Die Universität als Akteurin der transformativen Wissenschaft: Konsequenzen für die Messung der Qualität transdisziplinärer Forschung

Abstract

Grand challenges, Transformation, third mission: Wissenschaft und Universitäten sind zunehmend gefordert, gesellschaftlichen Wandel verantwortlich und aktiv mitzugestalten. Immer häufiger wird deswegen transdisziplinär geforscht. Doch bislang fehlt eine systematische Beschreibung, Bewertung und Anerkennung dieser wissenschaftlichen Leistungen.Scientific research aimed at transforming society has a normative basis. Here, we will examine the potential of transdisciplinary research methods and what they have to offer in terms of desired transformation. Our observation is that it must be possible to assess the research results from such endeavours with regard to their specific impact. First, we will discuss the difficulties involved in measuring the quality of transdisciplinary research, in particular its social impact. This leads to a broader examination of the meaning of quality in this type of research. Consequently, we advise complementing the existing catalogue of indicators with specific criteria related to the quality of transdisciplinary approaches. An international transdisciplinary research society could potentially serve as an independent body to foster definition and commitment.

It’s a Hit! Mapping Austrian Research Contributions to the Sustainable Development Goals

“…Further, UniNEtZ aims to strengthen the interactions between science, society, and policy. In the sense of a value oriented third mission of universities [27,28], the project finally aims at signposting options for actions to political and societal decision makers regarding the implementation of SDGs in Austria, thus going far beyond a pure, classical assessment report of focus areas of research in the fields of the SDGs. The participating universities take over responsibility for the coordination of research, education, and communication activities on different SDGs.…”

Transfer for Sustainable Development at Higher Education Institutions—Untapped Potential for Education for Sustainable Development and for Societal Transformation

“…Regional economic clusters and innovation systems around universities and research institutions are examples of this definition of transfer [15]. Against this background, Roessler et al [14] characterize transfer as reciprocal relationships in which the activities of universities have a direct impact on society and the economy and vice versa, as trends from the private sector and society are reflected in the university [14] (p. 39).…”

“…The classification and evaluation of the sustainability focus of transfer, understood as a contribution to sustainable development, is a central requirement for defining sustainability transfer and avoiding arbitrary use of the term. However, there are currently no generally recognized and reliable measurement and evaluation methods that can be used to clearly capture the sustainability impact of academic activities and especially of sustainability transfer [39]. This is why we propose three approaches to the issue of sustainability focus.…”

“…The formulation of sustainability goals is a starting point for capturing the effects, because criteria can be derived from the goals to evaluate the success or failure of transfer activities. For this purpose, various approaches are proposed in the literature, e.g., balancing model [1]; result types [41]; impact forms and effectiveness [39]; impact logic as diagram of a causal model [42].…”

Ecologies of Innovation

“…They are not merely technological, but are at core social challenges or at least involve such challenges. To boost their performance, sustainable innovation systems need a multi-criteria-based, forward-looking, formative culture of evaluation rather than indicator-based ex-post assessments (Krainer and Winiwarter, 2016). Sustainable innovation as a multiple niche strategy has to account for socio-ecological inheritance, long-term and side-effects and develop tools for precautionary action.…”