Transdisciplinary Research Program Research Articles

Herding cats: integrative leadership strategies in inter- and transdisciplinary research programs

Herding cats: integrative leadership strategies in inter- and transdisciplinary research programs

Clashing epistemologies and contrasting injustice: an Aotearoa/ New Zealand case

How, as researchers, do we recognise and address the implicit biases when engaging across multiple knowledge ecologies. In this paper, we consider the way historical and epistemic justice and injustice plays into our knowledge making when dealing with a specific issue: forest biosecurity. Specifically, we focus on the Aotearoa New Zealand context where knowledge making has been, and still is, dominated by a western paradigm, but where there is increasing discussion on mātauranga Māori (Māori knowledge) as a valid and valuable form of knowing. Drawing on the experiences of a transdisciplinary research programme that sought to examine the human dimensions of biosecurity aspects of the plant pathogens kauri dieback and myrtle rust, we approach our original question using the theoretical concept of epistemic injustice and draw on our experiences as a way to highlight instances and forms of epistemic injustice in the science-society relationship. We argue that the division of epistemic labour (into fields, disciplines, etc), and the ranking and assigning of relative epistemic credibility based on this division is a fundamental part of the western knowledge ecology which creates the necessary conditions for specific and potent forms of epistemic injustice. We contrast this by discussing how other knowledge ecologies, specifically mātauranga Māori, comfortably engages with a variety of knowledge and knowers and discuss the possibilities other knowledge ecologies offer.

School, family and the community in cooperation: the model of syneducation

School, family and the community constitute three distinct but at the same time interdependent systems. The ideas, notions and research which are related to the necessity of the functional communication of those systems have recently flourished internationally, creating a substantial “heritage” in principles, acceptances, theoretical models, application proposals, research programs as well as new orientations and perspectives. This paper proposes the model of syneducation. As syneducation (synergy + education) we define the acquisition of a common educational experience, simultaneously and in cooperation, of persons differing in age and cognitive infrastructure and often in social and cultural level. Syneducation is a new emerging research field. With its application, we aim at the change of attitudes and behaviours of the participants (parents, educators, students, policy makers and the representatives of the community) from an initial state of possible indifference- disinterest to an active and effective participation in common syneducational actions in order to face specific issues, and even further to being multipliers of the above mentioned actions. Furthermore, the application of this model creates, develops and accrues social capital.In this paper we will present certain research applications which took place according to the model of syneducation based on the methodology of collaborative action research (for example, a transdisciplinary research program, a research program in Literacy in Information Technology, a research program focusing on problem management within the family etc.) The research findings and the prospects of the syneducation model are still being discussed. This model is proposed as a realistic way of thought and action adapted to the contemporary conditions of our technological era and the foreseen needs of social computing.

Growing Older Urbanism: exploring the nexus between ageing, the built environment, and urban ecosystems

BackgroundSome of the main urban issues we currently face include ageing populations, the impact of the built environment, and the treatment of urban ecosystems. Yet the dynamic relationships and synergies between these issues, and how they are influenced by urban growth and evolution, receives little attention.Research focusWe explore the nexus between people, the urban built environment, and ecosystems as they grow, age, change, and evolve and propose an integrated approach to examine the relationships, synergies, and challenges that may emerge over time within urban neighbourhoods. We argue that this should draw on the lived-experience and wisdom of older people as part of an intergenerational approach underpinned by local, traditional, and ecological knowledge. We propose Growing Older Urbanism as an ecological, co-evolutionary, and complex-adaptive-systems-based framework to explore the nexus between ageing, the built environment, and urban ecosystems and to reveal the synergies and antagonisms that might exist between these three elements. This framework is designed to be used for various types of urban neighbourhoods, and by a diverse range of stakeholders. As part of this approach we provide a preliminary visual canvas to illustrate how the framework might be used within a selected neighbourhood over an agreed timespan.ConclusionThis paper presents some early thinking around the Growing Older Urbanism concept, while also outlining questions and a proposed transdisciplinary research programme to further develop the framework. We argue that understanding the relationship between ageing and the co-evolution of people, place, and ecosystems may teach us about our past, present, and future, and help us grow towards inclusive and sustainable communities.

