Transdisciplinary Research in Higher Education: Towards a Paradigm for Sustainable Development

Rudhumbu, Norman; Zhou, Leocadia; Nhundu, Kenneth

doi:10.9790/487x-1901051319

Cited by 2 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 20 publications

(18 reference statements)

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“…Previous research has shown that there can be significant communication challenges among different disciplines in transdisciplinary research both inside (Harris and Lyon, 2013;Stablein et al, 2022) and outside of FEWS (Rudhumbu et al, 2017). Although we recognized some communication challenges upon reflecting on the collaboration, actual coded segments of meeting notes did not show evidence of this communication challenge.…”

Section: Communicationcontrasting

confidence: 61%

Transdisciplinary academic-NGO collaborations for the resilience of food, energy, and water: a case study on the INFEWS-ER experience in post-disaster Puerto Rico

Markazi,

Brunton,

Margarit

et al. 2023

Front. Environ. Sci.

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The communities of Puerto Rico are highly vulnerable to climate change as the archipelago has experienced a multitude of compounding crises and extreme weather events in recent years. To address these issues, the research, analysis, and design of grand challenge solutions for disaster-prone regions like Puerto Rico can utilize collaborative transdisciplinary efforts. Local non-governmental and community-based organizations have a pivotal role in the reconstruction processes and the building of community and environmental resilience in underserved communities. This paper contributes an empirical case study of an online transdisciplinary collaboration between a group of academics and a Puerto Rican non-governmental organization, Caras con Causa. From participant observation, it includes a document analysis of meeting notes with cohort members who were involved in a collaborative National Science Foundation Project, The INFEWS-ER: A Virtual Resource Center Enabling Graduate Innovations at the Nexus of Food, Energy, and Water Systems, with Caras con Causa between October 2020 and April 2021. Caras con Causa focuses on uplifting Puerto Ricans by creating and administering environmental, educational, economic, and community programs, highlighting disaster relief and resilience to help Puerto Rican food, energy, and water systems. Eight key discussion themes emerged from the document analysis: team organization, collaboration with Caras con Causa, deliverables, team contributions, context understanding, participation outcomes, technology setup, and lessons learned. We analyze each of the emerging themes to explain how academics may use transdisciplinary skill sets in addition to standard disciplinary-based approaches or techniques to enhance the institutional capacity of a non-governmental organization doing community resilience work to benefit local food, energy, and water systems. While the learned lessons in this non-governmental organization-academic collaboration may be context-specific, we provide insights that may be generalizable to collaborations in comparable transdisciplinary settings.

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Section: Communicationcontrasting

confidence: 61%

Transdisciplinary academic-NGO collaborations for the resilience of food, energy, and water: a case study on the INFEWS-ER experience in post-disaster Puerto Rico

Markazi,

Brunton,

Margarit

et al. 2023

Front. Environ. Sci.

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“…However, in line with recent evaluations of TDR in higher education (e.g. Rudhumbu et al , 2017; Appel and Kim-Appel, 2018; Fam et al , 2019; Guimarães et al , 2019; Duncan, 2012; National Research Council, 2013), we felt that our approach to reflective, processual and solutions-oriented TDR sometimes sat awkwardly with the lived realities of an academic setting that is increasingly fuelled by corporate objectives (Donoghue, 2008) and resource pressures, particularly under pandemic conditions. Our complex, conceptually-developmental project, we perceived, was unlikely to progress quickly through university processes and would need greater time for formulation than most research ventures.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 55%

Pragmatic evaluation of transdisciplinary research on gender equity in the New Zealand public service

Parker

Young‐Hauser

Sayers

et al. 2021

QROM

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PurposeDespite the need for such, little scholarly attention has been paid to transdisciplinary enquiry into gender inequities in workplaces. The authors provide a pragmatic evaluation of the transdisciplinary research (TDR) model by Hall et al. (2012) for framing the study of this societal issue, shedding light on the challenges, principles and values that could usefully inform subsequent TDR in organisational settings.Design/methodology/approachThis paper evaluates the model in relation to TDR on gender inequities in New Zealand's public service by Hall et al. (2012) Content analysis on our reflective narratives from research team meetings, email exchanges, informal discussions and a workshop reveals TDR study insights. Findings show support for the model and its four broad phases and surface principles and values for applied TDR enquiry that addresses societal challenges in the organisational context.FindingsThe adoption of a TDR model to examine a study of equity in the public service revealed practical and conceptual challenges, encouraging ongoing reflection and adaptive behaviour on the researchers' part. The pragmatic evaluation also highlighted environmental constraints on undertaking TDR, with implications for the ambition of future studies.Research limitations/implicationsThis evaluative enquiry encourages similar research in other organisational and national settings to validate the use of TDR to gain insightful, contextualised understandings of social challenges centred in the organisational setting.Practical implicationsThis pragmatic evaluation of a TDR model's capacity to approximate the approach and phases of our applied enquiry lays the groundwork to refining TDR approaches used in subsequent studies aimed at addressing societal issues in the organisational setting.Social implicationsThis paper can potentially promote greater collaboration between research scholars and other stakeholders wanting to develop TDR paradigms and applied enquiry that can meaningfully inform workplace and societal impacts.Originality/valueThis pragmatic evaluation of a TDR approach involves its initial application to the study of equity at work and develops principles and values that could inform TDR paradigms and methodologies of subsequent enquiries in the field.

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Transdisciplinary Research in Higher Education: Towards a Paradigm for Sustainable Development

Abstract: This review provides an understanding of and justification for the transdisciplinary research(TDR)as

Cited by 2 publications

References 20 publications

Transdisciplinary academic-NGO collaborations for the resilience of food, energy, and water: a case study on the INFEWS-ER experience in post-disaster Puerto Rico

Transdisciplinary academic-NGO collaborations for the resilience of food, energy, and water: a case study on the INFEWS-ER experience in post-disaster Puerto Rico

Pragmatic evaluation of transdisciplinary research on gender equity in the New Zealand public service

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