Defining transdisciplinarity toward collabora4ve socio-ecological - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Defining transdisciplinarity toward collabora4ve socio-ecological research

Jen Holzer Socio-Ecological Research Group Faculty of Architecture and Town Planning Technion - IIT 13 April 2016

1

Coining ‘transdisciplinarity’

We are not students of some subject ma1er, but students of problems. And problems may cut right across the borders of any subject ma1er or discipline.

• Karl Popper, 1963

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Early Defini4ons

1970 OECD Conference, Nice, France “Interdisciplinarity - Teaching and Research Problems in UniversiSes”

3

Jean Piaget “a superior stage” -- research that produces knowledge without regard for disciplines Eric Jantsch SystemaSc coordinaSon of research, innovaSon, and educaSon André Lichnerowicz Only a mathemaScal approach can describe a phenomenon across disciplines

(Rosenfield 2013; Nicolescu 2005)

Rosenfield’s Dis4nc4ons

MulSdisciplinarity

Researchers work in parallel

• r sequenSally from

disciplinary-specific base to address common problem

Interdisciplinarity

Researchers work jointly but sSll from disciplinary-specific basis to address common problem

Transdisciplinarity

Researchers work jointly using shared conceptual framework drawing together disciplinary-specific theories, concepts, and approaches to address common problem

(Rosenfield 1992) 4

5 (Jahn 2012; Gibbons et al. 1994; Funtowicz & Ravetz 1993; )

Mode 2 / Post-normal science

• Complex problems
• CooperaSon
• Mutual learning
• IntegraSon
• A research approach
• Research for sustainable

development requires transdisciplinary research

Four Trendlines

The search for unity Contemporary version of the historical quest for the integraSon of knowledge Crossing lines in cultural studies ‘Transgressive’ transdisciplinarity as applied to cultural studies that challenge accepted ideas about class, race, gender, and ethnicity Overarching syntheSc paradigms Conceptual frameworks that transcend the scope of disciplinary worldviews, such as general systems, Marxism, sociobiology, and policy sciences Trans-sector problem-solving Real-world problems frame research quesSons and pracSces, not the disciplines

6 (Klein 2010)

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Defining transdisciplinarity for socio-ecological research

Trendline 4: Trans-sector problem- solving transdisciplinarity

An approach to societal problem-solving

that coordinates a variety of scien>fic and non-scien>fic actors,

including stakeholders, to integrate diverse types of knowledge,

consider risks and consequences of possible solu>ons,

and generate prac>cal solu>ons that may be implemented.

8

Long-Term Socio-Ecological Research (LTSER)

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Har HaNegev LTSER PlaJorm

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• Plahorm helps parScipants conceptualize their work

in common

• Common goal: collect mulS-disciplinary, long-term

data to miSgate floods and soil erosion while promoSng stakeholders’ socio-economic well-being

• Steering commijee and professional researchers

lead data collecSon

• Mapping: Land use, floods and landslides,

hydrology, geomorphology, interests and issues

“You can’t manage what you can’t measure”

What exists:

• Program assessment
• Environmental assessment (e.g. EIA, SEA, ESA)
• Assessment of management of protected areas
• InsStuSonal decisions – what to fund

What’s new:

• Assessment of trans-sector problem solving

research, based on its stated goals

11

Key characteris4cs for evalua4on

• Products and process both important
• Flexibility
• Reflexivity
• ParScipaSon
• IntegraSon
• Project structure and communicaSon
• Teamwork and management

12 (Pohl et al. 2011; Klein 2008; Spaapen et al. 2007)

Developing an evalua4on approach

• Mixed methods, in three stages

– In-depth interviews – Large-N survey – Focus groups

• Are they really doing transdisciplinary research?
• How integrated is it?
• What are their achievements and challenges?
• Can changes in policy & management be linked

to their work?

13

“Europe's future hinges on funding transdisciplinary scien>fic collabora>on.”

• Vasbinder et al. 2010, Nature (lejer)

14

Thank you

15

References

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References

Slide 1 – Background photo, taken from Kibbutz Ketura, Israel, by Jen Holzer Slide 2- Popper, K.R. Conjectures and RefutaSons: The Growth of ScienSfic Knowledge. New York: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1963, p.88. Found in: NaSonal Research Council. Slide 3 – Photos: Piaget photo from hjp://childpsych.umwblogs.org/developmental-theories/jean-piaget/. Jantsch photo from hjps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erich_Jantsch. Lichnerowicz photo from hjp://www.ams.org/noSces/200902/rtx090200244p.pdf Klein, J. T. (2013). The Transdisciplinary Moment ( um ) From Disciplinarity to Interdisciplinarity, 9(2). Nicolescu, B. (2005). Transdisciplinarity - Past , Present and Future, (Ii), 1–24. Slide 4 - Rosenfield, P. L. (1992). The potenSal of transdisciplinary research for sustaining and extending linkages between the health and social sciences. Social Science and Medicine, 35(11), 1343–1357. doi:10.1016/0277-9536(92)90038-R Slide 5 - Jahn, T., Bergmann, M., & Keil, F. (2012). Transdisciplinarity: Between mainstreaming and marginalizaSon. Ecological Economics, 79, 1–10. doi:10.1016/j.ecolecon.2012.04.017 Slide 6 - Klein, J. T. (2010). A taxonomy of interdisciplinarity. The Oxford Handbook of Interdisciplinarity, 15–30. Retrieved from hjp://www.oup.com/us/catalog/general/subject/GeneralScience/?view=usa&ci=9780199236916 Slide 7 - hjp://www.lter-europe.net/document-archive/image-gallery/albums/map-and-diagrams/plahormbasic.jpg/view Vasbinder, J. W., Andersson, B., Arthur, W. B., Boasson, M., de Boer, R., Changeux, J. P., … Willems, R. (2010). Transdisciplinary EU science insStute needs funds urgently. Nature, 463(7283), 876. doi:10.1038/463876a Slide 8 - Noa Avriel Avni, personal communicaSon. See also: hjp://www.secs.org.il/. English-language website in development. Slide 9 - Klein, J. T. (2008). EvaluaSon of Interdisciplinary and Transdisciplinary Research. A Literature Review. American Journal

• f Preven>ve Medicine, 35(2 SUPPL.), 116–123. doi:10.1016/j.amepre.2008.05.010.

Slide 11 - Vasbinder, J. W., Andersson, B., Arthur, W. B., Boasson, M., de Boer, R., Changeux, J. P., … Willems, R. (2010). Transdisciplinary EU science insStute needs funds urgently. Nature, 463(7283), 876. doi:10.1038/463876a; Photo courtesy pf Noa Avner-Avrieli. Slide 12 - Photo courtesy of Noa Avner-Avrieli.