Transdisciplinary Research Framework Research Articles

Art‐based perceptual ecology

Much discussion and effort have been directed toward developing a more diverse membership at the Ecological Society of America (ESA) and other professional scientific societies. To better meet diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) goals, these societies must expand their views of diversity, yielding broader participation in the sciences. I am the founder of and research director at Citizen Artist, a participatory science research platform employing art-based perceptual ecology (ABPE) research methodologies to study ecological systems change. At Citizen Artist, we honor multiple ways of knowing – exploring and investigating differently; engaging in unbounded curiosity, imagination, and creativity; and embracing holistic, integrative approaches to scientific practice and thinking. We offer alternative methodologies, tools, and field practices – non-conventional approaches that attract underrepresented populations to participate in science. Extending the parameters of how ecologists conduct field-based science may bolster participation and lead to unexpected and revolutionary solutions for our most pressing issues, such as the impacts of climate change, loss of habitat, and biodiversity decline. Duly note, Citizen Artist is an approved scientific content provider for ESA's Professional Certified Ecologist Program. In the early 1990s, during my graduate studies in art therapy, I was introduced to art-based research (ABR) methodologies, which originated in the social sciences and were designed to work with a human population. I recognized they could have great potential and application to more than human populations. Simultaneous with pursuing a PhD in environmental studies, I envisioned how I could expand ABR methods and frame them within ecological and biological principles to serve field-based scientific research. Through an iterative process, I developed a new methodology and set of tools responding to applied questions within the natural sciences, specifically in studying environmental change. The evolution of this process resulted in the birth of ABPE research methodologies. Historically, ecologists have discussed the need to include interdisciplinarity within our professional practice. At Citizen Artist, we engage in a transdisciplinary approach to science practices – weaving together multiple disciplines’ perspectives, theories, and methods, transcending their traditional boundaries to generate knowledge and a deeper understanding of the interconnectedness of all life. When creating and collecting data in the field using ABPE methods, the researcher engages in art-based inquiry through a kinesthetic act of “making with the hands” in which neural connections are established and knowledge is constructed. Grounded in multimodal knowledge systems and sensory-based learning, ABPE data communicate through multiple “languages” to tell the land’s story, including the visual language of mark making or drawing, and the languages of metaphor and symbol. Using the visual language at the inquiry stage of scientific thinking has historical ties: consider these connections to important discoveries, such as Galileo's drawings of the moon, or Maria Sibylla Merian's paintings of insect metamorphosis. According to ABPE methods, both the process and the product hold equal value. The art-making process offers a springboard for new insight and questions to arise, ones that had not been considered previously as the information was not yet available. The art product (data) concretizes original knowledge; provides context and frames of reference; and deepens the researcher's understanding of ecological phenomena. The data do not offer finality, but rather a turn in the conversation that often leads to more questions than answers. At Citizen Artist, we are building a diverse, global community trained in best practices within a transdisciplinary research framework, to mutually learn from and explore new pathways to address current ecological challenges. Since the summer of 2020, I have taught an online course, “Introduction to Citizen Artist and Art-Based Research Methods”, offering training in ABPE methodologies for field-based practices and increasing access to science for underserved populations. To date, more than 120 individuals – including researchers, educators, and doctoral and master's students hailing from 14 countries and 22 states – have taken the course, 95% of whom belong to science disciplines (within which 15% are interdisciplinary) and 3% of whom are in the arts. Each of these individuals is working with a larger constituency of stakeholders at universities, government agencies, NGOs, and Indigenous communities. Contrary to our name, there is no need for artistic skills to take the class or engage in ABPE. In conclusion, I believe integrative approaches to science diversify and strengthen the field. Including transdisciplinary approaches to both scientific practices and ways of thinking opens the field to communities of creative co-collaborators, expanding the boundaries of scientific innovation and transformative solutions. For more information on Citizen Artist programs, visit www.citizen-artist.com.