Трансдисциплинарная исследовательская программа Н.И. Жинкина: внутренняя речь и ее экспериментальные проекции

The philosophical and theoretical legacy of the famous Russian philosopher, psychologist, film theorist Nikolai Ivanovich Zhinkin (1893–1979) is compre­hended in the article as an integral cultural and historical phenomenon. Based on his fundamental works and archival materials (letters, drafts, abstracts of re­ports and articles), the authors attempt to reconstruct the main characteristics of his transdisciplinary research program and demonstrate its current experimen­tal projections. This approach allows us to show that in the early philosophical, phenomenologically oriented works N.I. Zhinkin, speaking about the “thing” as a fundamentally social and historical phenomenon, outlined a methodological path, which he consistently implemented in the humanities and sciences – psy­chological, semiotic, logical and ethological – research of the late period. The authors pay special attention to experimental ethological studies, which N.I. Zhinkin carried out in the Sukhum monkey nursery in the 1950s. In addi­tion to the traditional interpretative and translational strategies that made it pos­sible to clarify the specific meanings of social “things”, he experimentally recorded the presence of a communicative system in the acoustic screams of monkeys. Thus, the relevance of the methodological path of N.I. Zhinkin (his transdisciplinary research program) lies in the fact that he used the experi­mental method to study social “things”, i.e. sign-symbolic reality (language, thinking as inner speech, language memory, information)

Surviving Racism and Sexism in Academia: Sharing Experiences, Insights, and Perspectives

Surviving Racism and Sexism in Academia: Sharing Experiences, Insights, and Perspectives

Valorization of transdisciplinary research: An evaluation approach and empirical illustration

Abstract In recent times, there has been a surge of impact-oriented, transdisciplinary research programmes and projects integrating multiple disciplines, types of knowledge and practices. An essential element often mentioned in the literature to improve the performance of these programmes and support impact delivery is continuous reflection and learning via evaluation. We argue that because a standard format for organizing transdisciplinary research does not exist, tailor-made evaluation approaches designed around the specificities of each programme are needed. The existing evaluation literature provides useful building blocks that can be integrated and adapted to specific transdisciplinary research contexts. In this article, we develop the valorization cycle and apply it to evaluate a transdisciplinary research programme in the water sector. The building blocks of our approach are: understanding of valorization as a cyclical process; theory of change as a logic model to structure the evaluation; productive interactions as a process indicator articulated in learning outcomes (cognitive, relational, and strategic); and impact pathways as narratives to explain impact dynamics. Our framework is based both on research evaluation and learning literature and on our personal experience in the evaluation of transdisciplinary research. The evaluation of the programme showed how the valorization cycle can point to different learning outcomes across the research process that are conducive to impact, and provided useful insights to the programme managers to adjust the programme. The principle of tailoring an evaluation approach to the specificities of the programme evaluated using building blocks from the literature will be applicable in other transdisciplinary contexts too.

To assess marine cloud brightening's technical feasibility, we need to know what to study—and when to stop

To avoid the worst impacts of climate change, it’s paramount that we decarbonize the economy and preserve and restore natural ecosystems. Unfortunately, pledges made from countries thus far will not limit warming to below 1.5 °C, even after accounting for the more ambitious targets set at the recent COP26 climate summit in Glasgow (1). Meeting the 1.5 °C Paris Agreement goal will likely require a massive deployment of CO2 removal technologies that remain unproven at scale (2). As a result, many scientists—including an expert panel recently convened by the US National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM)—have advocated for research into solar climate interventions that would offset some effects of greenhouse gas-driven warming by reflecting more sunlight back to space (3). This would temporarily cool the Earth, giving mitigation and adaptation efforts more time to scale up. One such approach, marine cloud brightening (MCB), would seed low-altitude clouds over the ocean with salt particles to produce more and smaller cloud droplets, leading to brighter clouds (4, 5). Right now, research into climate interventions such as marine cloud brightening lacks a comprehensive framework to produce and assess the information needed for sound decision making. Image credit: Shutterstock/Venera Salman. A view of marine clouds as seen from the International Space Station. Bands of brighter clouds are created by the pollution from ships' smokestacks. Marine cloud brightening proposals would aim to replicate this effect using sea salt. Astronaut photograph ISS059-E-36734. Image credit: Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit, NASA Johnson Space Center, and NASA Earth Observatory. We endorse the need for a transdisciplinary research program focused on MCB and other solar climate interventions. However, climate intervention research currently lacks a comprehensive framework to objectively produce and assess the information needed for sound decision-making. This is attributable in part to a … [↵][1]1To whom correspondence may be addressed. Email: michael.diamond{at}noaa.gov. [1]: #xref-corresp-1-1

