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.

04.11.24

How will AI impact democracy?

TA Swiss

In a new report the European Parliamentary Technology Assessment Network (EPTA) compares 19 countries’ AI policies and technology assessment studies on AI and democracy, with TA-SWISS providing an overview of the Swiss perspective. It is particularly interesting to note that several European countries - Spain, Poland and Denmark among them - are now training their own language models, using local languages and sources to develop tools not just fed by Big Tech data.

01.11.24

Neues CAS an der BFH: Nachhaltiges Public Management

Berner Fachhochschule

Das CAS Nachhaltiges Public Management qualifiziert Sie, komplexe und zukunftsgerichtete Herausforderungen wie bspw. Klimawandel, soziale Ungleichheit oder nachhaltige Beschaffung effektiv anzugehen. Der Studiengang vermittelt Methoden und Instrumente, mit denen Sie Politik so ausgestalten und umsetzen, dass sie dem Wohl der Menschen, der Umwelt und der wirtschaftlichen Stabilität gleichermassen dient. Gestalten, implementieren und managen Sie politische Strategien und öffentliche Dienstleistungen im Sinne der Agenda 2030 und der Sustainable Development Goals.

01.11.24

Agora - where research meets the public

Agora

The Agora scheme aims to foster dialogue between scientists and society. It encourages researchers to communicate their current research to an audience of lay people. Have a look at the Agora map to see an overview of current and upcoming events and activities in Switzerland, which have been realised through Agora projects.

Submission possibilities:

• Agora Rolling Call (CHF 5’000-50'000)
  Submission at any time - 4 months before the start of the project
• Agora Call (CHF 5’000-200’000)
  June - September 2025

Contact:
agora@snf.ch

01.11.24

The TD-Lab Training Program of the Berlin University Alliance is here!

TD-Lab University Alliance Berlin

With this continuing education program for transdisciplinary and participatory researchers of all status groups of the Berlin University Alliance, the TD-Lab – Laboratory for Transdisciplinary Research offers education in five competence areas: practical and theoretical know-how, methods, soft skills and reflection. In the winter semester 2024/25, the series "Participatory Research" as an introduction to different participatory research approaches such as citizen science or real-world labs, as well as the series Breakfast Talks "Transformative Dialogues" form the highlight. The aim is to encourage researchers with different levels of experience to conduct method-based, highly professionalized and more successful transdisciplinary and participatory research.

Here you will find information about our events. Here you can find out more about other offers of the TD-Lab.

30.10.24

Mountain Research and Development Vol 44, No 3 available online and open access

Mountain Research and Development

Articles in the MountainResearch section of this open issue examine perceived impacts and preferred performance of rural–urban change among periurban villagers in highland Peru; present a method to assess cultural ecosystem services potential in river catchments in the Caucasus, applying it in a national park in Armenia; and study assets, motivations, and challenges involved in mountain entrepreneurship in the Lesser Caucasus in Georgia with a view to informing rural development policies. A MountainAgenda article analyzes policies and strategies for sustainable development in mountains across Austria, France, Italy, and Switzerland and provides concrete policy recommendations.

30.10.24

Setting up your team for knowledge integration

i2insights

What kinds of collaborative arrangements best foster knowledge integration? Should you keep your team together by forming one big group to work toward your shared goals? Or should you differentiate tasks by breaking work into smaller components and assign the pieces to sub-groups? How large should sub-groups be and how should they be composed? What types of engagement processes lead to successful knowledge integration?

02.10.24

Establishing, discussing, and sustaining accountability in your team: Seven strategies

i2insights

How can I hold my teammates accountable?

Being willing and able to hold yourself and others accountable depends heavily on the collaborative culture created by the team (see previous i2Insights contribution by L. Michelle Bennett on Mindset matters for interdisciplinary teams: Choose a collaborative one).

Collaborative cultures characterized by psychological safety, transparency, and an ability to engage in productive conflict provide the strongest foundation for accountability. Purposefully defining the team culture, including how the team will integrate the value of accountability and implement behaviors and norms aligned with it, will have a strong return on investment.

