At the beginning of spring, we are not only looking forward to more sunshine and birdsong, but also to exciting and promising fellow groups visiting the partner institutes of the tdAcademy in the coming weeks and months. During their stay, the fellows, who are funded by the Robert Bosch Stiftung, will conduct research on a variety of topics relevant to transdisciplinary research.
This 'Fellow Spring' kicked off with an international fellow group exploring how relationships can be built and shaped for context-sensitive transdisciplinary research as part of ‚Topic line 3: Contextual Dependencies'. For one week, the researchers David Manuel-Navarrette (School of Sustainability, Arizona State University, USA), Zainal Abidin Bin Sanusi (International Islamic University, Malaysia) and Bagele Chilisa (Faculty of Education, University of Botswana, Botswana) were guests at Leuphana University Lüneburg. From the enriching and multifaceted exchange, the fellow group developed a learning module to strengthen ‚Relational Thinking‘ in transdisciplinary research projects. Five reflexive principles should support researchers in developing a sensitivity for different ways of relating in transdisciplinary research contexts.
In the coming days, a detailed report on the content of the learning module will be published in the Updates of ‚Topic Line 3: Contextual Interdependencies.
In mid-March, the next fellow group followed with the topic 'Forstering Inclusivity and Transformative Action through Narratives in Transdisciplinary Processes'. For the first part of their project, Paula Maria Bögel (University of Vechta), Karoline Augenstein (Bergische Universität Wuppertal) and Meike Levin-Keitel (TU Dortmund) organized a first workshop for transdisciplinary researchers at Leuphana University Lüneburg. Together, they reflected on which narratives played a role in previous transdisciplinary research projects and in what ways they influenced the research processes. In the coming months, the group will continue to work on developing design principles for narratives in transdisciplinary research, e.g. through further exchange formats with transdisciplinary researchers. To finish their research process, the fellow group will meet in Berlin in summer and visit the ZTG and the Öko-Institut.
In April, we look forward to welcoming Gemma O'Sullivan (EWUU Alliance, Netherlands), BinBin Pearce (Delft University of Technology, Netherlands), Jillian Student (Wageningen University & Research, Netherlands) and Ulrike Zeshan (University of Central Lancanshire, United Kingdom) at ISOE in Frankfurt. There, the Fellows will deeply explore the topic 'Transdisciplinary Teaching and Learning for Collective Transformation'. This is already the second meeting of this fellow group. There was also a joint online exchange with the fellow group 'Context: Building relations across contexts in transdisciplinary research‘, where both groups engaged in conversation about their thematic intersections and how they will proceed with the fellowship.
Likewise beginning in April, Alicia Jiménez (Earth Charter Secretariat, Costa Rica) and Charles Hopkins (York University, Canada) will conduct research on 'Transdisciplinarity for Holistic Sustainability Education' and the development of new learning approaches. The two will be guests at Leuphana University Lüneburg until the end of May 2023 and will, among other things, research evaluation methods of value-based ESD processes (Education for Sustainable Development) in higher education institutions, engage in a dialogue with citizens of Lüneburg and develop a training module for teachers.
Additionally, we welcome María D. López Rodríguez (University of Almería, Spain) as a guest at Leuphana University Lüneburg. She will be working with the SESI (Social-Ecological Systems Institute) at Leuphana University for two months from April to May this year. Her project is dedicated to the question of how art-based research approaches can be used to mobilize different actors in the field of sustainability governance for more collective action.
Visits by other fellow groups are already being planned and will take place in the second half of this year.
The background of the Guest and Fellowship Programme:
The Guest and Fellowship Programme funded by the Robert Bosch Stiftung enables an active involvement of relevant actors of transdisciplinary research in the tdAcademy. Researchers, also targeting specifically Early Career Researchers from the global south and global north, have the opportunity to widen their network, exchange their research experiences, discuss the latest developments of transdisciplinary research, and present their own research to the global community. Guests and fellows can work individually or collaboratively on specific topics, write publications or position papers and develop innovative approaches and ideas.
For more information on the Guest and Fellowship Programme, as well as detailed information on the individual groups and fellows, click here.