Source: Sitha Reiss, 2023
The two tdAcademy Fellow Groups “What is a ‘good’ transformation and who gets to define it?” and “Improving critical social science skills in transdisciplinary transformative change initiatives (ICSSS in TTCIs)” met up with members of the Institute for Social-Ecological Research (ISOE) on Tuesday, 21st of November, in Frankfurt at the Senckenberg Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre (SBIK-F). Even though the two Fellow Groups are officially separate working groups, they have decided that it makes organizational and conceptual sense to work closely together. After getting to know each other, the first half of the day was spent discussing the topic of defining "good" transformation and its stakeholders. They discussed how "good" transformations can be conceptualized and also who the agents of transformation actually are. One insight was that the agents who are already part of a transformation should increase the agency of marginalized agents.
The second part of the day was all about enhancing critical social science skills in transdisciplinary transformative change initiatives. Building upon the conceptual debate, the focus was shifted towards practical applications. Various trans- and interdisciplinary methods and toolboxes, e.g. the td-net toolbox or the game COLLAB, were examined and discussed in group work with regard to critical, reflective and justice-sensitive aspects. Building on the conceptual discussion from the first half of the day, participants were able to reflect on where and how the tools could be improved to incorporate the role of systems of power in (blocking) transformations.
The "graphic recording" by Sitha Reiss was a valuable accompaniment to the discussion. After the exchange with the ISOE members, the Fellow Groups met for two more days in Frankfurt to address both issues in depth. The results of the work of the two Fellow Groups will also be published on the tdAcademy website.
The meeting of the two Fellow Groups was attended by Alexandra Lux, Oskar Marg, Lena Theiler and Chantal Krumm from ISOE - Institute for Social-Ecological Research. They are also active in the tdAcademy project.
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), and Sara Maestre (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, ES)
The Fellow Group “Improving critical social science skills in transdisciplinary transformative change initiatives (ICSSS in TTCIs)” includes:
- 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)