25.09.24

Interactive Survey on Equitable Research Collaborations and the KFPE-Guide

KFPE

KFPE (Commission for Research Partnerships with Developing Countries ) is revising the Guide for Transboundary Research Partnerships and warmly invites you to participate in their interactive survey. Share your ideas and experiences with equal research collaborations and the KFPE-Guide on our MURAL platform and participate in a interactive process to adapt the guide to the current challenges of research partnerships.

25.09.24

NRP 82 kicks off its preparatory phase with a workshop on transdisciplinary research

SNSF/NRP

In NRP 82 ‘Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services’, researchers and societal actors work closely together to develop full proposals. During a workshop, they familiarised themselves with transdisciplinary methods.

25.09.24

NRP 82 Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services: 33 Preparatory Phases funded

SNSF/NRP

Upon recommendation of the NRP 82 Steering Committee the Research Council selected 33 proposals and invited their transdisciplinary teams to co-design their respective project proposals in a six-month preparatory phase.

23.09.24

Reflection on the Making Hope Possible - On scaling up engaged scholarship for socio-ecological transformation Confernce

XIM University

The International Transdisciplinary Biennial on Environmental Justice at Lassalle-Institute (Switzerland) offers an inter- and transdisciplinary platform facilitating research exchange, validation of results, networking, and methodological innovations between engaged scientists and reflective practitioners engaged in socio-ecological transformation.

23.09.24

Interessiert an Sozial-ökologischen Projekten und „Nachhaltigkeitsforschung in Stadt und Region“?

Deutsches Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung

Schon gesehen? Der Newsletter „BMBF-Förderschwerpunkt Sozial-ökologische Forschung (SÖF)“ erscheint nun unter dem Titel „Nachhaltigkeitsforschung in Stadt und Region“ in neuem Layout, mit optimierter Struktur – und natürlich weiterhin prall gefüllt mit vielen spannenden Inhalten!

Drei- bis viermal jährlich informiert der kostenlose Newsletter Interessierte aus Forschung und Praxis, unter anderem Kommunen, Unternehmen und Verbände, über die wichtigsten Neuigkeiten im Förderschwerpunkt Sozial-ökologische Forschung (SÖF) des Bundesministeriums für Bildung und Forschung (BMBF). Im Fokus stehen dabei insbesondere eine nachhaltige Entwicklung in Städten und Regionen sowie die Weiterentwicklung transdisziplinärer Nachhaltigkeitsforschung. Die geförderten Projekte berichten über zentrale Forschungsergebnisse, Termine und Veranstaltungen. Die geförderten Projekte tragen zur Umsetzung der FONA-Strategie des BMBF (Forschung für Nachhaltigkeit) und der Zukunftsstrategie Forschung und Innovation der Bundesregierung bei.

Mit dem Newsletter möchten wir den Transfer von Forschungsergebnissen und Best-Practice-Lösungen zu Entscheidungsträgerinnen und Entscheidungsträgern unterstützen und die Community der geförderten Projekte stärken. Anhand ausgewählter Beispiele aus der Forschungspraxis soll das große Anwendungspotential der Sozial-ökologischen Forschung des BMBF deutlich werden – mit dem Ziel, die Leserinnen und Leser zu inspirieren.

Interessiert? Hier können Sie sich anmelden: https://www.fona.de/de/info/newsletter/newsletter-soef.php

Aktuelle Ausgabe: Ausgabe 2/2024

23.09.24

Citizen scientists can help save Australia’s threatened species if we give them more direction

The Conversation/University of Adelaide

td-Info readers might be interested in the td research recently shared in a Conservation Biology publication and corresponding article in The Conversation. The study is complementary to citizen science outlined by ETH (Guidelines & Templates | Citizen Science Zurich | UZH).

23.09.24

Team science is an integral competency for the U.S. National Science Foundation’s Convergence Accelerator Program

i2insights

What roles do research and development agencies have in actively preparing research teams to engage productively in collaborative research? Is it enough to require that teams engaging in funded research prepare themselves to collaborate effectively?

