Source: Karoline Augstein, 2023
Focusing on narratives of change rather than problems and reporting on solution-oriented approaches is what Christiane Langrock-Kögel does at the Communications Office for Social Entrepreneurship “Kombüse”. Her work stands in the tradition of constructive journalism and the idea that positive examples and experiential knowledge of transformative action need a platform. Storytelling and narratives of change play a fundamental role in this. But which narratives do we actually use in our transdisciplinary projects and research? Who do we address with them - and how inclusive are the narratives of our transdisciplinary projects?
In a four-hour workshop in Berlin, we as the tdAcademy Fellowgroup "Fostering inclusivity and transformative research through narratives in transdisciplinary processes" invited fourteen people from academia and practice to talk about narratives of change in our work. Inspired by an impulse lecture by Christiane Langrock-Kögel and her collaborative project of the journal LAND, we shared experiences with narratives in transdisciplinary projects and how we approach the role of narratives in sustainability transformation research. The discussion revolved around the question of whether and how specific narratives of change can foster transformative action in practice and how they can be used in transdisciplinary research projects.
First in small groups, then in a plenary session with all participants, it became clear that narratives can usefully be analyzed from different disciplinary perspectives and that a deeper understanding of different dimensions of narratives can guide their use in practice and in transdisciplinary settings: it is important to consider senders and addressees (who is behind the narrative and how integrative is its message?), or the development of narratives (is the narrative already existing and being expanded or is it being proactively developed from scratch in the process?). Particularly inspiring were the discussions we had about underlying theories of change reflected in narratives, i.e. the basic assumptions of how transformation can succeed and to what extent they shape transdisciplinary processes.
Outcomes of this workshop are not only that we had a fruitful exchange of perspectives and reflection of narratives of change in our various contexts in science and practice. We arrived at a shared understanding of how narratives reveal far more than the specific story they tell and how this shapes transdisciplinary and transformative projects. We would like to sincerely thank all participants, especially the ZTG as our host institution in Berlin, for the lively discussions and the shared learning process!