Scientist and stakeholder perspectives of transdisciplinary research: Early attitudes, expectations, and tensions

Thompson, Mary Anne; Owen, Susan; Lindsay, Jan M.; Leonard, Graham S.; Cronin, Shane J.

doi:10.1016/j.envsci.2017.04.006

Cited by 106 publications

(94 citation statements)

References 40 publications

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“…The engineering field followed suit for similar reasons, needing to address issues that had many stakeholders [34][35]. The environmental sciences adopted its practice in order to attack multidimensional problems that have no easy solution [36][37]. It is clear that transdisciplinarity is being used in some of the most challenging environments.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Capturing the Transdisciplinary Dragon: Creating a Crossover Natural History-Art Exhibit

Poli

Stoneman

2018

TJES

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A lthough transdisciplinarity has been in practice for decades, its use as a methodology in higher education is limited. In addition, the need to connect academe to the community outside its walls has never been more pronounced. Working within the gaps created between disciplinary boundaries gives researchers an opportunity to create new ways of understanding the common, yet complex problems of the world. In this article we explain how a group of student researchers, scholars, and other community members came together to create a transdisciplinary exhibit that explains how plant fossils and dragon folklore are connected worldwide. We provide evidence of how the creation and implementation of the exhibit facilitated learning across wide cross-sections of stakeholders and how the project continues to develop new avenues of inquiry.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The literature also tells us that real-world application of transdisciplinary processes comes with challenges [40][41]. For detractors, the work generated ranges too far afield to be called by its traditional, disciplinary label: science, humanities, art [42][43][44].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Capturing the Transdisciplinary Dragon: Creating a Crossover Natural History-Art Exhibit

Poli

Stoneman

2018

TJES

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“…Achieving this requires scientists to partner with policy makers and social actors to co-produce knowledge that is useful and credible [50,54]. Coupled with this is the need to develop and encourage new professions that bridge science and policy, such as facilitators and innovation brokers [55][56][57]. This new, co-produced science needs to be able to be implemented to rapidly respond to environmental crises, such as droughts and floods [58,59].…”

Section: Sustainability Challenge 3: Towards Transdisciplinary Socialmentioning

confidence: 99%

Applying Place-Based Social-Ecological Research to Address Water Scarcity: Insights for Future Research

et al. 2018

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Globally, environmental and social change in water-scarce regions challenge the sustainability of social-ecological systems. WaterSES, a sponsored working group within the Program for Ecosystem Change and Society, explores and compares the social-ecological dynamics related to water scarcity across placed-based international research sites with contrasting local and regional water needs and governance, including research sites in Spain and Sweden in Europe, South Africa, China, and Alabama, Idaho, Oklahoma, and Texas in the USA. This paper aims to provide a commentary on insights into conducting future solutions-oriented research on water scarcity based on the understanding of the social-ecological dynamics of water scarce regions.

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“…These events have strengthened a focus in research and policy on the need to better understand, prepare for, and respond to hazard events at a regional level [23]. The goal of a 'resilient New Zealand' has been the basis of government policy for almost two decades, beginning with the 2002 Civil Defence and Emergency Management Act.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Transformations for Resilient Rural Futures: The Case of Kaikōura, Aotearoa-New Zealand

2018

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On 14 November 2016, a magnitude (M w ) 7.8 earthquake struck the small coastal settlement of Kaikōura, Aotearoa-New Zealand. With an economy based on tourism, agriculture, and fishing, Kaikōura was immediately faced with significant logistical, economic, and social challenges caused by damage to critical infrastructure and lifelines, essential to its main industries. Massive landslips cut off road and rail access, stranding hundreds of tourists, and halting the collection, processing and distribution of agricultural products. At the coast, the seabed rose two metres, limiting harbour-access to high tide, with implications for whale watching tours and commercial fisheries. Throughout the region there was significant damage to homes, businesses, and farmland, leaving owners and residents facing an uncertain future. This paper uses qualitative case study analysis to explore post-quake transformations in a rural context. The aim is to gain insight into the distinctive dynamics of disaster response mechanisms, focusing on two initiatives that have emerged in direct response to the disaster. The first examines the ways in which agriculture, food harvesting, production and distribution are being reimagined with the potential to enhance regional food security. The second examines the rescaling of power in decision-making processes following the disaster, specifically examining the ways in which rural actors are leveraging networks to meet their needs and the consequences of that repositioning on rural (and national) governance arrangements. In these and other ways, the local economy is being revitalised, and regional resilience enhanced through diversification, capitalising not on the disaster but the region's natural, social, and cultural capital. Drawing on insights and experience of local stakeholders, policy-and decision-makers, and community representatives we highlight the diverse ways in which these endeavours are an attempt to create something new, revealing also the barriers which needed to be overcome to reshape local livelihoods. Results reveal that the process of transformation as part of rural recovery must be grounded in the lived reality of local residents and their understanding of place, incorporating and building on regional social, environmental, and economic characteristics. In this, the need to respond rapidly to realise opportunities must be balanced with the community-centric approach, with greater recognition given to the contested nature of the decisions to be made. Insights from the case examples can inform preparedness and recovery planning elsewhere, and provide a rich, real-time example of the ways in which disasters can create opportunities for reimagining resilient futures.

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Scientist and stakeholder perspectives of transdisciplinary research: Early attitudes, expectations, and tensions

Cited by 106 publications

References 40 publications

Capturing the Transdisciplinary Dragon: Creating a Crossover Natural History-Art Exhibit

Capturing the Transdisciplinary Dragon: Creating a Crossover Natural History-Art Exhibit

Applying Place-Based Social-Ecological Research to Address Water Scarcity: Insights for Future Research

Transformations for Resilient Rural Futures: The Case of Kaikōura, Aotearoa-New Zealand

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