Source: Öko-Institut e.V., 2024
Background:
Regina Rhodius works in various areas of transdisciplinary sustainability research. Her projects are linked to the question of how the interests and competencies of different stakeholders can be integrated into research projects from the outset. In recent years, she has focused on the conception, implementation, and research of real-world laboratories. Regina Rhodius is Senior Researcher at the Öko-Institut e.V. in the Transdisciplinary Sustainability Research Group (TransNaF) in Freiburg. She also heads the "Upper Rhine Forest Laboratory" project at the University of Freiburg.
What do you find interesting about transdisciplinary research?
"Research projects can generally take surprising turns. If you take transdisciplinarity seriously, it becomes even more surprising. This is because stakeholders from administration, civil society, business, and politics bring their own perspectives and demands to the table. Finding the right mode of collaboration for each project is challenging and a lot of fun."
What is your role in the tdAcademy team and what do you find exciting about it?
"In the "Innovate Formats" thematic line, we are currently working with our colleagues from ITAS in Karlsruhe on the question of how formats and methods of transdisciplinary research can be selected in a context-sensitive manner or adapted to the contextual conditions of a project. I find it exciting to work out when it is "only" important to make the contextual conditions transparent for all participants and when the choice of format and methods should be based on them."