Capabilities for transdisciplinary research

AbstractProblems framed as societal challenges have provided fresh impetus for transdisciplinary research. In response, funders have started programmes aimed at increasing transdisciplinary research capacity. However, current programme evaluations do not adequately measure the skills and characteristics of individuals and collectives doing this research. Addressing this gap, we propose a systematic framework for evaluating transdisciplinary research based on the Capability Approach, a set of concepts designed to assess practices, institutions, and people based on public values. The framework is operationalized through a mixed-method procedure which evaluates capabilities as they are valued and experienced by researchers themselves. The procedure is tested on a portfolio of ‘pump-priming’ research projects in the UK. We find these projects are sites of capability development in three ways: through convening cognitive capabilities required for academic practice; cultivating informal tacit capabilities; and maintaining often unacknowledged backstage capabilities over durations that extend beyond the lifetime of individual projects. Directing greater attention to these different modes of capability development in transdisciplinary research programmes may be useful formatively in identifying areas for ongoing project support, and also in steering research system capacity towards societal needs.

The motivations, desired outcomes, and visions of partner organizations to Collective Impact tree planting: A transdisciplinary case study of CommuniTree in Northwest Indiana, U.S.

In Northwest Indiana, a new urban forestry effort called CommuniTree has emerged with a goal of helping solve some of the region’s post-industrial social and ecological issues. Though no panacea, tree planting can have significant benefits, including air pollution abatement, temperature moderation, stormwater management, and beautification. CommuniTree is a Collective Impact-style collaborative of over a dozen partner groups (public, nonprofit, private, and partnership organizations) that plants trees on public and industrial properties in post-industrial Northwest Indiana communities where urban forestry governance and resources are relatively lacking. This paper presents the results of the first phase of a transdisciplinary research program that draws insights from urban forest governance scholarship and transdisciplinary sustainability science as well as from urban forest professionals involved in CommuniTree who helped design the research. We used a transdisciplinary case study approach with qualitative interviews with key informants from CommuniTree partner organizations to investigate partner organizations’ motivations for participating, desired outcomes, and long-term visions for CommuniTree. We find that the CommuniTree partnership itself is an intrinsic incentive to partners’ participation: once an influential champion brought the group together, they were motivated to stay involved by the work and structure of CommuniTree. The scant existing urban forest governance in the region also motivated partners to contribute to CommuniTree collective action. For desired outcomes, we find that partners are interested in the potential improvements to ecological quality that may result for the region such as improved stormwater management and air quality, but that more than ecological outcomes, partners are interested in the social outcomes that might come of the CommuniTree, including engaging communities in ecological stewardship activities and the beautification and general improvements to public spaces that result from tree planting. And for its future, partners conveyed a plurality of visions for CommuniTree’s growth including expanding the program to new communities, planting trees on new types of locations, and involving more partners, the general public, and new volunteer groups. However, current CommuniTree structure has vulnerabilities to its sustainability and longevity, including a reliance on predominantly grant funding, shifting organizational dynamics within/among partners, and a lack of systematic integration of the voices of local community members. In conclusion, this research on CommuniTree’s structure and function (i.e., the governance and activities) and on what partners value as desired outcomes and for the future informs an understanding of the vulnerabilities and opportunities for CommuniTree as the program evolves to better meet the needs of current partners, future stakeholders, and, most importantly, community members.

Beyond Indicators and Success Stories: An Emerging Method to Assess Social Learning in Large-Scale Transdisciplinary Research Programs.

