Implications of transdisciplinarity for sustainability research
TL;DR: In this article, it is shown that sustainability research for sustainable development has to be issue oriented and reflect the diversity, complexity and dynamics of the processes involved as well as their variability between specific problem situations.
About: This article is published in Ecological Economics.The article was published on 2006-11-01. It has received 590 citations till now. The article focuses on the topics: Transdisciplinarity & Sustainable development.
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TL;DR: In this paper, a conceptual model of an ideal-typical transdisciplinary research process is synthesized and structures such a set of principles from various strands of the literature and empirical experiences, looking at challenges and coping strategies as experienced in transdisciplinary sustainability projects in Europe, North America, South America, Africa, and Asia.
Abstract: There is emerging agreement that sustainability challenges require new ways of knowledge production and decision-making. One key aspect of sustainability science, therefore, is the involvement of actors from outside academia into the research process in order to integrate the best available knowledge, reconcile values and preferences, as well as create ownership for problems and solution options. Transdisciplinary, community-based, interactive, or participatory research approaches are often suggested as appropriate means to meet both the requirements posed by real-world problems as well as the goals of sustainability science as a transformational scientific field. Dispersed literature on these approaches and a variety of empirical projects applying them make it difficult for interested researchers and practitioners to review and become familiar with key components and design principles of how to do transdisciplinary sustainability research. Starting from a conceptual model of an ideal–typical transdisciplinary research process, this article synthesizes and structures such a set of principles from various strands of the literature and empirical experiences. We then elaborate on them, looking at challenges and some coping strategies as experienced in transdisciplinary sustainability projects in Europe, North America, South America, Africa, and Asia. The article concludes with future research needed in order to further enhance the practice of transdisciplinary sustainability research.
1,927 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors present a broad literature review of key competencies in sustainability research and problem-solving competence and address critical gaps in the conceptualization of sustainability in higher education.
Abstract: The emerging academic field focused on sustainability has been engaged in a rich and converging debate to define what key competencies are considered critical for graduating students to possess. For more than a decade, sustainability courses have been developed and taught in higher education, yet comprehensive academic programs in sustainability, on the undergraduate and graduate level, have emerged only over the last few years. Considering this recent institutional momentum, the time is seemingly right to synthesize the discussion about key competencies in sustainability in order to support these relatively young academic programs in shaping their profiles and achieving their ambitious missions. This article presents the results of a broad literature review. The review identifies the relevant literature on key competencies in sustainability; synthesizes the substantive contributions in a coherent framework of sustainability research and problem-solving competence; and addresses critical gaps in the conceptualization of key competencies in sustainability. Insights from this study lay the groundwork for institutional advancements in designing and revising academic programs; teaching and learning evaluations; as well as hiring and training faculty and staff.
1,611 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors propose three laws of transdisciplinarity, namely, Levels of Reality, Axiom of the Included Middle, and Complexity, for higher education.
837 citations
TL;DR: The field of sustainability transitions research has emerged in the past two decades in the context of a growing scientific and public interest in large-scale societal transformation toward sustainability as discussed by the authors, which has led three different types of approaches to dealing with agency in transitions: analytical, evaluative, and experimental.
Abstract: The article describes the field of sustainability transitions research, which emerged in the past two decades in the context of a growing scientific and public interest in large-scale societal transformation toward sustainability. We describe how different scientific approaches and methodological positions explore diverse types of transitions and provide the basis for multiple theories and models for governance of sustainability transitions. We distinguish three perspectives in studying transitions: socio-technical, socio-institutional, and socio-ecological. Although the field as a whole is very heterogeneous, commonalities can be characterized in notions such as path dependencies, regimes, niches, experiments, and governance. These more generic concepts have been adopted within the analytical perspective of transitions, which has led three different types of approaches to dealing with agency in transitions: analytical, evaluative, and experimental. The field has by now produced a broad theoretical and em...
667 citations
Cites background from "Implications of transdisciplinarity..."
