Transdisciplinary learning as a key leverage for sustainability transformations

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Authors

Learning and transdisciplinary research are widely acknowledged as key components for achieving sustainability; however, the links between these concepts remain vague in the sustainability literature. Recently, emphasis has been given to transdisciplinary learning, highlighting its potential as an approach that contributes to solving real-world problems. To better understand and foster transdisciplinary learning for sustainability transformations, it is relevant to pay attention to two dimensions that define transdisciplinary learning: social interaction (individual learning in a social setting, as a group, or beyond the group), and learning forms (single-, double-, or triple-loop learning). This article introduces a conceptual framework built upon these two dimensions to understand three specific forms of transdisciplinary learning as a) individual competence development, b) experience-based collaboration, and c) societal interaction. This framework helps to clarify the design of learning processes as well as their interactions in transdisciplinary processes to support transformative change.

Original languageEnglish
Article number101361
JournalCurrent Opinion in Environmental Sustainability
Volume64
Number of pages8
ISSN1877-3435
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 01.10.2023

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
DPML and DJL were supported by the project “tdAcademy — Platform for Transdisciplinary Research and Studies”, funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) within the framework of the strategy Research for Sustainability (FONA) www.fona.de/en as part of its Social–Ecological Research funding priority, funding no. Fkz 01UV2070A .

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