Seminar: Governance of transdisciplinary research partnerships

Multiple social and ecological crises are generating new cross-sectoral research questions that call for a transformation in contemporary science. In response, transdisciplinary research has been promoted to produce societally relevant, scientifically robust, and value-sensitive knowledge on sustainability transformations. By transcending established boundaries both among scientific disciplines and between science and society, transdisciplinary research aims to foster the co-production of knowledge for addressing the complex challenges of interdependent social and ecological systems. Yet, transdisciplinarity remains difficult to implement within existing academic systems.

This introductory seminar explores how transdisciplinary research can be organized and supported within the prevailing structures and logics of academic institutions. We will examine the governance mechanisms needed to facilitate knowledge co-production processes that generate actionable knowledge for real-world sustainability transformations. Particular attention will be given to the institutional and organizational conditions required to support such collaborations, as well as to key challenges such as time constraints, trust-building, the development of a shared language, and the evaluation and recognition of transdisciplinary research outputs both within and beyond academia. 

This seminar is part of the doctoral school Building Capacity in Transdisciplinary Research for Urban Sustainability Transformations, but can also be followed as an individual session.

Program

12:00-13:00 Introduction by de Stadsacademie (Prof. Thomas Block) 
Lecture by prof. Tom Dedeurwaerdere
Q&A (Moderated by Prof. Thomas Block)

13:00-13:30 Lunch  
13:30-16:00 World cafe: exchanging experiences about the governance of transdisciplinary partnerships

Biography of the speaker

Tom Dedeurwaerdere is a Professor of Philosophy of Science and Theory of Governance at the UCLouvain University, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium. His primary research interests lie in sustainable transformations and in participatory, collaborative research involving both the academic community and social actors. He co-directs LPTransition, a multidisciplinary and cross-sectoral scientific research platform. The platform aims to explore pathways toward the ecological and social transition of our societies from a transdisciplinary perspective—that is, through close collaboration with social actors and by drawing inspiration from the social innovations they initiate (https://lptransition.uclouvain.be). His latest book is titled Transdisciplinary Research, Sustainability and Social Transformation: Governance and Knowledge Co-production (available in full open access at Routledge).