(Gardening) Gardening: A Relational Framework for Complex Thinking About Complex Systems

Complex Systems of Knowledge Integration: A Pragmatic Proposal for Coordinating and Enhancing Inter/Transdisciplinarity

“…There is a growing need for building new pathways towards a future capable of holding more diverse, albeit coordinated and creative ways of producing, applying, transforming and integrating knowledge. Interdisciplinarity and transdisciplinarity may be privileged routes for the production of knowledge that is congruent with the complexity of the world (Caves & Melo 2018). Such congruence is fundamental for an expansion of our possibilities for action in promoting positive and sustainable change in the complex world (Costanza et al 2016;Caves & Melo 2018), and to improve our individual and collective capacity to act upon those possibilities.…”

“…Interdisciplinarity and transdisciplinarity may be privileged routes for the production of knowledge that is congruent with the complexity of the world (Caves & Melo 2018). Such congruence is fundamental for an expansion of our possibilities for action in promoting positive and sustainable change in the complex world (Costanza et al 2016;Caves & Melo 2018), and to improve our individual and collective capacity to act upon those possibilities. However, interdisciplinarity and transdisciplinary are also domains that call not just for more coordinated practice but for a deeper understanding of their underlying processes.…”

“…Additionally, transdisciplinarity should also lead to some degree of perturbation and change, and to transformation in the broader scientific and societal contexts where the practices of knowledge production unfold (Brunn et al 2005;Nowotny et al 2001;Polk 2015). Through their capacity for the emergence of more complex knowledge and practices for coupling with the complex world, inter and transdisciplinarity constitute key resources for the understanding and management of positive change in human-related systems, increasing both our theoretical and pragmatical capacity (Caves & Melo 2018).…”

“…Stokols, et al 2008), but where we wish to place the emphasises on the coupling processes and their role in the emergent outcomes. Based on a previous proposal of a relational metamodel to conceptualise change in complex systems (Caves & Melo 2018), and a subsequent elaboration for particular types of social systems (Melo & Alarcão, in preparation), we present, in Figure 1, a possible representation of a complex systems-informed relational worldview for ITD.…”

Reflections on Methodological Congruence in Systems and Complexity-Informed Research Comment on "What Can Policy-Makers Get Out of Systems Thinking? Policy Partners’ Experiences of a Systems-Focused Research Collaboration in Preventive Health"

“…The main argument in this commentary is that our modes of thinking need to be congruent with the systemic complexity of the world and, hence, organised from similar principles. 2,[4][5][6] Such congruence may result in the emergence of information more likely to build more complex forms of knowledge (differentiated, integrated, emergent) and to provide effective guidance for action, in managing real-world complexity. 5,6 This includes problems such as those emerging in the domain of health as well as interventions such as that mentioned in Haynes et al paper.…”