Fellow Groups

The Fellow Group "Transdisciplinary Research and its Scientific Impact: Insights and implications from health research and sustainability research on interconnected health-environmental challenges, collaborative approaches, and structural development in science" is composed of Richard Beecroft (KIT-Center Humans & Technology, DE), Guido Caniglia (Konrad Lorenz Institute for Evolution and Cognition Research (KLI), AT), Evelyne de Leeuw UNSW Australia Research Centre for Primary Health Care & Equity, AUS), Alfred Rütten (Department of Sport Science and Sport, Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nuremberg, DE), Jana Semrau (Department of Sport Science and Sport, Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nuremberg, DE).

The fellows will be focusing on advancing the study of the interface between sustainability research and health research, which has been little researched so far. The group seeks to strengthen transdisciplinary approaches through conducting a systematic inventory of existing research at the aforementioned interface in order to gain a better empirically based understanding of the scientific effects of transdisciplinary research in this field. In doing so, the group hopes to gain new insights regarding both the methodological and theoretical advancement of transdisciplinary research.

Starting in June 2023, the group will meet several times online as well as in a face-to-face meeting at ISOE.

The fellow group consisting of Dena Fam (UTS, AU), Livia Fritz (EPFL, CH), Ulli Vilsmaier (Responsive Research, CH) with Juliana Mercon (University of Veracruz, MX) as associated member focuses on the transformation of universities towards dynamic and relational inter- and transdisciplinary institutions through the lens of Antiono Gramsci's concept of hegemony. The groups objectives are: to understand how universities develop and implement strategies, integrated practices, and organizational models that enable inter- and transdisciplinary research and teaching as well as to develop a perspective that accounts for the broader societal, i.e. political-historical, economic and socio-cultural context conditions that enable or hinder such transformations. The intensive working phase of the fellow group was between October and December 2021. This publication was produced as part of the Fellowship: The Responsive and Constitutive Character of Transdisciplinarity: Consequences for Higher Education (Fam, Dena, & Vilsmaier, Ulli (2022). The Responsive and Constitutive Character of Transdiciplinarity: Consequences for Higher Education, Journal of educational studies,21(2), 30–50.) Learn more

The fellow group consisting of Rachel Claus (Royal Roads University, CA), Janet Harris (University of Sheffield, UK) as well as Josefa Kny and Martina Schäfer (both ZTG, TU Berlin, DE) from the tdAcademy team deals with approaches and methods of impact assessment and evaluation in transdisciplinary or participatory research in the three fields of research for development, sustainability and (public) health. The group has been working together continuously and decentrally since summer 2021. Learn more

The fellow group consisting of David Manuel-Navarrette (School of Sustainability, Arizona State University, US), Sarah Burch (University of Waterloo, CA), Zainal Abidin Bin Sanusi (International Islamic University, MY) and Bagele Chilisa (Faculty of Education, University of Botswana, BW) will work on context dependencies of transdisciplinary research. They will pursue a self-reflective and explorative approach through which they will collaboratively study the value and dynamics of relations in transdisciplinary research. A central component of these considerations will also be the reflection on one's own experiences with relationships as a researcher, whereby, in addition to the personal level, a historical perspective on the production and recognition of knowledge(s) in relations is important to the fellows.

In this fellow group, Gemma O'Sullivan (EWUU Alliance, NL), BinBin Pearce (Delft University of Technology, NL), Jillian Student (Wageningen University & Research, NL) and Ulrike Zeshan (University of Central Lancashire, UK) jointly work on the topic of TD Teaching and Learning. The group aims to address knowledge gaps related to TD curricula that are centred around the development of competencies to address societal challenges connected to sustainable development. The fellows want to explore to which extent TD concepts and methods may be merged with other action-oriented approaches to learning (e.g. challenge-based learning, participatory action research, transitions management research). Additionally, the group would like to investigate the conditions that help fostering lifelong learning competencies among actors in the field of education and transdisciplinary research. They envision outputs in the areas of network formation, evaluation of research, bringing together best practice examples, and communication about TD learning.

The group will meet four times between Winter 2022 and Summer 2023. Each time, they will be hosted by a different tdAcademy institution to promote knowledge sharing among the team and the four different institutions.

The fellow group around Paula Maria Bögel (Universität Vechta, DE), Karoline Augenstein (Bergische Universität Wuppertal, DE) and Meike Levin-Keitel (TU Dortmund, DE) has the objective to develop a narrative perspective on analyzing mechanisms of change and to derive design principles for narratives in TD research formats, such as real-world labs. In this way, the group aims to contribute to more inclusivity in TD knowledge and to foster exchange with practitioners.The fellows would like to align their work with some of the following questions: How can abstract data and facts about sustainability challenges be translated into personally meaningful narratives? How are specific identities at individual and collective levels formed through narrative, and the other way around? How can narrative processes (e.g. joint storytelling in real-world labs) foster trust, accountability and collective action? Planned outputs are the design principles for narratives in transdisciplinary research, the exchange with the wider TD community through hosting discussions, the public dissemination of their results on several platforms and a final publication on their work. The Fellow Group has created an online course that aims to provide a comprehensive understanding of narratives in transformation. The full content of the course "Narratives in Sustainability Transformations" can be found in our capacity building section and includes video lectures, interviews and case studies.