Co-producing knowledge: challenges of the transdisciplinary research in pandemic times

Human Factors is a broad area of interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary studies and research focused on the perspective of the interaction between organizational, group and individual factors that aims at improving the performance and safety of people in complex organizations and socio-technical environments. Knowledge to develop solutions to the complex problems that arise in this context can be co-produced by academic and non-academic actors through a transdisciplinary research framework that integrates the daily practices of stakeholders and creates structures that make co-production spaces effective for corporate’s practices. This paper present and discuss the strategies and challenges for developing spaces for human factors-based knowledge co-production on a transdisciplinary research project during the pandemic period of COVID-19. This ongoing research was designed to develop interactions and to co-produce knowledge aimed at the safety culture of companies in the oil and gas sector. Under the imposition of social distance and its consequent challenges, strategies to promote interaction, iteration, sharing, integration, co-creation, and co-production of knowledge had to be redesigned. Based on partial results, the research discusses and analyze the main dilemmas for the knowledge coproduction focusing on the 30 researchers, and on the knowledge coproduction between researchers and stakeholders. Although the COVID-19 pandemic had imposed new forms of relationships, the main challenges remained on the integration of knowledge as perceived by the research team. This paper presents the confrontation of the knowledge co-production challenges imposed by the new context associated with addressing two new constructs for the oil and gas industry, human factors and resilience, to improve safety culture. The discussion suggests and presents possibilities to overcome these challenges to continuous stimulate co-production of knowledge in these organizational environments.

Building a Common Language to Facilitate Discussion Among Stakeholders in Work Disability: A Consensus Group Approach.

Work disability stakeholders may not share the same understanding and solutions among themselves or with researchers, causing misunderstandings and hindering collaboration regarding solutions for preventing work disability. To reduce such differences, this study sought to build a common vocabulary among stakeholders and researchers, using a transdisciplinary research framework. A consensus method based on a constructivist approach was used. A theoretical sampling method was applied to identify researchers or stakeholders representing one of the four systems in the work disability paradigm. A preliminary set of definitions for key terms was assessed using a Web-based questionnaire. It documented participants' level of agreement with each term's inclusion and relevance in the field, and the clarity of the definition, while soliciting suggestions for other terms or clearer definitions. Disagreements were discussed at group meetings, yielding consensus on the final terms and definitions. Eleven stakeholders representing patients, employers, unions, healthcare professionals, and legislative and insurance systems, along with 10 multidisciplinary researchers, participated. The questionnaire yielded initial consensus on the inclusion and definitions of 49 terms, and 109 suggestions mostly for modified definitions (average = 6 suggestions/term). Two preliminary terms were excluded and three terms were added. Ultimately, 80 terms and their definitions yielded consensus. The process we used to build a common vocabulary was carried out within a transdisciplinary framework. It required a constructivist approach, promoting idea exchanges among participants and co-construction of generally agreed results. The results were rooted in local contexts, thus ensuring the same reference points, regardless of participants' different understandings.

Psychiatrization of Society: A Conceptual Framework and Call for Transdisciplinary Research.

Purpose: Worldwide, there have been consistently high or even rising incidences of diagnosed mental disorders and increasing mental healthcare service utilization over the last decades, causing a growing burden for healthcare systems and societies. While more individuals than ever are being diagnosed and treated as mentally ill, psychiatric knowledge, and practices affect the lives of a rising number of people, gain importance in society as a whole and shape more and more areas of life. This process can be described as the progressing psychiatrization of society.Methods: This article is a conceptual paper, focusing on theoretical considerations and theory development. As a starting point for further research, we suggest a basic model of psychiatrization, taking into account its main sub-processes as well as its major top-down and bottom-up drivers.Results: Psychiatrization is highly complex, diverse, and global. It involves various protagonists and its effects are potentially harmful to individuals, to societies and to public healthcare. To better understand, prevent or manage its negative aspects, there is a need for transdisciplinary research, that empirically assesses causes, mechanisms, and effects of psychiatrization.Conclusion: Although psychiatrization has highly ambivalent effects, its relevance mainly derives from its risks: While individuals with minor disturbances of well-being might be subjected to overdiagnosis and overtreatment, psychiatrization could also result in undermining mental healthcare provision for the most severely ill by promoting the adaption of services to the needs and desires of the rather mild cases. On a societal level, psychiatrization might boost medical interventions which incite individual coping with social problems, instead of encouraging long-term political solutions.

