TY - JOUR

T1 - Models of transdisciplinary knowledge production at universities

T2 - a Romanian case study

AU - Vienni Baptista, Bianca

AU - Vilsmaier, Ulli

N1 - The authors specially want to thank the ‘Leverage Points for Sustainability Transformations’ project for funding the research conducive to this article (funded by the Volkswagen Stiftung), hosted by Leuphana University of Lüneburg (Germany). Researchers at the Babes-Bolyai University (Cluj, Rumania) interviewed for this study. They provided us with their valuable insights and time. Finally, the authors also thank the editors and two anonymous reviewers for helpful comments that helped to improve our article. Publisher Copyright: © 2021 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

PY - 2022

Y1 - 2022

N2 - The main objective of this study is to better understand the challenges of transdisciplinary knowledge production processes and its institutionalisation at universities. Transdisciplinary research is considered a collaborative and integrative praxis grounded in different ways of knowing, acting and being. However, transdisciplinary research practices differ significantly in the relations between institutions and actors. These differences have an impact on how transdisciplinarity is institutionalised. There is a need to incorporate them into a larger framework of ongoing transformations of scientific timescales and spaces at universities. We present the results of a case study developed at Babes-Bolyai University (Romania). We discuss it against the background of three models of transdisciplinary knowledge production and two approaches of transdisciplinary problem-solving research. We apply a qualitative methodology of micro level analysis that explores research practices and their embeddedness in the institutional environment. We analyse conditions that enable transdisciplinary knowledge production and show how transdisciplinary institutionalisation can be better understood using the proposed framework applied to the case study. It could be shown that taking into consideration the differences in the models of transdisciplinary knowledge production proved to be useful to gain a deeper understanding of processes of institutionalising transdisciplinarity at universities.

AB - The main objective of this study is to better understand the challenges of transdisciplinary knowledge production processes and its institutionalisation at universities. Transdisciplinary research is considered a collaborative and integrative praxis grounded in different ways of knowing, acting and being. However, transdisciplinary research practices differ significantly in the relations between institutions and actors. These differences have an impact on how transdisciplinarity is institutionalised. There is a need to incorporate them into a larger framework of ongoing transformations of scientific timescales and spaces at universities. We present the results of a case study developed at Babes-Bolyai University (Romania). We discuss it against the background of three models of transdisciplinary knowledge production and two approaches of transdisciplinary problem-solving research. We apply a qualitative methodology of micro level analysis that explores research practices and their embeddedness in the institutional environment. We analyse conditions that enable transdisciplinary knowledge production and show how transdisciplinary institutionalisation can be better understood using the proposed framework applied to the case study. It could be shown that taking into consideration the differences in the models of transdisciplinary knowledge production proved to be useful to gain a deeper understanding of processes of institutionalising transdisciplinarity at universities.

KW - case study

KW - institutionalisation

KW - knowledge production

KW - Romanian university

KW - Transdisciplinarity

KW - Transdisciplinary studies

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85104752172&partnerID=8YFLogxK

UR - https://www.mendeley.com/catalogue/ad8a9c15-b33c-3bca-a68e-c2d3ab1fe013/

U2 - 10.1080/07294360.2021.1910208

DO - 10.1080/07294360.2021.1910208

M3 - Journal articles

AN - SCOPUS:85104752172

VL - 41

SP - 1757

EP - 1772

JO - Higher Education Research and Development

JF - Higher Education Research and Development

SN - 0729-4360

IS - 5

ER -