Characteristics, potentials, and challenges of transdisciplinary research

Abstract

Resolving the grand challenges and wicked problems of the Anthropocene will require skillfully combining a broad range of knowledge and understandings-both scientific and non-scientific-of Earth systems and human societies. One approach to this is transdisciplinary research, which has gained considerable interest over the last few decades, resulting in an extensive body of literature about transdisciplinarity. However, this has in turn led to the challenge that developing a good understanding of transdisciplinary research can require extensive effort. Here we provide a focused overview and perspective for disciplinary and interdisciplinary researchers who are interested in efficiently obtaining a solid understanding of transdisciplinarity. We describe definitions, characteristics, schools of thought, and an exemplary three-phase model of transdisciplinary research. We also discuss three key challenges that transdisciplinary research faces in the context of addressing the broader challenges of the Anthropocene, and we consider approaches to dealing with these specific challenges, based especially on our experiences with building up transdisciplinary research projects at the Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies. ll

Transdisciplinary Communities of Practice to Resolve Health Problems in Southeast Asian Artisanal and Small-Scale Gold Mining Communities

“…These problems are defined as wicked problems due to the multifaceted, complicated, and interrelated nature of the challenges; thus, transdisciplinary (TD) rather than monodisciplinary approaches are needed that involve TDR for which interdisciplinary researchers work together with stakeholders to develop new knowledge to tackle the above-mentioned ASGM issues. Recent research has emphasized the value of interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary methods to advance scientific knowledge and solve important societal issues [70][71][72][73]. The term TDR initially appeared in the 1970s [74,75] and has various definitions.…”

Research-Practice-Collaborations Addressing One Health and Urban Transformation. A Case Study

“…The following sub-section describes the RPC process underlying the following three components, (1) problem identification and structuring, (2) problem analysis, and (3) implementation, and application (Jahn et al 2012 ; Lawrence et al 2022 ).…”

Transdisciplinarity as a way of being: A new perspective on personal engagement for sustainability transformations

“…), as described by Pereira et al [12] in the particularly stimulating context of T-Labs (transformation Laboratories). Two important challenges for TD practitioners have been identified [6]: 1) How to involve non-academic stakeholders in the process of knowledge production; 2) How to deal with normativity and bias, as researchers are themselves societal stakeholders (whose stakes are more or less high depending on projects). Now, a thought experiment: What happens if a TD process would focus not on a local community as usual, but on the whole Planet Earth as a case study, and if the problem to be solved was the whole sustainability crisis, the future of Humanity?…”

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Since its inception in the seventies, transdisciplinarity (TD) has evolved in different streams and approaches [1], [2], [3]. Particularly, a common classification distinguishes two types: 1) "Theoretical" TD, led by the work of Nicolescu [4]; 2) "Practical" TD, which corresponds to the "Zürich school" [5], [6]. Although this classification has been very useful to date in many ways [7], the TD research field has matured in such a way that it is now time to move beyond.

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