The U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) Convergence Accelerator Program was launched in 2019 to fast track the development of ideas into real-world applications and solutions intended to have substantive societal and economic impact. Building upon basic research and discovery and using a convergent approach, the program accelerates use-inspired research toward impact by funding multidisciplinary teams from a wide range of disciplines and sectors to solve complex societal and economic challenges.

10.09.24

Three spaces of change for reorienting North-South research partnerships

i2insights

What are some of the challenges that researchers from the Global South face when engaging in development research initiatives, and how can resetting the relationships that underpin North-South collaborations help? What are the pivotal areas where change is needed?

Challenges

The main concerns for many researchers in Global South-based institutions are around the deep-rooted structural challenges that underpin the research for development space, such as:

• funding dependence on external sources,
• insufficient national expenditures on research,
• lack of agency in the design and implementation of research projects,
• publication pressures built on problematic Global North “output”-driven demands,
• competing incentives for promoting and achieving policy uptake.

10.09.24

Citizen Science in der Schweiz

Science et Cité

Partizipativ erarbeitet und mit Feedback aus der Community, stellt die Publikation der Schweizer Expert:innengruppe für Citizen Science zum einen die vielfältigen und zahlreichen Initiativen, Projekte und Tools rund um Citizen Science in der Schweiz vor. Zum anderen formuliert sie Ziele und Massnahmen für verschiedene Akteure. Der Bericht entstand im Rahmen der Initiative Citizen Science der Akademien der Wissenschaften Schweiz 2021–24 und wurde von Science et Cité koordiniert.

10.09.24

Considerations for creating and funding new toolkits for inter- and transdisciplinary research

i2insights

Are you thinking about creating a new toolkit for inter- and transdisciplinary research? What questions can help you consider whether to embark on such an effort? If you are a funder, how can you decide whether to support existing toolkits or fund new ones? And how can toolkits help your reviewers in considering funding applications?

We are the core members of the Toolkits and Methods Working Group hosted within the Global Alliance for Inter- and Transdisciplinarity (ITD Alliance). Since 2020, we have jointly mapped and visualized the previously uncharted landscape of inter- or transdisciplinary toolkits. Without attempting to be exhaustive, we identified 64 English-language toolkits relevant to inter- and transdisciplinarity, as well as others in German, Spanish, Dutch, and Japanese.

09.09.24

Transdisciplinary collaboration between the University of Zurich and Hongik University to be exhibited at Zurich Design Weeks!

University Zurich

Dogs and humans are the most well-known pair among closely cohabiting species on this planet. Together, they navigate nature or urban spaces – and maybe even the threshold of the Museum für Gestaltung Zurich. There you find innovative product and fashion designs that, based on veterinary research, playfully and delightfully explore the shared movement and life of dogs and humans. Come by and immerse yourself in the concept of One Health, a non-hierarchical approach to the environment, animals, and humans, addressing questions about mixed-species cohabitation. Experience a world specially created for you and your four-legged companions.

The Art x Science Office will present the transdisciplinary project "Design for all Species" at the Zurich Design Weeks. The exhibition not only showcases the results but also documents a successful international and transdisciplinary collaboration between veterinary research at the University of Zurich and fashion and industrial design at Hongik University Seoul. Initiated by Dr. Katharina Weikl, head of the Art x Science Office at University of Zurich, this project was developed in collaboration with Prof. Antonio Pozzi and Dr. Brian Park (Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Zurich) as well as design students under the lead of Prof. Yeori Bae and Prof. Gilock Lee (Hongik University, Seoul).

When: 12.-29.9.2024
Where: Museum für Gestaltung, Ausstellungsstrasse 60, 8005 Zurich

09.09.24

On the 30th Anniversary of the Charter of Transdisciplinarity

CIRET

The thirtieth anniversary of the proclamation of the Charter of Transdisciplinarity will be commemorated worldwide on November 6 and 7. On this occasion, the Organizing Committee is launching a consultation of its members and friends on the following theme:

How has transdisciplinarity changed your view of yourself and of the world?