Facilitated learning approaches are increasingly being used as a means to enhance climate and sustainability collaborations working across disciplines, regions, and scales. With investments into promoting and supporting inter- and transdisciplinary learning in major programs on complex global challenges like climate change on the rise, scholars and practitioners are calling for a more grounded and empirical understanding of learning processes and their outcomes. Yet, methodologies for studying the interplay between learning and change in these initiatives remain scarce, owing to both the “hard to measure” nature of learning and the complexity of large-scale program implementation and evaluation. This paper proposes a new method for studying social learning in the context of large research programs. It aims to analyze the social learning of researchers and practitioners engaged in these programs and assess the contributions of this learning to the resilience of the natural and social systems that these programs seek to influence. We detail the theoretical basis for this new approach and set out six steps for developing multi-layered contribution pathways and contribution stories with stakeholders to document both the process and outcomes of social learning. The proposed method, we argue, can strengthen our analytical capacity to uncover the structural drivers and barriers to social learning that are often masked by the complexity of large-scale programs. An illustrative example, drawn from a large-scale climate adaptation research program, provides evidence on how this method might advance our methodological strategies for studying learning in these programs. We conclude by highlighting two key methodological contributions brought about through this approach, and by reflecting on opportunities for further methodological development. Enriching our understanding of learning and change processes, we argue, is an important avenue for understanding how we can pursue transformations for sustainability.

Convergence Research for Emerging Zoonoses

Global emergence of vector-borne and zoonotic diseases presents a rapidly growing 'wicked' problem. We outline the need for a transdisciplinary research program that is grounded in ecological and evolutionary theory but integrates fundamentally with research perspectives spanning the health, social, and natural sciences.

Toward an Entrepreneurial Ecosystem Research Program

Entrepreneurial ecosystems have become a prominent concept, yet in its current state, the concept itself represents a paradox. While it draws on a rich intellectual history and provides an opportunity to synthesize different strands of research, it is also under-theorized and the mechanisms that govern ecosystem evolution are not well understood. This paper takes stock of recent advancements in ecosystem scholarship and synthesizes the empirical reality of the causal mechanisms. We use these dynamics to position ecosystems in a broader context, within and beyond the domain of entrepreneurship research, and propose a transdisciplinary research program for ecosystem research and practice.

Leading inter- and transdisciplinary research: Lessons from applying theories of change to a strategic research program

Theory of Change (ToC) has been promoted as a useful tool in sustainability research for visioning, planning, communication, monitoring, evaluation and learning. It involves a mapping of steps towards a desired long-term goal supplemented with continuous reflection on how and why change is expected to happen in a particular context. However, there is limited reported experience with the development and application of ToCs in inter- and transdisciplinary research contexts. While some previous publications have focused on ex-post application, there has been little discussion about the process of developing and using ToCs in strategic planning and monitoring in large inter- and transdisciplinary research programs. This article reports challenges and lessons learned from the experience of developing and using ToCs in the inter- and transdisciplinary research program Wings (Water and sanitation innovations for non-grid solutions). Challenges include (1) managing time constraints, (2) balancing between concrete and abstract discussions, (3) ensuring diversity in group composition, (4) fluctuating between reservations and appreciation, and (5) fulfilling both service and science roles while leading the ToC process. The experience highlights the importance of alternating formal and informal interaction formats throughout the process, ensuring heterogenous group formation, involving early career scientists, being responsive to emergent needs and making the added value of developing and using ToCs explicit and tangible for all participants. Although these lessons are mainly derived from developing ToCs within the interdisciplinary program team, they can support other programs in both their inter- and transdisciplinary research endeavors.

Priorities for social science and humanities research on the challenges of moving beyond animal-based food systems

