Community news

Here you will find all the news of the last four months from the transdisciplinary community. The website is constantly updated. If you have any messages you would like to share, please do not hesitate to contact us.

27.03.23  |  CDE

MRD Talk #03 | How can social innovations contribute to local mountain economies? Learnings from science and practice  | 25 April 2023, 15:00 CEST/UTC+2, on Zoom

Social innovations can help revive mountain economies, including through alternative economic pathways. The panelists will share and discuss findings on a regional initiative in the Swiss Alps and experiences from civil society initiatives in the Hindu Kush Himalaya, Georgia, and Ecuador. The event is an opportunity to jointly reflect on how social innovations can be fostered for the benefit of mountain economies.

20.03.23  |  CONVERGE

CONVERGE Releases New Training Module: Positionality in Hazards and Disaster Research and Practice

The Natural Hazards Center is pleased to announce the release of the eleventh training module in the CONVERGE series: Positionality in Hazards and Disaster Research and Practice. This educational tool helps disaster researchers and practitioners understand how being aware of one’s multiple identities and position in society—their positionality—can lead to more ethical and methodologically sound disaster work.

17.03.23  |  i2insights

Keyword quiz: an icebreaker method for interdisciplinary teams

How can members of interdisciplinary teams quickly gain a better understanding of each other’s thematic preferences and skills in a way that is also engaging and fun?

We have developed a “keyword quiz” icebreaker method to facilitate exchange between members of interdisciplinary teams, especially between people who are not complete strangers to each other but are collaborating in a project context for the first time.

17.03.23  |  The Lancet

The Lancet Series on One Health and Global Health Security

Following the 2014-2016 Ebola outbreak in West Africa, and the on-going global COVID-19 pandemic, the One Health approach (bridging the Animal-Environmental-Human Health interface) has rapidly gained political and financial support, particularly in regional and transcontinental initiatives to improve Global Health Security, including through recently established institutions like Africa CDC and other multidisciplinary consortia. This four-paper Lancet Series explores the adoption of One Health approaches to improve health security and include an analysis of the current landscape of preventive, surveillance, and response measures in outbreak situations of emerging and re-emerging zoonotic infectious diseases with epidemic potential as well as other potential public health emergencies such as neglected endemic diseases, antimicrobial resistance, environmental and chemical hazards and natural disasters.

06.03.23  |  i2insights

Theory of change in inter- and transdisciplinary research

What are key functions of theory of change? For what purposes can we use theory of change in inter- and transdisciplinary research?
The value of theory of change in interdisciplinary & transdisciplinary research is described in this blog post.

06.03.23  | Global Consortium for Systems Research (GCSR)

Apply to be a Collaborative Peer Reviewer for "Closing the Compliance Gap: System-wide Transformation Methods for the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals"

The Global Consortium for Systems Research (GCSR) is leading the collaborative peer review process for Closing the Compliance Gap: System-wide Transformation Methods for the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals, a publication at the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) that is currently undergoing a Global Stakeholder Consultation Process at the Center for Global Agenda (CGA) at Unbuilt Labs.

Because the aim of the collaborative peer review is to get the widest possible participation and broadest possible expertise, those who apply are generally accepted. Collaborative Peer Reviewers will be formally credited in the acknowledgements of the publication. Early career researchers and researchers from historically underrepresented communities are encouraged to apply. To apply click here. 

06.03.23  |  Nature

Hyperauthorship: the publishing challenges for'big team' science

The article focuses on 'hyperauthorship', which is used to describe articles with more than 100 authors. The authros discuss how this is becoming more prevalent in disciplines where this is not the norm. Studies involving hundreds, even thousands, of scientists are on the rise, but how do such large groups coordinate their work?

06.03.22  |  i2insights

Integration: The IPO model

How to systematise interdisciplinary integration is discussed by Stephen Crowley and Graham Hubbs in their revisited i2Insights contribution. They propose a focus on inputs-process-outcome, especially understanding 1) number, diversity & exact nature of inputs, 2) how, intentionality & extent of change in process and 3) number & diversity of outputs along with difference from inputs. Other key issues are a) incommensurability ie how hard it is to integrate, b) scale ie local or global, c) comprehensiveness ie breadth vs depth.