In other words:

1. How has TD changed the way we look at each other?
2. What are the challenges ahead for TD?
3. How does TD contribute to the understanding of collapse or transition processes?
4. How can TD teach mediation as a method of resolving national and international conflicts?
5. What methods can be used to translate TD's proposals into practice for solving problems arising from the Anthropocene?

We'd be grateful if you'd send us your testimonial (a few liness to one page of text will do) to hlandier@club-internet.fr, which we'll be happy to publish, with your explicit consent, online and/or in a news issue of our Newsletter together with a summary (anonymized) of all the responses we've received.

09.09.24

TA-SWISS presents two studies and an anthology

TA-SWISS

The wide range of topics covered by TA-SWISS is evidenced by its two latest studies: “Culture and Digitalisation” examines the impact of digital technologies on the working life of Swiss artists, while the study on “Substitutes for Milk and Meat” looks at the ecological and health dimensions of meat and dairy alternatives.

Both studies are available in printed form (full study or abridged version); the study on culture and digitalisation can also be discovered on an interactive virtual platform: www.proofofculture.ch, while the various issues surrounding meat consumption will be the subject of science cafés and market stalls organised in collaboration with Science et Cité.

In November 2002, TA-SWISS organized the NTA 10, the10th conference of the Network for Technology Assessment, in Bern. The proceedings have now been published by Nomos. The result is a rich anthology with numerous contributions that examine the interplay between digitization and culture from the perspective of technology assessment: “Gestreamt, gelikt, flüchtig – schöne neue Kulturwelt?”, edited by Elisabeth Ehrensperber, Jeannette Behringer et al., Nomos,  2024, 434 pages, ISBN 978-3-7560-1683-9, also available free of charge as e-book

21.08.24

Mountain Research and Development Vol 44, No 2 available online and open access

In this open issue, a scoping review pinpoints research gaps on settlement systems in mountain regions around the world. A study in the Ecuadorian Andes reveals that farmers value a landscape’s social and ecological services equally when deciding where to grow a crop. An experimental auction in Italy shows that a European Union quality term for mountain wines could help support wine growers who invest in sustainable practices; and a comparative study of climate adaptation practices in two conflict-affected mountain areas in Africa points up interesting parallels and differences.

The issue is available online and open access:

https://bioone.org/journals/mountain-research-and-development/volume-44/issue-2

Note that other issues are starting to fill up as well:

https://bioone.org/journals/mountain-research-and-development/inprogress

Read about the journal’s section policies, guidelines, and submission procedure at:

https://www.mrd-journal.org/

The MRD Editorial Team

MRD Editorial Office, University of Bern, Centre for Development and Environment

mrd-journal.cde@unibe.ch

14.08.24

Read the reflection piece on the D4CS Programme

African Climate & Development Initiative

The Design for Climate Solutions (D4CS) Programme is a pilot initiative that aims to foster co-creation and innovations that address climate adaptation and resilience challenges. D4CS is hosted by the University of Cape Town’s African Climate and Development Initiative (ACDI) in partnership with Bertha Centre for Innovation & Entrepreneurship and Hasso Plattner d-school Afrika. Four South African based teams were invited to co-design user-oriented solutions for different climate-related challenges. The presented reflection piece gives a good overview over the programme.

14.08.24

Einheit der Wissenschaft und echtes Studium generale stellt sich vor

Einheit der Wissenschaft und echtes Studium generale

Das Projekt "Einheit der Wissenschaft und echtes Studium generale" hat es sich zur Aufgabe gemacht, auf der Grundlage der noch auszuarbeitenden Einheit der Wissenschaft ein echtes Studium generale von zwei Semestern Dauer an den Hochschulen zu etablieren. Ziel dieses Studiums ist es, Generalisten auszubilden, die in der heutigen komplexen Welt die nötige Übersicht haben, die relevanten Zusammenhänge durchblicken und deshalb und dank holistischen Methoden holistische Lösungen vorschlagen und umsetzen können. Dank diesen Generalisten soll es für alle Wissenschaften wesentlich einfacher werden, inter- und transdisziplinär zu arbeiten.