Alleviating Environmental Health Disparities Through Community Science and Data Integration.

Environmental contamination is a fundamental determinant of health and well-being, and when the environment is compromised, vulnerabilities are generated. The complex challenges associated with environmental health and food security are influenced by current and emerging political, social, economic, and environmental contexts. To solve these “wicked” dilemmas, disparate public health surveillance efforts are conducted by local, state, and federal agencies. More recently, citizen/community science (CS) monitoring efforts are providing site-specific data. One of the biggest challenges in using these government datasets, let alone incorporating CS data, for a holistic assessment of environmental exposure is data management and interoperability. To facilitate a more holistic perspective and approach to solution generation, we have developed a method to provide a common data model that will allow environmental health researchers working at different scales and research domains to exchange data and ask new questions. We anticipate that this method will help to address environmental health disparities, which are unjust and avoidable, while ensuring CS datasets are ethically integrated to achieve environmental justice. Specifically, we used a transdisciplinary research framework to develop a methodology to integrate CS data with existing governmental environmental monitoring and social attribute data (vulnerability and resilience variables) that span across 10 different federal and state agencies. A key challenge in integrating such different datasets is the lack of widely adopted ontologies for vulnerability and resiliency factors. In addition to following the best practice of submitting new term requests to existing ontologies to fill gaps, we have also created an application ontology, the Superfund Research Project Data Interface Ontology (SRPDIO).

Transitioning from Interdisciplinarity to Transdisciplinarity in Applied Translation Studies: Towards Transdisciplinary Action Research in Translators’ Workplaces

Abstract Since the beginnings of translation studies, applied translation research has set out to address the practices, processes and products of translation in both work and education. The contexts in which these are realized are embedded in broader sociotechnical systems as well as in the specific settings where translation is performed. Although the situated nature of professional translation is uncontroversial and suggests that it should be investigated in situ, workplace-based, organization-oriented research in applied translation studies is a relatively recent and still under-developed phenomenon. The nascent interest in it is partly due to advances in research tools and practices, but mostly to an emerging but still largely implicit transdisciplinary research framework. This article argues that the actual and potential impact of transdisciplinarity should frame translation research more explicitly. It considers how the growing diversification of professional translation and its convergence with other communication professions calls for applied translation studies to adjust to new realities. It explores current developments in professional translation practice, presents a use case of workplace-based research, and concludes with a model of transdisciplinary action research that can serve as a structured framework for investigating and learning from rapidly evolving professional processes and practices in translators’ sociotechnical workplaces.

The Challenge of Transdisciplinary Research: A Case Study of Learning by Evaluation for Sustainable Transport Infrastructures

While transdisciplinary (TD) research is desired in order to solve real world sustainability issues, this may be challenging for both academic and non-academic participants. Supporting learning through evaluation, we analyzed a project aiming at sustainable transport infrastructures. After developing a TD research framework as a benchmark, two external independent evaluators interviewed all project researchers, representatives for end-users, and donors. The evaluators compared results with the framework, and evaluators and participants critically reflected on the results together. There were three inconsistencies relative to the framework: (1) limited understanding of TD research among project management, end-users, and most of the researchers; (2) no structured learning process among end-users; instead, they expressed very diverse opinions about what they expected from the project; (3) project leaders had limited understanding of the special challenges of TD research, did not fully understand the status of the project’s social system, and thus did not act as facilitators of the required collaborative learning process. Non-academic participants saw themselves as customers and not as partners in the knowledge production process. We conclude that TD problem-solving research requires much time and needs facilitation and training. A preparatory phase with a lower level of funding would be helpful in preparing for TD processes.

