TY - JOUR

T1 - Making transdisciplinarity happen

T2 - Phase 0, or before the beginning

AU - Horcea-Milcu, Andra Ioana

AU - Leventon, Julia

AU - Lang, Daniel J.

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2022 The Authors

PY - 2022/10/1

Y1 - 2022/10/1

N2 - Both within science and society, transdisciplinary approaches are increasingly employed to address today's sustainability challenges. Often transdisciplinary research processes are structured in three core phases: a) problem identification and formation of a common research object; b) co-production of solution-oriented and transferable knowledge; c) embedding co-produced knowledge through transdisciplinary reintegration. In all phases of this ideal-typical model, the involvement of non-academic actors is essential to meet the challenges of real-world problems, and of transformative research practices. Despite existing guidance for the core transdisciplinary process, its initiation often remains an uncharted area because of its strong context dependency. Based on a concrete transdisciplinary case study addressing sustainability transformation in Transylvania, we bring together our learned experience with initiating a transdisciplinary process using a research-driven approach. To this end, we introduce the notion of Phase 0, as an initiating phase prior to beginning an ideal-typical transdisciplinary process. Within Phase 0, we propose three empirically and literature informed sub-phases: Sub-Phase 0.1) selecting the case study; Sub-Phase 0.2) understanding the case study context from a transdisciplinary perspective; Sub-Phase 0.3) fostering premises for coming together. We outline the general rationale behind these sub-phases, and we illustrate how we carried out each sub-phase in practice. By deriving cross-cutting lessons from the three sub-phases, we enhance the practice of transdisciplinary sustainability research with the aim to leverage its transformative potential.

AB - Both within science and society, transdisciplinary approaches are increasingly employed to address today's sustainability challenges. Often transdisciplinary research processes are structured in three core phases: a) problem identification and formation of a common research object; b) co-production of solution-oriented and transferable knowledge; c) embedding co-produced knowledge through transdisciplinary reintegration. In all phases of this ideal-typical model, the involvement of non-academic actors is essential to meet the challenges of real-world problems, and of transformative research practices. Despite existing guidance for the core transdisciplinary process, its initiation often remains an uncharted area because of its strong context dependency. Based on a concrete transdisciplinary case study addressing sustainability transformation in Transylvania, we bring together our learned experience with initiating a transdisciplinary process using a research-driven approach. To this end, we introduce the notion of Phase 0, as an initiating phase prior to beginning an ideal-typical transdisciplinary process. Within Phase 0, we propose three empirically and literature informed sub-phases: Sub-Phase 0.1) selecting the case study; Sub-Phase 0.2) understanding the case study context from a transdisciplinary perspective; Sub-Phase 0.3) fostering premises for coming together. We outline the general rationale behind these sub-phases, and we illustrate how we carried out each sub-phase in practice. By deriving cross-cutting lessons from the three sub-phases, we enhance the practice of transdisciplinary sustainability research with the aim to leverage its transformative potential.

KW - Co-creation

KW - Co-design

KW - Leverage points

KW - Reflexivity

KW - Sustainability initiatives

KW - Sustainability transformation

KW - Transdisciplinary studies

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85132792818&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1016/j.envsci.2022.05.019

DO - 10.1016/j.envsci.2022.05.019

M3 - Journal articles

AN - SCOPUS:85132792818

VL - 136

SP - 187

EP - 197

JO - Environmental Science and Policy

JF - Environmental Science and Policy

SN - 1462-9011

ER -