Diesbezüglich wird es an der Universität Basel im Frühjahrssemester 2025 eine erste Ringvorlesung mit dem Titel "Einführung in die disziplinäre Vielfalt der Universität" geben, die als Vorstufe zu einem  echten Studium generale dienen soll.

12.08.24

ITD Alliance News

ITD Alliance

August Newsletter brings news form the Alliance Leadership Board, Working Groups and other projects. And of course an update on the ITD24 conference in Utercht is included.

05.08.24

Embracing Afro-centric philosophies to decolonize research

i2Insights

How can researchers ensure that they de-centre Western-centric research methodologies, methods and theoretical frameworks so that the research is localized, and the researcher and relevant community voices are heard? How can Afro-centric philosophies be mainstreamed to ensure that the research deconstructs the epistemic injustice that currently exists?

In this i2Insights contribution I explore four African philosophies – Sankofa, Ubuntu, Ujamaa, and Harambe – to show how they can provide valuable insights and foster more inclusive and transformative research practices. Although my work is on forced displacement, these philosophies are relevant to a broad range of research in the African context.

05.08.24

Structured dialogical design

i2Insights

How can heterogeneous groups reach consensus on complex issues in a reasonably limited amount of time? What kind of process allows for meaningful community involvement that is genuinely participatory and democratic?

Structured Dialogical Design is a process that achieves both these aims. The key aspects of the process and steps are presented.

31.07.24

Communication channel on transdisciplinarty launched

ENHANCE alliance

Recently the communication channel on transdisciplinarity has been launched: https://te.ma/chn/transdisciplinarity/

The discussion channel is a co-operation with the online platform te.ma -  a public space for science and debate.

It represents and discusses results from the research oriented Horizon 2020 subproject ENHANCERIA with a focus on the institutionalization of transdisciplinarity for sustainable development.

Further outcomes from the ENHANCERIA project will be presented at the online final event of the sub-project. All interested parties are warmly invited to the international final event on 26 September 2024 from 10am to 3pm. You will receive the meeting link after successful registration: https://enhanceuniversity.eu/research-project-enhanceria-invites-all-to-final-event/

31.07.24

Mindset matters for interdisciplinary teams: Choose a collaborative one

i2Insights

How often do you think about what you are thinking about?

How about what you believe? What your values are? Or your deep set needs?

Do you recognize that everything you say, do, or write as a member of an interdisciplinary team is influenced by what is in your head? And your team members by what is in theirs?

We can all relate to what it is like to be doing a project with close colleagues when things work seamlessly, the group is productive, everyone innately seems to know what to do and how to do it, people are comfortable pointing out things that need to be changed or fixed, and everyone is fully present.

31.07.24

Collated contents of the June 2024 MSC conference now online

MSC Conference Working Group

This inaugural event marked an important milestone for the MSC community as we gathered for the first time, across the globe to discuss and explore the various facets of MSC practice. 

The primary objective of the conference was to facilitate meaningful discussions, learn from each other's experiences, expand awareness of MSC, strengthen community ties, and explore  the potential  of MSC as a tool to help address future global challenges. Specifically, the conference aimed to showcase the diversity of MSC applications, from various locations, involving different populations, and interventions. It also sought to share best practices, and innovative approaches while exploring MSC's role in addressing contemporary issues such as power dynamics and technological changes.

Over the course of the 2 days conference 180 individuals attended, including 44 presenters, across 20 sessions. Participants’ feedback on their experiences of the event can be seen here. If you participated in the event but have not yet given your feedbackyou can still provide it here. 

17.07.24

Glossary of Terms, Pronace Ssys

El Colegio de México

The National Strategic Program (Pronace) of Socioecological Systems and Sustainability (SSyS) represents one of the 10 main axes of action defined by the Mexican scientific policy in relation to national problems, and supported by the National Council of Humanities, Science and Technology (CONAHCYT). Pronace SSyS promotes the transdisciplinary production of knowledge for the restoration and sustainable use of socioecological systems, care of social well-being and biocultural systems. To support the development of capacities of its collective work, a Glossary was generated to build a common language and vision (available in Spanish).