Leveraging Mobile Sensing to Understand and Develop Intervention Strategies to Improve Medication Adherence.

Interventions to improve medication adherence have had limited success and can require significant human resources to implement. Research focused on improving medication adherence has undergone a paradigm shift, of late, with a shift towards developing personalized, theory-driven interventions. The current research integrates foundational and translational science to implement a mechanisms-focused, context-aware approach. Increasing adoption of mobile and wearable sensing systems presents new opportunities for understanding how medication-taking behaviors unfold in natural settings, especially in populations who have difficulty adhering to medications. When combined with survey and ecological momentary assessment data, these mobile and wearable sensing systems can directly capture the context of medication adherence in situ, including personal, behavioral, and environmental factors. The purpose of this paper is to present a new transdisciplinary research framework in medication adherence, highlight critical advances in this rapidly-evolving research field, and outline potential future directions for both research and clinical applications.

Challenges and conservation implications of Polylepis woodlands in the Andean region: Defining actions for sustainable management

Abstract Polylepis species represent one of the most important and endemic woodlands of the mid- and high-elevation regions of the Andean Cordillera. I provide a review of the current situation of Polylepis woodlands, discuss the potential effects of various conservation measures and consider the likely impact of climate change on tree phenology and tree regeneration, aiming to foster the conservation and sustainable management of these woodlands through proper environmental planning. I argue that in addition to the delineation and extension of protected areas, it is essential to incorporate actions such as forestation, forest policies, environmental education and local community participation. To be effective, conservation measures should be implemented in an international transdisciplinary research framework and in harmony with site-specific conditions. Finally, given the likely but uncertain influences of climate change on Polylepis woodlands, further research (and communication of that research) is needed to improve forest management strategies and research priorities for the Andean region.

The Workings of Power in Transnational Law

Studying the transnational politics of law implies a transdisciplinary research framework. In various sub-fields of law and society studies, scholars stress the political moment of law and legal practice by attempting to understand law-as-something-else (e.g. law as culture, law as geographical knowledge, law as literature, etc.). The paper argues that this points to a yet unexploited possibility: by moving beyond an interdisciplinary understanding of the role of international law in international politics and beyond an understanding of international law as type of international norms to be studied in an analytical framework of IR norms research, the idea is to study (inter- or transnational) law as politics. To achieve a deeper understanding of the politics of law and the mechanisms of power at work within law, it is necessary to zoom in on the sites in which law is forcefully applied. Drawing on insights in Legal Realism and the Critical Legal Studies, I argue that to account for law-as-politics—and that is the workings of power in law and legal practice—it makes sense to address legal norms as critical resources of power. It is in this sense that the paper calls for an inclusion of IR theory into the law and society studies research program.

Irrigation Water Use in the Danube Basin: Facts, Governance and Approach to Sustainability

Abstract In this paper we assess the irrigation water use in the Danube Basin, highlight its complexity, identify future challenges and show the relevance for a basin-wide integrative irrigation management plan as part of a more holistic and coherent resource policy. In this sense, we base our integrative regional assessments of the water-food-energy nexus on insights from an extensive review and scientific synthesis of the Danube Basin and region, experimental field studies on irrigation and agricultural water consumption, current irrigation related policies and strategies in most of the Danube countries, and regulatory frameworks on resources at European Union level. We show that a basin-wide integrative approach to water use calls for the evaluation of resource use trade-offs, resonates with the need for transdisciplinary research in addressing nexus challenges and supports integrative resource management policies within which irrigation water use represents an inherent part. In this respect, we propose a transdisciplinary research framework on sustainable irrigation water use in the Danube Basin. The findings were summarized into four interconnected problem areas in the Danube Basin, which directly or indirectly relate to irrigation strategies and resource policies: prospective water scarcity and Danube water connectedness, agricultural droughts, present and future level of potential yields, and science based proactive decision-making.