06.03.23  |  CDE

Mountain Research and Development Vol 42, No 4: Weaving Together Knowledges—Collaborations in Support of the Wellbeing of Mountain Peoples and Regions

Born from a fruitful partnership with the Canadian Mountain Network, this issue showcases knowledge collaborations between mountain researchers and Indigenous Peoples from across the globe. Topics include Aymara soil knowledge in Bolivia, community-based tourism in Italy, rangeland management modeling in Bhutan, archeological research in Canada, the role of indigenous knowledge in protected area management in Canada and New Zealand/Aotearoa, and more.

22.02.23  |  tdAcademy

Gründung der Gesellschaft für transdisziplinäre und partizipative Forschung

In den letzten Jahren ist der Bedarf an Austausch und Vernetzung zwischen Wissenschaftler*innen gewachsen, die transdisziplinär und partizipativ forschen und lehren oder in diesen Feldern verstärkt aktiv werden wollen. Unter anderem aus Bestrebungen der tdAcademy heraus wird daher in diesem Frühjahr die „Gesellschaft für transdisziplinäre und partizipative Forschung“ gegründet. Sie versteht sich als Anlaufstelle und unabhängige Interessensvertretung der transdisziplinären und partizipativen Forschung im deutschsprachigen Raum – auch gegenüber Politik und Förderinstitutionen.

Die öffentliche Gründungsveranstaltung findet am 10. Mai 2023 von 18.30-20 Uhr an der Technischen Universität Berlin statt. Wir freuen uns auch über Interesse an einer Mitgliedschaft in der Gesellschaft.

16.02.23  |  Centre for Ageing and Supporitve Environments, Lund University

Premliminary Program for the userage final conference

The theme of the conference is "Understanding user involvement in research on aging and health", with the aim of presenting and discussing results from the project. Now, the premliminary program for the conference on the 20th Aprli 2023 is online.

16.02.23  |  i2insights

Integration in inter- and transdisciplinary research: how can the leadership challenges be addressed?

How can the integration required in large inter- and transdisciplinary programs be effectively led? What challenges do leaders of integration in such programs face and how can they address them? What are the particular challenges in using a theory of change as an integrative tool?

14.02.23  |  ICRMC

Programme for ICRMC is online

The programme and associated information for the transdisciplinary international creative research methods conference are now online and can be downloaded from the conference webpage. Tickets for the conference will go on sale on or near 1 March.

10.02.2023  |  i2insights

Storytelling and systems change

How is storytelling important in driving systems change? What does good storytelling look like? What makes it hard to tell stories about systems change work? We address these three questions.
But first, what do we mean by systems change? We use the definition developed by New Philanthropy Capital (Abercrombie et al. 2015): “Systems change aims to bring about lasting change by altering underlying structures and supporting mechanisms which make the system operate in a particular way. These can include policies, routines, relationships, resources, power structures and values.”

10.02.23  |  i2insights

What is 3-dimensional team leadership?

It is useful to think about teams as having three dimensions:

1. the team as a whole
2. the individuals in the team
3. the subteams within the overall team, or the smaller subsets of team members who cluster together to work on specific tasks. With teams taking on more and more complex tasks, it is not uncommon for members with similar skills to tackle various assignments over a period of time and then integrate their outputs into the larger, overall team

But how does a leader know which dimension to adress?

31.01.23   |   i2Insights

Externalizing implicit expectations and assumptions in transdisciplinary research

How can implicit expectations and assumptions of team members in transdisciplinary research collaborations be identified? Read the new blog post „Externalizing implicit expectations and assumptions in transdisciplinary research“ by Verena Radinger-Peer, Katharina Gugerell and Marianne Penker.

23.01.23  |  DLR

23.1.23 "Transformationspfade für nachhaltige Hochschulen" – SISI-Projekte beginnen

Zehn Forschungsprojekte mit insgesamt mehr als 30 verschiedenen Hochschulen entwickeln und erproben in den nächsten drei Jahren "Transformationspfade für nachhaltige Hochschulen". Mit der gleichnamigen Bekanntmachung führt das Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung (BMBF) die Initiative "Nachhaltigkeit in der Wissenschaft" (SISI) fort. Die Verbünde sind regional oder bundesweit aufgestellt und erforschen beispielsweise Pfade für klimaneutrale Hochschulen und für die Entwicklung einer Kultur der Nachhaltigkeit an Hochschulen.