The fellows Alicia Jiménez (Earth Charter Secretariat, CR) and Charles Hopkins (York University, CAN) will work on transforming Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) with transdisciplinary innovative approaches. The objective of their fellowship is to deepen the discussion around the changes needed to create education processes that serve the common good, to contribute solving real world complex problems, and to explore ESD in a local context.

They will investigate assessment methods for value based ESD processes in higher education institutions. They intend to develop a quality seal for ESD that incorporates an ethical perspective on sustainability. They also jointly aim to develop an in-service teacher training module that will empower schools to become agents of social transformation. In addition, they will collaborate with the residents of Lüneburg through community dialogues to create a blueprint for engaging the public in identifying relevant local ESD themes. The fellows will discuss their work results together with Leuphana staff members and students involved in education research and learning.

In the period from April to May 2023, Alica Jiménez and Charles Hopkins will work together at the Leuphana University.

The Fellow Group “What is a “good” transformation and who gets to define it?” is composed of Benjamin Hofmann (Eawag, Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology, CH), Elisabeth Berger (iES Landau, Institute for Environmental Sciences, RPTU Kaiserlautern-Landau, DE), Franziska Ehnert (Leibniz Institute of Ecological Urban and Regional Development, DE), Alexandra Polido (GOVCOPP, DCSPT, University of Aveiro, PT), Jasmin Jossin (German Institute of Urban Affairs, DE), Lisa Bossenbroek (iES Landau, Institute for Environmental Sciences, RPTU Kaiserlautern-Landau, DE), Hanna Ahlström (Earth System Governance research fellow, NO) und Sara Maestre (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, ES).

The fellows will be focusing on questions around what transformation actually means, how to know what a “good” transformation is, how power dynamics between societal actors can be understood and what the implications are for the “ideal” transdisciplinary process in the phase of problem-framing and identification of a desirable future (target knowledge)? The fellow group works on how this issue can be better conceptualized and approached in situations where there is no consensus on what is a “good” transformation?

Starting in August 2023, the group will meet several times online as well as in a face-to-face meeting together with fellow group “Improving critical social science skills in transdisciplinary transformative change initiatives (ICSSS in TTCIs)” in Frankfurt at the end of November 2023. The group plans to host a tdAcademy webinar and discuss their findings at the end of the fellowship.

The Fellow Group “Improving critical social science skills in transdisciplinary transformative change initiatives (ICSSS in TTCIs)” is composed of Sierra Deutsch (University of Zurich, CH), Amanda Jiménez Aceituno (Stockholm Resilience Center, SE), André Mascarenhas (Institute of Landscape Planning and Ecology, University of Stuttgart, DE), Marco Teixeira (Freie Universität Berlin, DE), Leila Niamir (International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA), AT).

The fellows will be focusing on how to improve critical social science skills in transdisciplinary transformative change initiatives as transdisciplinary teams often lack the skills and knowledge to meaningfully engage critical social theory in TTCI processes and practices. The fellow group will develop a training concept to provide critical social theory skills to participants in transdisciplinary projects. The training will outline a facilitation process for TTCIs to teach strategies and tools to engage with critical social theory.

Starting in August 2023, the group will meet several times online as well as in a face-to-face meeting together with fellow group “What is a “good” transformation and who gets to define it?” in Frankfurt at the end of November 2023. The group plans to host a tdAcademy webinar and discuss their findings at the end of the fellowship.

The Fellow Group composed of Denise Margaret S. Matias (Eberswalde University for Sustainable Development, DE), Maysoun Mustafa (Taighde Éireann - Research Ireland, IE), Maximilian Spiegelberg (FEAST NPO, JP), Cory Whitney (University of Bonn, DE) is working on the topic "How cognitive structures affect the future: Co-developing mental models and scenario modeling research on SDG interactions" originally co-developed by D.M.S. Matias with Mario Angst (Universität Zürich - Digital Society Initiative, CH), Karlijn Lisette van den Broek (Utrecht University, NL), and Genevieve Metson (Linköping University, SE).  The fellows are focusing on the synergies between scenario modeling (process to understand possible outcomes) and mental models (internal representations) around the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and its global implementation. The fellows aim to reflect on broader questions on how scenario and mental model research in sustainability transformations can achieve transdisciplinary goals. The fellow group will hold their first in-person meeting in September 2024, right after the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) Summit of the Future and will meet again on two more occasions until March 2025.