The Great Green Wall for the Sahara and the Sahel Initiative as an opportunity to enhance resilience in Sahelian landscapes and livelihoods

Over the past 50 years, a large number of development initiatives have addressed the diverse social and ecological challenges in the Sahel, often focusing on a single entry point or action, resulting in only a limited degree of success. Within the last decade, the international development discourse has evolved to incorporate resilience thinking as a way to address more complex challenges. However, concrete examples as to how to operationalize resilience thinking are lacking. The Great Green Wall for the Sahara and the Sahel Initiative (GGW), a pan-African program with a strong reforestation focus, is the latest and most ambitious of these development programs to date. The GGW represents an ideal opportunity to apply resilience thinking at a large scale, but in order to do so, it must intelligently gather and centralize pre-existing interdisciplinary knowledge, generate new knowledge, and integrate knowledge systems to appropriately navigate future uncertainties of the diverse social-ecological systems along its path. Herein, after a brief description of large-scale reforestation history in the Sahara and Sahel and the conceptual evolution of the GGW, we propose a transdisciplinary research framework with resilience thinking at its core. It includes analysis of complex social-ecological systems, their temporal and spatial cross-scale interactions, and outcomes focused on the supply of abundant, diverse, equitable, and durable ecosystem services to support livelihoods in the region. If the research areas that comprise the framework were to be properly addressed, they could conceivably guide GGW actions in a way that would contribute to desirable future pathways.

Advancing sustainable consumption and production in cities - A transdisciplinary research and stakeholder engagement framework to address consumption-based emissions and impacts

Urban consumption patterns and lifestyles are increasingly important for the sustainability of cities today and in the future. However, considerations of consumption issues, social norms, behaviour and lifestyles within current urban sustainability research and practices are limited. Much untapped potential for the reduction of the environmental footprint of cities exists in combined production and consumption-based approaches, particularly in the “demand” areas of mobility, housing, food, and waste. To change unsustainable consumption and production patterns in cities, research needs to be transdisciplinary, actively involving stakeholders through co-creation processes. This paper builds on the premise that the perspectives and approaches of Sustainable Consumption and Production (SCP) for cities require the involvement of non-traditional stakeholders that are generally not included in urban planning processes such as social change initiatives, citizen groups and informal sector representatives. We present a transdisciplinary research and engagement framework to understand and advance the transition to sustainable SCP patterns and lifestyles in cities. This transdisciplinary approach to SCP transformations in cities combines co-creation, participatory visioning processes and back-casting methods, participatory urban governance and institutional change, and higher-order learning from small-scale community initiatives. We illustrate our conceptual framework through three empirical case studies in cities which take an integrative approach to lowering ecological footprints and carbon emissions.

Sleep and cardiovascular disease: Emerging opportunities for psychology.

Sleep disturbances and disorders have been implicated in cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. Converging evidence suggests that psychosocial factors that confer risk or resilience to cardiovascular disease (CVD) are also related to sleep. Profound differences in sleep among racial/ethnic minorities compared with non-Hispanic Whites in the United States suggest that sleep, and its interplay with psychosocial factors, may contribute to observed disparities in CVD and in health and functioning more broadly. Less understood is the extent to which sleep and psychosocial factors interact to influence the pathophysiology and clinical course of CVD. This article reviews observational and experimental evidence linking short sleep duration and insomnia, both modifiable sleep disturbances, to CVD, including key physiological mechanisms. Also reviewed is evidence of significant interrelationships among sleep, race/ethnicity, and psychosocial factors known to confer risk or resilience to CVD, including depression, psychological stress, and close interpersonal relationships. It is proposed that a transdisciplinary research framework that integrates knowledge, methods, and measures from the fields of psychology and sleep research may be used to catalyze advances in the prevention and treatment of CVD. Also discussed are promising new directions, expected challenges, and the importance of training in transdisciplinary science and research approaches. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).

