights and methods to resist appropriation and to establish community based ethical practices. The assembled articles and book reviews indicate an urgency and vitality of research aimed at growing psychedelic cultures outside the medico-pharmaceutical complex, offering inter- and transdisciplinary perspectives. Critical psychedelic studies challenge hegemonial or colonizing knowledge practices in historical and contemporary psychedelic discourse. Bringing together insights from the different original contributions we reflect on power relations in the psychedelic revival. In this article we argue against field definitions and in favour of diverse and agile formations of consciousness and praxis. We provide critical ideas for deconstructing both the patriarchal colonial legacies and the contemporary power dynamics focussed on wealth creation that characterize today's psychedelic revival.

Challenging the growth-prosperity Nexus: Redefining undergraduate economics education for the Anthropocene

This paper proposes a conceptual framework to guide the transformation of undergraduate economics education, anchored in integrated human flourishing and ecological sustainability. The framework moves beyond the dominant focus on utility and profit maximization to encompass holistic goals of universal human development, social equity, and ecological sustainability within planetary boundaries. It outlines current economic problems and links them to key competencies critical to addressing these issues. Accordingly, educational themes and corresponding anchor topics are developed that align with the key competencies to equip students with pluralistic, transdisciplinary perspectives and solution-oriented skills for catalyzing a just economy that sustains the web of life. The framework is based on the multidimensional concept of prosperity and includes three interrelated dimensions: ecological sustainability, social inclusion and equality, and quality of life. To implement this framework, guiding principles and targeted learning outcomes for economics are defined that emphasize systems thinking, personal development, transdisciplinarity, and collective agency for transformative change. The goal is to provide a coherent structure to transform undergraduate economics education and empower students to become agents of social change who can critique and reorient the current economic system towards justice and ecological stewardship.

Using mixed methods to better assess the effects of citizen sensing on individual behaviors

Abstract Citizen sensing initiatives have multiplied in recent years as a way to better understand and act upon urban air pollution at the individual level. However, assessing their effects on behaviors remains a challenge. In 2019, a multidisplinary academic team conducted a research on a French initiative where volunteer citizens were equiped with fine particle micro-sensors, and mobilized mixed methods to assess its impacts on individual practices. A cross analysis of quantitative data from the micro-sensors (3001 measure sessions from 73 sensors) and qualitative data from the volunteers (70 interviews and 49 questionnaires) was performed to analyze the strategies of capture deployed by the volunteers and the impact of the initiative on individual behaviors. Each data set analysis established a relationship between the ways in which volunteers use the sensors and the evolutions of the initiative. Their cross analysis strengthened this relationship and enriched its understanding by identifying the mechanisms at play: volunteers’ capture behaviors over time and space are determined by their initial drive to participate in the initiative, the support they receive to use the sensor, understand the data and relate it to personal concerns, and their sense of belonging to a community of clean air ambassadors. The confrontation of data sets also helped nuance the declarative statements of volunteers regarding behavior change and identify common patterns in the process of adoption (types of new behavior, triggers and maintenance over time). This research confirms that mixed methods are relevant to evaluate the effectiveness of citizen sensing initiatives since they can be used to both assess their effects on individual behaviors and try to explain those changes. The work also highlighted the current limitations of mixed methods implementation (methodological issues and getting people from different disciplines to work together) and protocols for future research were recommended. Key messages • Mixed methods can both enhance the impacts of citizen sensing on individual behaviors, health literacy and collective empowerment, and allow researchers to better assess those impacts. • Mixed methods require the fusion of conceptual and methodological frameworks from different disciplines in a transdisciplinary perspective, those needing new partnerships built on mutual trust.

System thinking approaches for circular economy: enabling inclusive, synergistic, and eco-effective pathways for sustainable development

The Circular Economy (CE) concept is rapidly gaining space in mainstream policy in many developed countries, but it remains a contested and underdeveloped notion in scientific circles, largely due to its fragmented nature and absence of a unified framework. This fragmentation is attributed to the concept’s diverse roots, its varying utilization by distinct interest groups, and its evolution over time. Though there are strong implicit links between CE and sustainability, the explicit connections are seldom addressed. Current CE views tend to heavily concentrate on the economic aspect of sustainability, marginally on the environmental one, and largely neglect the social aspect. The prevailing reductive interpretations of CE often lead to subpar or even unsustainable results, thereby posing significant challenges to its implementation and questioning its legitimacy as a sustainable development model. This systematic literature review, through an examination of CE’s varied origins, its role in integrated socio-economic dialogues, its sustainability implications, and the challenges presented by its existing reductive approaches, underscores the necessity for a systemic exploration of the CE concept. Given that CE is rooted in Systems Ecology, adopting a pluralistic, transdisciplinary perspective is crucial to overcome challenges and limitation associated with CE implementation. The authors propose that the implementation of CE must be guided by holistic systemic evaluations of organizations with equal emphasis on environmental and social apprehensions along with economic concerns. Such systemic evaluations can ensure that CE meets its sustainability objectives and remain a legitimate pathway towards sustainable development.

A critical exploration of the diets of UK disadvantaged communities to inform food systems transformation: a scoping review of qualitative literature using a social practice theory lens

The UK food system affects social, economic and natural environments and features escalating risk of food insecurity. Yet it should provide access to safe, nutritious, affordable food for all citizens. Disadvantaged UK communities [individuals and families at risk of food and housing insecurity, often culturally diverse] have often been conceptualised in terms of individual behaviour which may lead to findings and conclusions based on the need for individual change. Such communities face public health challenges and are often treated as powerless recipients of dietary and health initiatives or as ‘choiceless’ consumers within food supply chains. As transforming the UK food system has become a national priority, it is important a diverse range of evidence is used to support understanding of the diets of disadvantaged communities to inform food systems transformation research.A scoping review of UK peer reviewed qualitative literature published in MEDLINE, CINAHL Plus with Full Text, EMBASE, PsycINFO and Web of Science between January 2010 and May 2021 in English. Eligibility criteria were applied, a data extraction table summarised data from included studies, and synthesis using social practice theory was undertaken.Forty-five qualitative studies were reviewed, which included the views of 2,434 community members aged between 5 and 83. Studies used different measures to define disadvantage. Synthesis using social practice theory identified themes of food and dietary practices shaped by interactions between ‘material factors’ (e.g. transport, housing and money), ‘meanings’ (e.g. autonomy and independence), and ‘competencies’ (e.g. strategies to maximise food intake). These concepts are analysed and critiqued in the context of the wider literature to inform food systems transformation research.This review suggests to date, qualitative research into diets of UK disadvantaged communities provides diverse findings that mainly conceptualise disadvantage at an individual level. Whilst several studies provide excellent characterisations of individual experience, links to ‘macro’ processes such as supply chains are largely missing. Recommendations are made for future research to embrace transdisciplinary perspectives and utilise new tools (e.g., creative methods and good practice guides), and theories (e.g., assemblage) to better facilitate food systems transformation for disadvantaged communities.