The role of transdisciplinary research in the transformation of food systems

Diet change and sustainability in Indigenous areas: Characteristics, drivers, and impacts of diet change in Gunayala, Panama

“…We should point that although our study is interdisciplinary, integrating notions and concepts from different fields of the social (mainly) and natural sciences (secondarily), it does not follow a strong notion of transdisciplinarity (e.g. co-design approaches to mitigate diet change impacts or design interventions to foster sustainable diet transitions) (Schwarz et al, 2021;Lang et al, 2012). Still the experts involved in this study did not to simply provide the information reported in the Results, but informed practically all aspects of the research, from identifying the importance of understanding diet change (i.e.…”

An integrated socio-cyber-physical system framework to assess responsible digitalisation in agriculture: A first application with Living Labs in Europe

“…Research activities were heavily affected by the COVID-19 restrictions on off-line, on-site, physical interactions and required continuous adaptations. LLs are research platforms established to engage with stakeholders, key informants, and users in a real-life setting (Dietrich et al, 2021;Schwarz et al, 2021). During the activities, LLs aimed to explore past and present implications of digitalisation in relation to a specific focal question, which captures the subject of analysis.…”

“…To leverage the potential utility of the framework, this paper underscores the importance of setting up experienced multi-stakeholder platforms, which in this case were helpful in bridging technical and socio-political knowledge in the field of digitalisation. To accomplish RRI-proofed evaluations based on system thinking that stretches beyond cyber-physical boundaries (Verdouw et al, 2021), LLs not only need to be equipped with transdisciplinary knowledge (Schwarz et al, 2021), but also with adequate resources and facilitation techniques to reach out actors and embrace topics from a wide range of fields. To steer digitalisation towards desirable societal needs, particular attention must be paid also on the organisational structure, political legitimacy, conflict of interests, and governance abilities of multi-stakeholder platforms to integrate participatory assessments and findings into fast-changing policy windows, technological developments, societal debates, and investments (Ferrari et al, 2022;Kaplan et al, 2021;Patton, 2008).…”

The multi-actor approach in thematic networks for agriculture and forestry innovation

“…This approach is also known as the Multi-Actor Approach (MAA) and represents the actor’s joint forces in project activities, from the conceptualization to the post-execution phase. Additionally, according to Brunori et al ( 2020 ) and Schwarz et al ( 2021 ), the interaction and co-creation among actors are key elements for a trans-disciplinary approach that have the potential to address future challenges in the forestry and agri-food systems. Moreover, it may help actors to develop new competences and skills that enable them to take on the roles of different types of actors (e.g.…”

“…This is necessary to achieve the objectives set by the current and future Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), where knowledge exchange and digitalization are present in the general objectives, in the specific objectives, in the chapter on knowledge systems in agriculture and the chapter on agricultural modernization. Additionally, the use of transdisciplinary platforms may have a positive impact upon the direction of research that can transform farming, forestry and food systems at EU and national levels (Schwarz et al 2021 ).…”