Supporting civic engagement in German energy cooperatives – Transdisciplinary research based on the reflection of individual needs

Civic engagement is currently playing a major role in the transformation of European energy systems. In Germany, citizen-driven renewable energy cooperatives (RECs) are often presented as pioneers of change and as models for the development of energy initiatives within Europe. Current research on RECs focuses mainly on entrepreneurial adaptations and innovations; what is generally missing from the research, however, is a detailed consideration of the human dimensions of this engagement. In view of this, the present paper proposes applying the needs-oriented Human Scale Development Approach (HSDA) as a means of supporting civic engagement within a transdisciplinary research framework. It is argued that the needs perspective can be helpful in developing new strategies that support initiatives in their objective to remain stable and robust over the long term. The empirical part of the paper presents three case studies of German RECs which (1) explore the challenges encountered by active members in their everyday organizational efforts, (2) describe the potential benefits from their involvement, and (3) identify factors that encourage civic engagement. The results indicate that the challenges are inhibiting factors which not only jeopardize the groups’ shared objectives but also adversely influence the emotional well-being of those who are actively involved.

Investigating hegemony struggles: transdisciplinary considerations on the role of a critical discourse analysis of practical argumentation

ABSTRACTAgainst the background of enduring crisis dynamics, an increasingly popular (neo-)Gramscian line of interpretation has the merit of shedding light on the ambivalences of the present political scenario as a series of ongoing struggles for hegemony. Yet how to concretely conceive, structure and operationalize empirical investigations interested in these struggles without neglecting their complex interplay of discursive and extra-discursive dynamics? I suggest that cultural political economy (CPE), historical materialist policy analysis (HMPA) and critical discourse analysis (CDA) of practical argumentation can be productively combined into a transdisciplinary research framework to investigate key strategic aspects at play in conflicts over the making and challenging of hegemony. Building on the potential for synergy between CPE and HMPA, I argue that a CDA of practical argumentation can improve their analytical strength in investigating strategies within the broader context of hegemony struggles. Both CPE and HMPA, in fact, imply a process of practical reasoning as a key element in their respective approaches to questions of strategy. This implicit concern, I suggest, should be made explicit and a CDA focusing on practical argumentation can be an ideal candidate to strengthen CPE and HMPA in this respect.

Energy, households, gender and science: A feminist retrofit framework for transdisciplinary research

The energy field is characterised by an unusual degree of transdisciplinary research. At a moment when transdisciplinary work is valued within certain policy realms for its more apparent relevance and problem‐solving attributes to global challenges, it is therefore helpful to consider frameworks that may facilitate such research. To do so, this paper explores how feminist geographers might help recognise and mitigate against the imbalances of power in relationships between researchers from different disciplines by carefully considering questions of epistemology and methodology in collaborative projects. Attentive to the feminist concepts of “situated knowledge” and “reflexivity”, this paper examines what constitutes acceptably scholarly knowledge on domestic energy. The paper thus proposes a feminist retrofit framework (FRF) with three components: (1) gendered science and knowledge of domestic energy efficiency; (2) everyday knowledge of domestic energy efficiency; and (3) experimental participatory approaches to investigating energy efficiency. By bringing into conversation feminist science studies and feminist post‐structuralist geography, the proposed FRF facilitates rigorous analyses of gender, power and epistemologies in energy research. To illustrate one way to achieve more equitable energy research and interventions, the paper draws on three events in which [self‐]reflexivity contests and extends conventional approaches to conducting a domestic energy project with older low‐income households in a regional centre of New South Wales, Australia.

