Transdisciplinary methods and T-Labs as transformative spaces for innovation in social-ecological systems

Pereira, Laura; Olsson, Per; Charli-Joseph, Lakshmi; Zgambo, Olive; Oxley, Nathan; Zwanenberg, Patrick van; Siqueiros-García, J. Mario; Ely, Adrian

doi:10.4324/9780429331930-6

Cited by 7 publications

(6 citation statements)

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“…In this case we held 1-day workshops that had three main components: (a) allowing participants, including "agents of change" or stakeholders in the systems that have the ability to change the system, to "see" the system in which the problem has arisen, (b) to identify the criteria for an innovation in the context of this problem domain, and (c) to identify points of leverage. The third is Taking Action after the T-Lab (Step 3), with the writing up of strategies identified in each case study (including how they will be implemented, and by whom), the implementation of strategies by change-makers, and the evaluation of impact across scales in the system (Pereira et al, 2021). The integration of T-Labs and CVM allowed for films to be a prominent feature of the workshop, and to add the transformative dimension more explicitly into the overall methodological design.…”

Section: Films and Transformation Labsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Advancing Food System Transformation and Addressing Conflicts Through Transdisciplinary Methodologies: Strengths and Limitations of the Community Voice Method, T-Labs, Film-Making and the Miracle Question

Calla

Lécuyer

Skrimizea

et al. 2022

Front. Sustain. Food Syst.

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Food systems are changing through various socioeconomic and policy processes. For example, in France, following concerns over the effects of pesticides on ecosystems and health, the French government launched the “Ecophyto II+” plan in 2019 that aims for a 50% reduction in the use of pesticides by 2025. This top-down food system transformation is leading to conflicts between stakeholders over how to enact such a policy, and its implications for farmers and their practices. By adopting a transdisciplinary research approach, we explore conflicts linked to food system transformations in the context of three case studies in France. The case studies revolve around conflicts over pesticide use and reduction in three agricultural settings in Bourgogne Franche-Comté, namely (a) water management near Auxerre, (b) apiculture-agriculture relations in the Jura, and (c) viticulture-local resident relationships near Macon. We use four innovative transdisciplinary techniques to integrate inclusively the viewpoints of diverse stakeholders with the aim of generating actionable responses to transform food systems. First, the Community Voice Method (CVM) includes filmed semi-structured interviews and integrates a number of opportunities for participation and successive rounds of data analysis. Second, the interviewees were asked a “miracle question” that encouraged them to step back from conflicts and practices toward their ideal vision of agriculture and food systems. Third, the CVM resulted in the production of four films that relate the visions and perception of each case study interviewees in their own words and in their own setting. Finally, Transformation Labs (T-Labs) conveyed the main results of the CVM knowledge synthesis through the films produced and opened a dialogue toward the development of solutions. We review the four techniques, how they were implemented in the three case studies, and with which outcomes. Thus the aim of this paper is to offer reflections and lessons learnt from different transdisciplinary processes as a means of strengthening their application in other contexts. We argue that such methodologies, whilst resource-consuming, are essential to fully understand the complexity of food system transformations from the often-conflictual perspectives and competing knowledge claims of the multiple actors involved. In addition, we highlight the role of these techniques in building long-term trust between researchers and other stakeholders, and the benefits in terms of opening up dialogue and developing long-term solutions, as determined by the stakeholders themselves.

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Section: Films and Transformation Labsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Advancing Food System Transformation and Addressing Conflicts Through Transdisciplinary Methodologies: Strengths and Limitations of the Community Voice Method, T-Labs, Film-Making and the Miracle Question

Calla

Lécuyer

Skrimizea

et al. 2022

Front. Sustain. Food Syst.

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“…The transformation aspect of the projects meant that the experimentation aimed to: explore the diverse framings around a challenge, find change-makers and strengthen their individual and joint capacities to more effectively address the challenge; develop change strategies that test multiple solutions which could help to solve the challenge; and create early prototypes of interventions (i.e., new forms of governance, new type of practices, etc.) to build momentum for action (Pereira et al, 2021 ).…”

Section: Exploring Agency Through a T-labmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sense of Agency, Affectivity and Social-Ecological Degradation: An Enactive and Phenomenological Approach

Siqueiros-García

Manuel-Navarrete²,

Eakin³

et al. 2022

Front. Psychol.

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In the last few years, there has been an interest in understanding the impact of environmental change and degradation on people's affective life. This issue has become particularly pressing for populations whose form of life is heavily dependent on ecosystem services and functions and whose opportunities for adaptation are limited. Based on our work with farmers from the Xochimilco urban wetland in the southwest of Mexico City, we begin to draw a theoretical approach to address and explain how environmental degradation impacts people's affective life and sense of agency. Farmers who were part of our project referred to a sense of despair and helplessness toward the loss of the ecosystem and their traditional farming-based form of life. From the perspective of phenomenology, enactivism and ecological psychology, we argue that the loss of this form of life in the area is related to the degradation of socio-ecological systems, limiting the opportunities for people to relate meaningfully to others and the environment. We posit that losing meaningful interaction with the environment generates a feeling of loss of control while leading farmers to feel frustrated, anxious and stressed. Such affective conditions have a direct impact on their sense of agency. In terms of adaptation, the negative interaction between degradation, affective states and a diminished sense of agency can create a downward spiral of vulnerability, including political vulnerability.

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“…. ), 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).…”

Section: Cyrille Rigolotmentioning

confidence: 99%

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

Rigolot

2022

tjes

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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. Firstly, there are today many transdisciplinary approaches that do not fit so well with this Western centric typology, such as the idea of "Indigeneous TD" [8]. Second, I have suggested that it might be more fruitful now to reframe the debate, by considering TD as a discipline by itself and/or a "way of being" in tension [9]. As a discipline, TD corresponds to specific skills, methods, and theories for knowledge integration and implementation within the scope of problem-solving research projects [10]. When TD is instead considered as a way of being, by contrast, it extends far beyond the scope of research projects and can manifest ubiquitously in the researcher's life. In both cases, social engagement can be intense and practical outcomes tangible; there are also important overlaps between the two, particularly in terms of researchers' skills and attitude [9]. However, whereas TD as a discipline is rather a means by which scientists contribute to problem-solving, TD as a "way of being" can also be seen as a solution that must be enhanced in society at large [9]. The aim of this short Letter is to explore further, in other words, the implications for sustainability transformations of being transdisciplinary, in contrast to practicing transdisciplinarity (as a discipline). I will start by briefly describing the second (the discipline), and show that it reaches some limits when it becomes either very global or very personal. This will be useful to further explore the TD way of being in a second time, with a focus on its implications for personal engagement in sustainability transformations.Practicing transdisciplinarity (as a discipline) is typically an activity performed by professional academic researchers, in the context of research projects with stakeholders. The aim is to solve complex problems, generally at a local scale, and the TD process by itself lasts for a given period of time (corresponding

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Transdisciplinary methods and T-Labs as transformative spaces for innovation in social-ecological systems

Cited by 7 publications

References 0 publications

Advancing Food System Transformation and Addressing Conflicts Through Transdisciplinary Methodologies: Strengths and Limitations of the Community Voice Method, T-Labs, Film-Making and the Miracle Question

Advancing Food System Transformation and Addressing Conflicts Through Transdisciplinary Methodologies: Strengths and Limitations of the Community Voice Method, T-Labs, Film-Making and the Miracle Question

Sense of Agency, Affectivity and Social-Ecological Degradation: An Enactive and Phenomenological Approach

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

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