Partnering for Change: Link Research to Societal Challenges

Discover the methods and tools of transdisciplinary research.

In today’s world, we face many complex societal challenges. Projects addressing these challenges often involve actors and stakeholders from different fields and disciplines bringing together their own perspectives or knowledge on a topic. Accordingly, collaborative transdisciplinary approaches are crucial for the success of a project.

In this course, you’ll explore how to meet the challenges of conducting effective transdisciplinary research. You’ll gain insights into a variety of case studies from different fields as you learn from the experiences of peers and experts.

Students and researchers from all backgrounds; stakeholders involved in searching solutions for complex societal challenges. Mentoring will take place from Monday, March 14 to Friday, April 22, 2022.

• Complex societal challenges – a tough nut to crack
• Societal challenges and research
• Setting the frame
• Cases – societal challenges addressed
• Reflecting on the week
• Transdisciplinarity – introduction and clarification
• What is transdisciplinary research?
• Basic concepts in transdisciplinary research
• Cases – context and actors
• Reflecting on the week
• Setting up a transdisciplinary research project
• Phases of transdisciplinary research
• Important steps of a co-designing
• Cases – from an idea to a project
• Reflecting on the week
• Knowledge production
• Co-producing knowledge
• Interdisciplinary and participatory aspects
• Cases – co-production processes
• Reflecting on the week
• Reap the rewards – jointly producing outcomes
• Co-production towards action and reflection
• Cases – results and ways of impact
• Reflecting on the week
• Effects of involvement: moments of change
• Evaluation
• Situating transdisciplinarity
• Cases – reflection and evaluation
• Transdisciplinary research: your own pathway