03.01.23  |  ITD Alliance

Three new Leadership Board members elected at the General Assembly 2022

The well attended and lively General Assembly took place on November 17 and 18, 2022. The slide-set including voting results, as well as the video recordings are available at the member area of the ITD Alliance website.

We are working on the rich output of the short workshop on key messages for important actor groups in research policy and will make the outcomes available soon. A big ‘thank you’ to all members who contributed with their outstanding expertise!

At the ITD Alliance General Assembly by-election and the subsequent email voting, three candidates have been elected for the ITD Alliance Leadership Board:

Ria Lambino – Research Institute for Humanity and Nature, Kyoto, Japan

Jason Prior – Institute for Sustainable Futures, University of Technology Sydney, Australia

Mª Helena Guimarães – MED – Mediterranean Institute for Agriculture, Portugal

We warmly congratulate the new Leadership Board members and wish inspiring and fruitful collaboration!

22.12.22 |  MRD

MRD Talk #02 

Working with Indigenous and local knowledge holders is crucial to conserving mountain landscapes. It provides much-needed systemic approaches, and it is fundamental to creating just conservation initiatives. In this MRD Talk, researchers, Indigenous representatives, practitioners, and the audience discussed promising new practices as well as challenges. A recording of the event and a summary of key insights are now available online.

13.12.22  |  i2insights

Seventh annual review

This annual end-of-year review presents the highlights from 2022 and examines how i2Insights is progressing in building a global community and a repository for sharing research tools to tackle complex societal and environmental problems.

12.12.22  |  Leonardo Da Silva Guimarães Martins da Costa

HPTD-M # 11 - A Project of Transdisciplinary Development for Education, Universities, and Public Management through the HPTD-M Theory

This text aims at presenting the theory of HPTD-M (Holopraxis Transdisciplinary Management) as a project for cultural transformation through its disruptive quaternary structure that comes from ancient traditions, Greek philosophy, modern physics, and Jungian psychology. The HPTD-M quaternary complementarities framework can be interesting for discussion within education, universities, and schools of public management to promote a transdisciplinary vision.

05.12.22  |  TA-Swiss

NTA10 Digitisation and culture

How does the digital age change the way that cultural goods and services are produced, distributed and accessed? How does the Digital Age impact culture in terms of the ways in which we experience and grasp the “world”?
If you've missed the NTA 10, the 10th conference of the network of technology assessment institutions in German-speaking countries (Austria, Germany and Switzerland) held in Berne from November 14-16, you can now find most of the presentations as well as photographic impressions online.

05.12.22  |  OIS

OIS zam Forum 2022: Summary and photos

On October 21-22, 2022, the “OIS zam: Forum for Health and Wellbeing - Creating Knowledge Together for a Healthier Life" took place in Vienna for the first time. Forty projects from all over Austria presented how researchers work together with affected people on issues related to health and well-being. In theme cafés, participants exchanged views on various aspects of participatory research projects. In small groups, the participants discussed the question of what it takes for science and society to create knowledge together for a healthier life. The OIS zam Forum 2023 is already in planning.

05.12.22  |  i2insights

A responsible approach to intersectionality

What is intersectionality? How can it be used systemically and responsibly?
When you google the term over 66,400,000 results are returned. It is a term used by government and businesses, as well as change agents. But is it helpful and are there ways that we should be thinking about intersectionality and its inclusion in our everyday lives?
GEMs framework for complex systemic intersectional analysis is described by Ellen Lewis and Anne Stephens

05.12.22  |  i2insights

Creative destruction

How to use creative destruction to notice & stop counterproductive behaviours (eg in cross-disciplinary collaboration) is described by Keith McCandless. Begin with a very unwanted result & ask how to achieve it eg How can we make sure we build an IT system that no one will want to use? 

05.12.22 |  i2insights

Dealing with differences in interests through principled negotiation

How principled negotiation can resolve disagreements in research collaboration is described here by Gabriele Bammer. Also known as win-win negotiation, negotiation on merits and getting to yes. How can the interests of a diverse group of researchers and stakeholders tackling a complex societal problem be understood and managed?