Transdisciplinary research: characteristics, quandaries and quality

Wickson, Fern; Carew, Anna L.; Russell, A. Wendy

doi:10.1016/j.futures.2006.02.011

Cited by 450 publications

(400 citation statements)

References 12 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

351

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…While a theoretical consideration of sustainability issues helps to raise awareness, practical student projects in collaboration with regional stakeholders can have a direct impact on the regional transition path. Moreover, new study programmes might be initiated which have their inception in specific regional sustainability challenges and which enable the combination of existing disciplinary contents in order to deal with complex sustainability challenges (Wickson et al 2006). Teaching activities can be seen as an important driver of longterm institutional change in the region, as graduates and their awareness for sustainability represent a multiplier and possess the capacity to deal with such complex challenges.…”

Section: Contribution Of Heis Via Different Channelsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Sustainable transdisciplinary research differs from multi-and interdisciplinary approaches through its strong problem focus, evolving methodologies that are tailored to the specific problem under investigation and collaborative knowledge generation between researchers and stakeholders-not only in the problem solution phase but already in the stage of problem definition (Radinger-Peer et al 2015;Wickson et al 2006). Compared to co-research and cooperative research projects, all project members work together on all aspects of the project and not in parallel on different aspects, which are then synthesized at the end (Hord 1986).…”

Section: Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

The role of higher education institutions in regional transition paths towards sustainability

Radinger-Peer

Pflitsch

2017

Rev Reg Res

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The present paper investigates the role of the located Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in the transformation towards sustainability of the city of Linz as well as the region of Upper Austria. We argue that HEIs have the potential to spur a regional transition towards sustainability via the channels of teaching, research and outreach. We furthermore take into account that organisational-and field-level drivers influence the role of HEIs within the regional transition paths towards sustainability (RTPS). We chose an explorative research design in order to give a realistic picture of the potentials and limitations of HEIs' involvement in regional transitions to sustainability. The role of the five HEIs located in the city of Linz is studied through in-depth expert interviews and a comprehensive document analysis. The investigation reveals that there is no contribution of HEIs as a whole to RTPS, but that the impact is dependent on individual highly engaged "frontrunners" enacting change and at the same time on leadership from the university management. Moreover, regulative drivers at the field-level and normative as well as cognitive drivers at the organisational-level affect HEIs' contribution.

show abstract

Section: Contribution Of Heis Via Different Channelsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

The role of higher education institutions in regional transition paths towards sustainability

Radinger-Peer

Pflitsch

2017

Rev Reg Res

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Transdisciplinary research is currently emerging in the research landscape as an approach that focuses on a problem that is, as described by Wickson et al (2006Wickson et al ( , p. 1048, 'in the world and actual' as opposed to 'in my head and conceptual'." This implicitly assumes the notion of creating change and contributing to solutions, based on the integration of different disciplinary methodologies and, ideally, epistemologies, which involves collaboration with stakeholders and the broader community (Wickson et al, 2006).…”

Section: Building Capacity To Do the Interdisciplinary And Systemsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This implicitly assumes the notion of creating change and contributing to solutions, based on the integration of different disciplinary methodologies and, ideally, epistemologies, which involves collaboration with stakeholders and the broader community (Wickson et al, 2006). According to Wickson et al (2006Wickson et al ( , p. 1053, transdisciplinary research [and thus by definition education] processes emphasize the importance of reflection:…”

Section: Building Capacity To Do the Interdisciplinary And Systemsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Addressing these assumptions can thus serve as an important point of departure for identifying creative and innovative actions for education and capacity building in response to global change (Mezirow, 2000;Wickson et al, 2006). However, revolutionary changes in education and capacity building are unlikely to occur if the task continues to be considered as nothing more than a technical problem, which is defined by Heifetz et al (2009) as one that has known solutions that can be implemented through current know-how.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

You say you want a revolution? Transforming education and capacity building in response to global change

O’Brien

Reams

Caspari³

et al. 2013

Environmental Science & Policy

107

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This paper considers the changes in education and capacity building that are needed in response to environmental and social challenges of the 21 st Century. We argue that such changes will require more than adjustments in current educational systems, research funding strategies, and interdisciplinary collaborations. Instead, it calls for a deeper questioning of the assumptions and beliefs that frame both problems and solutions. We first discuss the challenges of transforming education and capacity building within five key arenas such as interdisciplinary research, the primary, secondary and tertiary education systems, researchers from the developing world, and the public at large and politicians. Our starting point is that any type of revolution that is proposed in response to global change is likely to reflect the educational perspectives and paradigms of those calling for the revolution. We differentiate between a circular revolution (as in the "plan-do-check-act cycle" often used in change management) versus an axial revolution (moving to a different way of thinking about the issues), arguing that the latter is a more appropriate response to the complex transdisciplinary challenges posed by global environmental change. We present some potential tools to promote an axial revolution, and consider the limits to this approach. We conclude that rather than promoting one large and ideologically homogenous revolution in education and capacity building, there is a need for a revolution in the way that leaders working with education and capacity building look at systems and processes of change. From this perspective, transformative learning may not only be desirable, but critical in responding to the challenges posed by global environmental change.

show abstract

Developing and managing transdisciplinary and transformative research on the coastal dynamics of sea level rise: Experiences and lessons learned

et al. 2016

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

There is increasing emphasis from funding agencies on transdisciplinary approaches to integrate science and end-users. However, transdisciplinary research can be laborious and costly and knowledge of effective collaborative processes in these endeavors is incomplete. More guidance grounded in actual project experiences is needed. Thus, this article describes and examines the collaborative process of the Ecological Effects of Sea Level Rise in the Northern Gulf of Mexico transdisciplinary research project, including its development, implementation, and evaluation. Reflections, considerations, and lessons learned from firsthand experience are shared, supported with examples, and connected to relevant scholarly literature.

show abstract

Transdisciplinary research: characteristics, quandaries and quality

Cited by 450 publications

References 12 publications

The role of higher education institutions in regional transition paths towards sustainability

The role of higher education institutions in regional transition paths towards sustainability

You say you want a revolution? Transforming education and capacity building in response to global change

Developing and managing transdisciplinary and transformative research on the coastal dynamics of sea level rise: Experiences and lessons learned

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About