Increasingly high-profile research is being undertaken into the socio-environmental challenges associated with the over-production and consumption of food from animals. Transforming food systems to mitigate climate change and hidden hunger, ensure food security and good health all point to reducing animal-based foods as a key lever. Moving beyond animal-based food systems is a societal grand challenge requiring coordinated international research by the social sciences and humanities. A ‘selective openness’ to this range of disciplines has been observed within multi-discipline research programmes designed to address societal grand challenges including those concerned with the sustainability of food systems, inhibiting the impact of social sciences and humanities. Further, existing research on animal-based foods within these disciplines is largely dispersed and focused on particular parts of food systems. Inspired by the ‘Sutherland Method’ this paper discusses the results of an iterative research prioritisation process carried out to enhance capacity, mutual understanding and impact amongst European social sciences and humanities researchers. The process produced 15 research questions from an initial list of 100 and classified under the following five themes: (1) debating and visioning food from animals; (2) transforming agricultural spaces; (3) framing animals as food; (4) eating practices and identities; and (5) governing transitions beyond animal-based food systems. These themes provide an important means of making connections between research questions that invite and steer research on key challenges in moving beyond animal-based food systems. The themes also propose loci for future transdisciplinary research programmes that join researchers from the natural sciences, social sciences, and humanities and stakeholders from beyond academia to develop cooperative research and implementation initiatives. The experiences gained from the prioritisation process draw attention to the value of spending time to discuss and collaboratively steer research enquiry into emergent and controversial matters of concern. Fundamental, ethical questions around the continuation or complete cessation of the use of animals for food was a key tension. The positioning of research towards these questions affects not only the framing of the research area but also the partners with whom the research can be carried out and for whom it may be of benefit.

Quelle recherche agronomique pour une agriculture durable ? / Which agronomic research for a sustainable agriculture?

After the Second World War, research accompanied the urgent increase in agricultural production, thanks to the use of means of production enabling to suppress factors limiting the productivity of crops. However this success is currently questioning the sustainability of our agricultural production and food systems. For taking into account the goals of environment and biodiversity, research abandoned some of its founding paradigms and acquired new knowledge concerning the functioning of the ecosystems. Without a structured research and development activity, integrating actors and stakeholders of agricultural and food production systems “knowledge for understanding” will be largely insufficient to answer to the multifunctional challenges that agriculture has to face. Their efficiency will depend upon a synergistic coupling with ’knowledge for action » within transdisciplinary research programs devoted to « agri-environmental engineering’’.

PATH DEPENDENCE, ПОЛИТИКА ВРЕМЕНИ И МЕТАМОРФОЗЫ ИСТОРИИ

Path dependence, used in social sciences to model phenomena of various natures, provides an opportunity to reflect on how knowledge about the past works. In the new millennium, the ethos of history and its role in the lives of people occupy a large place in transdisciplinary research programs and discussions, in which not only historians, but also philosophers and representatives of all sciences, without exception, participate. It is connected with rethinking the conceptual foundations of historical knowledge and the formation of a new historical culture. The article discuss- Path dependence … 15 es modern controversial trends in the epistemology of historiography related to the problems of historical dynamics and such basic concepts for historical knowledge as historicity, historical time, and the politics of time. Analysis of avant-garde trends in intellectual culture allows us to show how changes occur in the understanding and production of the historical. In the context of a rapidly changing world and a radical renewal of temporal experience, the discovery of the politics of time, the rethinking of historicity, and the search for high-quality historical time clarify the specifics of modern historical research, which is born at the intersection of theory and practice. Culture affirms the idea of the performative role of history and historians in our time. Historians do not just study the past; they participate in forming historicity and the temporal regime in which they live, helping people analyze life situations, make decisions, form the rules of communication, and create "institutions" as basic cultural structures that determine life in the present and allow them to find resources for thinking about the future.

Long-term construction of vineyard landscapes in the Ebro Valley: The deserted village of Torrentejo (Basque Country, Spain)

Cultural landscapes are the result of human societies interacting with their environment, which is reflected in the onset and evolution of social practices such as settlement and agricultural production. This paper discusses the results of a transdisciplinary research program carried out on the vineyard landscape of the Rioja Alavesa district, one of the main wine-producing regions of Spain, focusing on the deserted village of Torrentejo (Basque Country, Spain). The study of archival records, combined with extensive archaeological survey and excavation, as well as the intensive analysis of geoarchaeological core samples, permitted the reconstruction of a long sequence of human settlement and agricultural practices extending over ~4000 years. The oldest documented records refer to a Chalcolithic occupation, developed on a buried gypsisol and possibly related to the climatic event at 4.2 ka BP. After a long hiatus, four phases of landscape transformation were documented above this Chalcolithic occupation: (1) the formation of a nucleated village in the Early Middle Ages, represented by the construction of a terraced agricultural landscape, and its passage under the control of different seigneurial powers over the High Middle Ages; (2) the abandonment of the village during the Late Middle Ages and the subsequent concentration of settlement in the charted town of Bastida; (3) a complete reorganisation and expansion of the local terraced systems in the 18th–19th centuries, in a context of specialisation and commercialisation of agricultural production; and (4) present-day mechanisation and capitalisation. These results therefore offer an interesting overview on the complexity and diversity of the historical trends that lie beneath the vineyard landscape of Torrentejo, proving the value of interdisciplinary research approaches for the investigation of the role of human settlement and agriculture in the formation and evolution of agricultural landscapes.

