What is Transdisciplinarity?
Put simply
Transdisciplinary research puts academics from a number of fields and significant stakeholders together to try to come up with acceptable solutions to problems. For more information see: types of disciplinary approaches.
Complex problems
The world is beset by complex problems. Many authors feel that transdisciplinarity is a potential solution (Harris and Lyon, 2013; Cynthia Mitchell et al., 2015; Nogueira et al., 2021) but history may have created structures and mindsets that may not necessarily be the best for running successful transdisciplinary projects (Trowler, 2014).
Sustainable development goals and wicked problems
There is an urgent need to solve at least some of the ‘wicked’ problems that we face today. Amongst these problems are many, if not all, of the United Nations sustainable development goals (“THE 17 GOALS”, n.d.). One of the main aims of transdisciplinary research is to address these problems.
Rittel and Webber (1973) describe wicked problems as:
• having no definitive formulation and no stopping rule
• having no true or false solutions
• having no immediate or ultimate test of a solution
• every solution is a one-shot operation with no opportunity to learn by trial and error
• being essentially unique with no enumerable set of solutions
• being symptomatic of another problem; and having multiple potential causes.
‘Sustainable development goals …. are becoming increasingly difficult to tackle head-on by a single research field, which is deeply specialized and subdivided based on historical academic and scholastic systems. (Beyond Disciplines, 2018)’
A definition
‘Transdisciplinary research is defined as research which promotes collaboration between academic research and practice, between different disciplines, and between different types of organisations. This is achieved by crossing the boundaries between different disciplines, and through engagement with different types of knowledge: scientific knowledge, lay knowledge and practitioners’ experience. Transdisciplinarity engages with a wide group of stakeholders; listening to the public voice as well as engaging with policy makers. Participants become co-creators of knowledge.’(Harris and Lyon, 2014).
One simplified example
To demonstrate the necessity of effective transdisciplinary research we might consider one isolated issue:Carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere.
One way CO2 is produced is by burning fossil fuels so if we stop burning fossil fuels then this problem could be reduced, however this would have serious impacts on energy production, economic growth, life styles, jobs etc..
Another approach is to take it out of the atmosphere, as is currently being explored by many research activities, however these will require energy and potentially the fabrication of specialist machinery (which consumes energy and natural resources).
Converting cars from diesel and petrol to electricity might help but this will require the production of new cars (energy/raw materials), power points for recharging (where does the electricity come from?), significant infrastructure spending etc.. Lithium is needed for batteries which has lead to massive increases in Lithium mining and refining (energy/pollution/water utilisation).
Conventional academic research is unable to answer these types of problems because they are highly complex and have many interactions. They are essentially socio-economic/technical/political problems. Conventional research does not engage stakeholders in the research (politicians/general public/funding bodies etc.). That is not to say that conventional approaches are not useful, they are and are probably necessary. Transdisciplinary research attempts to answer the big problem by engaging with stakeholders and attempting to come up with novel and acceptable solutions.
Posts on the blog
The blog contains posts on a variety of aspects of transdisciplinary research.
References
Beyond Disciplines－JST/CRDS focuses on 12 transdisciplinary research themes (2018)－／CRDS-FY2018-RR-02_EN｜Publications｜Center for Research and Development Strategy [WWW Document], n.d. URL https://www.jst.go.jp/crds/en/publications/CRDS-FY2018-RR-02_EN.html (accessed 5.21.22).
Harris, F., Lyon, F., 2014. Transdisciplinary environmental research: a review of approaches to knowledge co-production. Nexus Netw. Think Piece Ser. Pap. 2.
Harris, F., Lyon, F., 2013. Transdisciplinary environmental research: Building trust across professional cultures. Environ. Sci. Policy 31, 109–119. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envsci.2013.02.006
Mitchell, C., Cordell, D., Fam, D., 2015. Beginning at the end: The outcome spaces framework to guide purposive transdisciplinary research. Futures 65, 86–96. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.futures.2014.10.007
Nogueira, L.A., Bjørkan, M., Dale, B., 2021. Conducting Research in a Post-normal Paradigm: Practical Guidance for Applying Co-production of Knowledge. Front. Environ. Sci. 9, 699397. https://doi.org/10.3389/fenvs.2021.699397
Rittel, H.W.J., Webber, M.M., 1973. Dilemmas in a general theory of planning. Policy Sci. 4, 155–169. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01405730
THE 17 GOALS | Sustainable Development [WWW Document], n.d. URL https://sdgs.un.org/goals (accessed 4.24.22).
Trowler, P., 2014. Academic tribes and territories: The theoretical trajectory. Osterreichische Z. Geschichtswissenschaften 25, 17–26.