Demarcating transdisciplinary research in sustainability science—Five clusters of research modes based on evidence from 59 research projects

Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

Authors

The discourse revolving around “new modes of knowledge production”—particularly in sustainability-oriented research—seems to suggest a duality of transdisciplinary versus non-transdisciplinary research. Yet, in reality, a spectrum of transdisciplinary research modes may be expected. This article offers an empirically grounded distinction of five research modes, based on a cluster analysis of 59 completed sustainability-oriented research projects. Projects in one cluster approximate a transdisciplinary ideal type, while another cluster combines almost purely practice-oriented projects. Among the three remaining clusters with varying degrees of practitioner interaction, one cluster assembles projects with strictly academic research, while realizing substantial societal impact. Furthermore, our analyses indicate that the choice of research mode strongly depends on the funding context, with mission-oriented funding encouraging more collaborative modes. Overall, clusters with more practitioner interaction display stronger societal outputs and impacts at the cost of academic outputs and impacts. Beyond the demarcation of transdisciplinary research modes in sustainability science, our empirical analysis revealed three important tensions related to the theory and practice of this research approach: the duality of science and society (and scholars and practitioners); imbalances in the involvement and influence of different societal actor groups; and tensions between societal and academic outputs and impacts.

Original languageEnglish
JournalSustainable Development
Volume30
Issue number2
Pages (from-to)343-357
Number of pages15
ISSN0968-0802
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 01.04.2022

Bibliographical note

The authors would like to thank the members of our advisory group, Antonietta di Giulio, Rico Defila, Michael Pregernig, Arnim Wiek and Michael Stauffacher, for their constructive and valuable feedback in early stages of this research; Nicolas W. Jager for reviewing the clustering procedure; the German Research Foundation for providing the funding for the research project Modes of sustainability‐related research in comparison (MONA): Modes of research and their impact on scientific and societal project outcomes under grant numbers NE1207/4‐1 to Jens Newig and LA3024/1‐1 to Daniel J. Lang; staff from the German Research Foundation and the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research for their support in preparing the data collection; project heads, researchers and practitioners involved in the investigated sustainability‐oriented research projects for providing us with project documents, as well as for participating in a survey and semi‐structured interviews; our student assistants Marie Josefine Hintz, Marie Weiß, Marion Blome, Sophia Schönig, Maria Brück, Silke Bölts, Alina Langkau, Franziska Steinbrügge, Jakob Wondra and Inga Melchior for their long‐term and outstanding support with regard to data collection and data editing in preparation for this article.

DOI

Recently viewed

Publications

  1. Random year intercepts in mixed models help to assess uncertainties in insect population trends
  2. Correction to
  3. Exporter and Importer Dynamics Database for Germany
  4. The Influence of Adjustment Costs on Labour Adjustment: An Analysis Using Panel Data for Manufacturing Establishments in Lower Saxony
  5. Design of an Over-Actuated Hexacopter Tilt-Rotor for Landing and Coupling in Power Transmission Lines
  6. Einführung in die systemnahe Programmierung
  7. What if this was a piece of art
  8. Values shift in response to social learning through deliberation about protected areas
  9. Programme des Lebens und Überlebens
  10. E-Mail als sozio-technisches Hybrid
  11. Comparing eye movements during mathematical word problem solving in Chinese and German
  12. Case-based learning in teacher education
  13. Effectiveness of a web-based intervention for injured claimants
  14. Weisheit
  15. Is Calluna vulgaris a suitable bio-monitor of management-mediated nutrient pools in heathland ecosystems?
  16. From Adaptive to Specific
  17. The impact of weather variability and climate change on pesticide applications in the US - An empirical investigation
  18. Overview of Non-Apis Bees
  19. Personal initiative at work
  20. Variation in gaze following across the life span
  21. Human development and the "explosion" of democracy
  22. Learning the hard way
  23. Measurement estimation in primary school
  24. Paradoxe Kritik
  25. European and national law in history and future
  26. Whistle-Blowing heißt nicht: „verpfeifen“
  27. Crowdsourcing
  28. Does syndication with local venture capitalists moderate the effects of geographical and institutional distances?
  29. Establishing an infrastructure for collaboration in primate cognition research
  30. Trace Analysis of the Antineoplastics Ifosfamide and Cyclophosphamide in Sewage Water by Two-Step Solid-Phase Extraction and Gas Chromatography Mass Spectrometry
  31. The Break In and With History
  32. More than the sum of its parts? Synergy and picturebook translation
  33. Editorial overview
  34. Does fragmentation contribute to the forest crisis in Germany?
  35. Different ways lead to ambidexterity
  36. Sufficiency as a "Strategy of the Enough": Curbing ecological crises and injustices.
  37. Web-based occupational stress prevention in German micro- and small-sized enterprises – process evaluation results of an implementation study
  38. I'm lonely, can't you tell?
  39. Dry high speed milling as a new machining technology of ceramics for biomedical and other applications
  40. To the unknown reader: Constructing absent readership in the eighteenth-century novel: Fielding, Sterne and Richardson
  41. Patterns of entrepreneurial career development