Transdisciplinarity as a real-world challenge: a case study on a North–South collaboration

Sustainability science as if the world mattered: sketching an art contribution by comparison

“…Knowledge exchange and communication were often experienced as cumbersome extra obligations and inputs without clear personal output or benefits, i.e., as a risk rather than a pleasure. These are some of the framing conditions for cooperative knowledge production in sustainability projects that have been described as a social dilemma of transdisciplinarity (Schmidt and Pröpper 2017); partly similar results have been reported in partner projects in Asia (Siew et al 2016). …”

“…This includes the whole aspect of transdisciplinarity, which takes as its central claim that knowledge happens to be coproduced between academic and nonacademic stakeholders (Hirsch Hadorn et al 2006, Schmidt andPröpper 2017). Although anthropologists work closely with local stakeholders and have a certain closeness to artists, they are not automatically experts in transdisciplinarity and sustainable collaborative knowledge production.…”

“…Additionally, the results of an in-depth analysis of the project's transdisciplinary success have revealed several sucesses but also highlighted difficulties in achieving the goal of transdiciplinarity, the involvement of stakeholders in all phases of the research process (Schmidt and Pröpper 2017). The empirical "reality checking" of an abstract concept showed that, in fact, such largescale sustainability projects operate within a highly politicized and often hierarchical landscape with diverse stakeholders, structural asymmetries, and multiple expectations on the part of land users who were additionally suffering from disparities in wealth, power, and education.…”

Testing Analytical Frameworks in Transdisciplinary Research for Sustainable Development

“…We provide recommendations on how transdisciplinarity could be expanded through institutional support and its results could be effectively transferred into science and practice and discuss the implications for further studies in the conclusions.Sustainability 2019, 11, 4343 2 of 28 an ideal than as a reality [4,8,9]. Also, recent studies show that transdisciplinary research still faces a number of challenges that hinder the expansion of its practice and restricts its potential in addressing crucial matters of sustainable development [10][11][12][13].This article provides new empirical observations on the practice of transdisciplinary research, including how it is conceived and implemented and how the key actors involved are applying its results. The paper has two objectives.…”

“…Sustainability 2019, 11, 4343 2 of 28 an ideal than as a reality [4,8,9]. Also, recent studies show that transdisciplinary research still faces a number of challenges that hinder the expansion of its practice and restricts its potential in addressing crucial matters of sustainable development [10][11][12][13].…”