Abstract:Sustainability research often recommends the application of integrated and system‐based management approaches for overcoming complex problems of land and natural resource use. This paper poses four major governance challenges for sustainable land management as its point of departure: (i) fragmented knowledge and expertise, (ii) heterogeneous actors, (iii) institutional diversity and (iv) inadequate processes for coordination, adaptation and learning. Taking these challenges for conceptual orientation, we analy… Show more
“…Seeking to understand and change the world in pursuit of sustainability is recognised as a complex, multi‐faceted challenge which requires new ways of thinking and working. Transdisciplinarity has been proposed as one important way for researchers to respond to these challenges (Nölting & Mann, 2018; Scholz & Steiner, 2015; van Kerkhoff, 2014). Transdisciplinarity (TD) is:a reflexive research approach that addresses societal problems by means of interdisciplinary collaboration as well as the collaboration between researchers and extra‐scientific actors; its aim is to enable mutual learning processes between science and society; integration is the main cognitive challenge of the research process (Jahn et al, 2012, p. 4).Transdisciplinarity is therefore about transcending two significant boundaries which limit the potential of research to meaningfully address complex sustainability challenges.…”
Transdisciplinarity, which seeks to transcend the limits of existing disciplines and the boundaries between science and society, has become a hallmark of sustainability science. Since transdisciplinarity requires researchers to co‐produce knowledge by drawing together diverse knowledge systems, knowledge integration becomes a key challenge. However, the practice of knowledge integration brings to the fore tensions around philosophy, methodology and the role of the researcher. The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate the value of applied critical realism in enabling knowledge integration in transdisciplinary research, and in engaging these important tensions. I introduce tools from applied critical realism to enable knowledge integration across disciplinary and science‐society boundaries in sustainability science. Using an illustrative case of place‐based social‐ecological research from South Africa, I demonstrate the application of these tools. I conclude with a reflection on how they enable reflection on tensions related to philosophy, methodology and researcher positionality, identifying some of the challenges I experienced in putting these tools to work.
“…Seeking to understand and change the world in pursuit of sustainability is recognised as a complex, multi‐faceted challenge which requires new ways of thinking and working. Transdisciplinarity has been proposed as one important way for researchers to respond to these challenges (Nölting & Mann, 2018; Scholz & Steiner, 2015; van Kerkhoff, 2014). Transdisciplinarity (TD) is:a reflexive research approach that addresses societal problems by means of interdisciplinary collaboration as well as the collaboration between researchers and extra‐scientific actors; its aim is to enable mutual learning processes between science and society; integration is the main cognitive challenge of the research process (Jahn et al, 2012, p. 4).Transdisciplinarity is therefore about transcending two significant boundaries which limit the potential of research to meaningfully address complex sustainability challenges.…”
Transdisciplinarity, which seeks to transcend the limits of existing disciplines and the boundaries between science and society, has become a hallmark of sustainability science. Since transdisciplinarity requires researchers to co‐produce knowledge by drawing together diverse knowledge systems, knowledge integration becomes a key challenge. However, the practice of knowledge integration brings to the fore tensions around philosophy, methodology and the role of the researcher. The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate the value of applied critical realism in enabling knowledge integration in transdisciplinary research, and in engaging these important tensions. I introduce tools from applied critical realism to enable knowledge integration across disciplinary and science‐society boundaries in sustainability science. Using an illustrative case of place‐based social‐ecological research from South Africa, I demonstrate the application of these tools. I conclude with a reflection on how they enable reflection on tensions related to philosophy, methodology and researcher positionality, identifying some of the challenges I experienced in putting these tools to work.
“…In this context, the role of transdisciplinarity is highlighted by several authors (e.g. Hurni 2000;Nölting and Mann 2018).…”
Section: Sustainable Land Management-a Normative Orientation For Tranmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…SLM also takes into account multi-level and cross-sectoral approaches that stress social learning, experimentation, negotiation and the harmonisation of different goals; SLM involves multiple actor groups (e.g. Hurni 2000;Schwilch et al 2012;Weith et al 2013;Fritz-Vietta et al 2017;Nölting and Mann 2018).…”
Section: Sustainable Land Management-a Normative Orientation For Tranmentioning
There continues to be a poor understanding of how transformation and socio-technological change in the specific field of sustainable land use and management can be effectively governed and supported. The aim of this article is to contribute to this knowledge gap by presenting the findings from a comparative case study of nine local innovation projects that sought solutions for sustainable land management (SLM). For each of the nine projects, we examined the (i) problem definitions and framings, (ii) the type and degree of innovation, (iii) the different approaches taken to manage innovation processes, and (iv) the leverage points of these solutions in the governance system of SLM. The results show that SLM innovations start from diverse problem framings and emerge from distinct action fields. We found a broad variety of innovation types following distinct solution strategies that can be clustered into (i) multiple land use, (ii) knowledge-based decision support tools, (iii) co-management approaches, and (iv) new organisations and institutions. All nine projects applied multi-actor approaches to facilitate reflexive processes of social learning and cognitive reframing by embedding experimental innovation management approaches such as real-world laboratories (thus optimising the solution) into larger transdisciplinary and participatory processes (to adjust to societal discourses and normative orientations).
“…However, causes, effects and flows also simultaneously affect the options for influencing and changing land use. There has been little debate about modes of regional governance, particularly in land use issues (Nölting and Mann 2018), although knowledge about new types of "governance" has been developed and used more frequently since the 1990s. Whereas in the past the (national) state was regarded as an (assumed) central actor that influences and controls land use and spatial development, various different actors and their interactions are now coming to the fore.…”
Section: Governance Of Interrelations: Knowledge For Governancementioning
Although the relevance of urban-rural interrelations is widely acknowledged in science and practice, there is as yet no feasible theoretical or theory-driven approach or model that addresses the multiple interconnections in urban-rural spaces at the regional level and makes them applicable to actors in policy and planning practice. In this chapter, we give a short overview of how the topic has developed; present core concepts for urban-rural interrelations; and discuss their applicability and potential improvements by integrating other concepts and connecting governance debates. In the process, we develop new ideas for the analysis and governance of regional functional interrelations in a bid to improve sustainable land management. Keywords Urban-rural interrelations • Land management • Telecoupling • Regional governance A. Doernberg (B) Working Group "Land Use Decisions in the Spatial and System Context",
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