Sustainability from the Transdisciplinary Perspective: An Action Research Strategy for Continuing Education Program Development

Abstract The need to focus on a transdisciplinary approach in education for sustainable development (EDS) has been reflected in research and especially action research as a possible solution, which can open a new perspective for understanding and interpretation of the complex phenomenon of sustainability as well as for developing new open continuing education programmes by integrating research and learning activities in the context of open transdisciplinary research. The content structure of the article: (1) it describes the experience that has evolved at one faculty and its subordinate scientific institute and has been proposed to be used within the entire institution; (2) it generalises issues arising from the extensive experience, which in action research manifest themselves as issues relating to the appropriate perspective choice in terms of sustainability, approaches that in education make it possible to understand the sustainability phenomenon, as well as features that help identify sustainability at different levels. Well-known cases in the history of science, philosophy of science, and systems development research have been used to highlight the relationship among the dynamic interaction of complex problems that can systematically appear as sustainable or unsustainable. Therefore, the article provides insight into a specific relationship among science development, integration and Anthropocene phenomena with sustainability / non-sustainability phenomena and their interaction; (3) it offers the experience necessary for the creation of participatory action research ideas and research base to expand the cooperation of university and its graduates using a stakeholder approach and connecting it with a transdisciplinary research framework, which envisages an activity around the sustainability phenomenon and its deep relationship to the openness for the evolution of sustainability consciousness as concerns individuals and societies; (4) it describes the first three activities of the first phase of the undertaken action research, which allowed determining the participants’ motivation to take part in the action research, identifying participants’ attitude and understanding sustainability and Anthropocene phenomena, as well as establishing a strategic vision of open transdisciplinary framework benefits and opportunities through participatory action research to develop open evolutionary study programs for continuing education, which would extend and deepen the cooperation of university and its graduates for social innovation creation and achieving quality education for sustainable development by reorienting the society and education towards sustainability and sustainable development. The present article aims at establishing an open transdisciplinary research framework, which is necessary for undertaking action research, and outlining a strategic vision for developing continuing education programs in the participatory action research that will help reorient continuing education to sustainable development.

OPALesence: Epistemological pluralism in the evaluation of a systems-wide childhood obesity prevention program

The evaluation of complex systems-wide public health interventions requires evaluation research that is underpinned by theory. This article presents and discusses the trans-disciplinary evaluation research framework developed to support the evaluation of a South Australian program called OPAL (Obesity Prevention and Lifestyle). The aim is to provide insights into the research design, methods and implementation of the evaluation and contribute to the debate on how to evaluate community-based interventions with complicated and complex aspects. In an attempt to capture the complexity of childhood obesity and the intervention, the OPAL evaluation research employs post positivist, interpretive and critical epistemologies, valuing epistemological pluralism. Each component of the multi-phase mixed methods evaluation captures different yet complementary information concerning the context, process, cost effectiveness and outcomes providing a more complete understanding of the impacts of the complex program. Evaluation research is not without challenges. Some of the tensions and challenges that arose in the establishment, planning and conduct of the OPAL program and evaluation are discussed.

Disrupted seasonal biology impacts health, food security and ecosystems.

The rhythm of life on earth is shaped by seasonal changes in the environment. Plants and animals show profound annual cycles in physiology, health, morphology, behaviour and demography in response to environmental cues. Seasonal biology impacts ecosystems and agriculture, with consequences for humans and biodiversity. Human populations show robust annual rhythms in health and well-being, and the birth month can have lasting effects that persist throughout life. This review emphasizes the need for a better understanding of seasonal biology against the backdrop of its rapidly progressing disruption through climate change, human lifestyles and other anthropogenic impact. Climate change is modifying annual rhythms to which numerous organisms have adapted, with potential consequences for industries relating to health, ecosystems and food security. Disconcertingly, human lifestyles under artificial conditions of eternal summer provide the most extreme example for disconnect from natural seasons, making humans vulnerable to increased morbidity and mortality. In this review, we introduce scenarios of seasonal disruption, highlight key aspects of seasonal biology and summarize from biomedical, anthropological, veterinary, agricultural and environmental perspectives the recent evidence for seasonal desynchronization between environmental factors and internal rhythms. Because annual rhythms are pervasive across biological systems, they provide a common framework for trans-disciplinary research.