L’image, angle mort des politiques de santé

ContextThe use of information and communication technologies (ICT) seems to be correlated with health problems. Health policies continue to ignore this relationship, particularly with regards to adults. The increasing and invasive flow of images through screens is described by the author as an iconodictatorship leading to permanent, perverse, and sub-traumatic hyperstimulations. This seems to overload the psyche's containing and protective capacities while making the subject suffer in a way that is often undetected by public-health markers. All of this is linked to a new social norm, built in an unprecedented way by the hybridization of humans and machines (artificial intelligence). ObjectiveFocused on the concept of the image as the primary medium of intervention on representations, or even non-representations, this work aims to revisit and articulate a series of theories from a transdisciplinary perspective. These theories can, in turn, help decipher the mechanisms and effects of the digital image on individuals, defending the hypothesis that the digital subject is exposed, in the current digital ecosystem, to psychopathological consequences which require adapted health policies. MethodUsing a qualitative approach, the author calls upon theoretical concepts from various fields: psychoanalysis (scopic drive, visual envelope of the ego, trauma, acting out, and perversion), epidemiology (depression, anxiety, and risk of suicide linked to smartphone and Internet use), visual studies (postimage), neuroscience (vision, digital reading, and attention). The concepts studied are articulated with the unconscious of the digital subject. ResultsThe theoretical perspectives studied here tend to confirm the hypothesis concerning the damaging effects of digital hyperstimulation via images. Twenge (2017), in particular, underscores the tsunami of psychiatric disorders caused by the use of smartphones among the adolescent population. The work emphasizes several key issues including: the pre-eminence of vision on other sensory modalities; the decrease in attentional abilities and in reading activities that call upon critical cognitive capacities; the tendency towards subject-object hybridization; the effects of deep learning on the notion of representation; algorithms’ effects on subjectivity; the visual foundation of the unconscious; the potential disturbances of the protective shield and of the psychic screens by an excessive stimulation produced by digital screens; and the development of addictive behaviors. ConclusionsThe ubiquitous ego seems at risk of desubjectivation; and the activated repetition compulsions suggest that infra-traumas, which are not identified as such by health authorities, are at work. Since representations have become programmable through incessant interactions with ICT, we must also address the construction of a techno-social unconscious and its effects on the balance of societies. Images thus seem responsible for a permanent parasitism of the individual's foundations and risk generating mutations in the subject that cannot be apprehended solely according to the traditional psychoanalytic perspective. The introduction of health policies focused specifically on the use of images is impeded by various factors. Transdisciplinary research programs, information campaigns, and educational actions are proposed as concrete responses to the digital tsunami.

Collaboration between Heterogeneous Practitioners in Sustainability Research: A Comparative Analysis of Three Transdisciplinary Programmes

There is wide agreement about the importance of transdisciplinary research to address complex sustainability issues. Although there is a growing body of literature about the management of transdisciplinary research programmes as well as the challenges relating to the collaboration between academic researchers and practitioners, empirical research has to date paid little attention to the challenges related to the variation of practitioners involved in these programmes. This paper presents a comparative analysis of three transdisciplinary programmes addressing climate change and sustainability and identifies factors that contribute to fruitful collaboration between heterogeneous practitioners. Contrary to what could be expected from the literature, differences between the practitioners involved have only created significant issues in one of the programmes, and this programme has developed a way to cope with this difficulty. Effective strategies to avoid and limit tensions among practitioners include a focus on bilateral collaborations, the careful selection of programme participants, and the appointment of dedicated project monitors who are responsible for social learning processes.