El Programa Estratégico Nacional (Pronace) de Sistemas Socioecológicos y Sustentabilidad (SSyS) representa uno de 10 principales ejes de acción definidos por la política científica mexicana en relación con problemas nacionales, sostenida por el Consejo Nacional de Humanidades, Ciencia y Tecnología (CONAHCYT). El Pronace SSyS promueve la producción transdisciplinaria del conocimiento para restauración y uso sustentable de los sistemas socioecológicos, cuidado del bienestar social y de los sistemas bioculturales. Para apoyar el desarrollo de capacidades de su colectivo de trabajo, se generó un Glosario que busca construir lenguaje común y una visión integrada (disponible en español)

17.07.24

Thanks to a successul SSH Energy Workshop

ETH Zurich

The 4th SSH Energy Workshop, held on June 17-18, 2024, at ETH Zurich, convened around 70 experts and researchers from various disciplines to delve into social sciences and humanities (SSH) perspectives on energy transitions. Read more about the event in this blog. 

11.07.24

TA-SWISS publishes two studies

TA-Swiss

Death and digitalization

Digitalization does not stop at death. A growing number of digital services make use of digital technologies to offer those concerned companionship and support at the end of life and beyond. A study commissioned by TA-SWISS has examined the impact of these «digital afterlife services» on both the dead and the living and concludes that, depending on how widespread these offers become, they can have a major impact on the ideas, beliefs, and conceptions of death in society as well as shape and alter the relationships between the living and the dead. There is therefore a need for high technical, legal and ethical standards, as well as for awareness raising among the general public, service providers and professionals in the funeral and bereavement sectors.

The study, an abridged version as well as further information here:
www.ta-swiss.ch/en/information-society/death-and-technology

Deepfakes and manipulated realities

It is next to impossible to imagine our digital world without images, videos and sounds recordings that have been created or altered with the help of artificial intelligence. A mix of different measures is needed to contain the potentially harmful consequences of deepfake technology such as non-consensual pornography, online fraud or the manipulation of public opinion through targeted misinformation. This is the assessment of a new TA-SWISS study which, at the same time, calls for the strengthening of personal responsibility and media literacy needed to unlock the positive side of synthetically generated media – for instance in entertainment and storytelling.

The study, an abridged version as well as further information here:
www.ta-swiss.ch/en/deepfakes

09.07.24

Team development is an essential team science competency

i2insights

How does a team develop purposefully from an assembly of individuals with a shared research interest to an integrated and interdependent team? What process can they put in place to explore and discover not just their own but each other’s motivations, needs, and values? What needs to be put in place to collaboratively establish a team culture, norms, and processes from which they can agree to operate?

Here we describe the Reflective-Reflexive Design Method that addresses intra- and inter-personal dynamics for team development.

01.07.24

"I want to be a professional Arrow when I grow up”: Pathways and opportunities for a new workforce. - Webinar Series is completed

Intereach

The video of the great webinar “A Pathway for Team Science Professionals: The First National Credential in Team Science” by Patrick Kelly is now on the Integration and Implementation Sciences Youtube channel. This webinar is the eighth and last in the series "I want to be a professional Arrow when I grow up”: Pathways and opportunities for a new workforce.

01.07.24

Why is it so hard to agree on definitions of interdisciplinarity and transdisciplinarity?

i2Insights

As more and more researchers, educators, universities and research organisations, funders, and policy makers become interested in interdisciplinarity and transdisciplinarity, the demand for clear unequivocal definitions of these terms grows. Why is agreeing on such definitions so hard? And what’s the way forward?

The late Julie Thompson Klein’s work tracking typologies of interdisciplinarity and transdisciplinarity over time (Klein, 2017) is revealing and provides the basis for this i2Insights contribution.