...It has added to the development of inter- and transdisciplinarity in academia and is at the forefront of what is now increasingly referred to as transformative science (158, 159)....
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TL;DR: In this paper, the authors analyze the relationship between scientific integration and transdisciplinarity, discuss the dimensions of integration of different knowledge and propose a platform and a paradigm for research towards global sustainability that will be both designed and conducted in partnership between science and society.
661 citations
Cites result from "Implications of transdisciplinarity..."
...[10] for instance distinguish between basic...
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...This follows the view of several other authors, for example [10,25,36 ,37,44]....
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References
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Book•
01 Jan 1962
TL;DR: The Structure of Scientific Revolutions as discussed by the authors is a seminal work in the history of science and philosophy of science, and it has been widely cited as a major source of inspiration for the present generation of scientists.
Abstract: A good book may have the power to change the way we see the world, but a great book actually becomes part of our daily consciousness, pervading our thinking to the point that we take it for granted, and we forget how provocative and challenging its ideas once were-and still are. "The Structure of Scientific Revolutions" is that kind of book. When it was first published in 1962, it was a landmark event in the history and philosophy of science. And fifty years later, it still has many lessons to teach. With "The Structure of Scientific Revolutions", Kuhn challenged long-standing linear notions of scientific progress, arguing that transformative ideas don't arise from the day-to-day, gradual process of experimentation and data accumulation, but that revolutions in science, those breakthrough moments that disrupt accepted thinking and offer unanticipated ideas, occur outside of "normal science," as he called it. Though Kuhn was writing when physics ruled the sciences, his ideas on how scientific revolutions bring order to the anomalies that amass over time in research experiments are still instructive in our biotech age. This new edition of Kuhn's essential work in the history of science includes an insightful introductory essay by Ian Hacking that clarifies terms popularized by Kuhn, including paradigm and incommensurability, and applies Kuhn's ideas to the science of today. Usefully keyed to the separate sections of the book, Hacking's essay provides important background information as well as a contemporary context. Newly designed, with an expanded index, this edition will be eagerly welcomed by the next generation of readers seeking to understand the history of our perspectives on science.
36,808 citations
"Implications of transdisciplinarity..." refers background in this paper
...Interdisciplinarity is a major driving force in scientific innovation that can lead to a restructuring of the landscape of disciplines by a paradigm shift within disciplines or by the emergence of new disciplines (Kuhn, 1962)....
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34,393 citations
Book•
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01 Jan 1972
TL;DR: In this article, the authors investigate five major trends of global concern: accelerating industrialization, rapid population growth, widespread malnutrition, depletion of nonrenewable resources, and a deteriorating environment.
Abstract: Every person approaches problems with the help of models. A model is simply an ordered set of assumptions about a complex system. Our world model was built specifically to investigate five major trends of global concern—accelerating industrialization, rapid population growth, widespread malnutrition, depletion of nonrenewable resources, and a deteriorating environment. It is possible to alter the growth trends and to establish a condition of ecological and economic stability that is sustainable far into the future. The state of global equilibrium could be designed so that the basic material needs of each person on earth are satisfied and each person has an equal opportunity to realize his individual human potential. Although the history of human effort contains numerous incidents of mankind's failure to live within physical limits, it is success in overcoming limits that forms the cultural tradition of many dominant people in today's world.
5,312 citations
"Implications of transdisciplinarity..." refers background in this paper
...…and social sciences for describing and analyzing the risks that global change poses to life-support systems as a result of the manifold and poorly understood negative side-effects related to the increasing use of natural resources and to population growth (Forrester, 1961; Meadows et al., 1972)....
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TL;DR: In this article, a new type of science called post-normal science is proposed to cope with many uncertainties in policy issues of risk and the environment, which can provide a path to the democratization of science, and also a response to the current tendencies to post-modernity.
3,306 citations
Additional excerpts
...(Funtowicz and Ravetz, 1993, p. 744)....
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...(Funtowicz and Ravetz, 1993, p. 740)....
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