Exploring and expanding transdisciplinary research for sustainable and just natural resource management
Transdisciplinarity is gaining acceptance in sustainability science research as an approach to work across disparate types of knowledge and practices in order to tackle complex social-ecological problems. On paper, transdisciplinarity appears to be substantially helpful, but in practice, participant...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Resilience Alliance
2019-12-01
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| Series: | Ecology and Society |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol24/iss4/art14/ |
| _version_ | 1819118616473239552 |
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| author | Margaret G. Wolff Jessica J. Cockburn Chris De Wet Joana Carlos Bezerra Matthew J. T. Weaver Andiswa Finca Alta De Vos Mateboho M. Ralekhetla Notiswa Libala Qawekazi B. Mkabile Oghenekaro Nelson. Odume Carolyn G. Palmer |
| author_facet | Margaret G. Wolff Jessica J. Cockburn Chris De Wet Joana Carlos Bezerra Matthew J. T. Weaver Andiswa Finca Alta De Vos Mateboho M. Ralekhetla Notiswa Libala Qawekazi B. Mkabile Oghenekaro Nelson. Odume Carolyn G. Palmer |
| author_sort | Margaret G. Wolff |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Transdisciplinarity is gaining acceptance in sustainability science research as an approach to work across disparate types of knowledge and practices in order to tackle complex social-ecological problems. On paper, transdisciplinarity appears to be substantially helpful, but in practice, participants may remain voiceless and disadvantaged. In this paper, we retrospectively investigate four case studies using recent design principles for transdisciplinary research, to explore a deeper understanding of the practical successes and failures of transdisciplinary research engagement. We show that the transdisciplinary way of working is time consuming, challenging, and insists that researchers and participants contribute reflexively. Careful attention to research design and methodology is central. The acceptance that complexity renders knowledge provisional, and complete honesty about the purpose of the research are critical to building relationships between researchers and participants. Gaining an understanding of the values people hold influences the research process and the possible outcomes toward sustainable and just natural resource management. We suggest that in order to enable sustainable and just natural resource management, transdisciplinary research should include values and ethics in the design, implementation, and reporting of projects. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-22T05:51:43Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-96559f64a32e43d09e0a676881db5ce3 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1708-3087 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-22T05:51:43Z |
| publishDate | 2019-12-01 |
| publisher | Resilience Alliance |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Ecology and Society |
| spelling | doaj.art-96559f64a32e43d09e0a676881db5ce32022-12-21T18:36:50ZengResilience AllianceEcology and Society1708-30872019-12-012441410.5751/ES-11077-24041411077Exploring and expanding transdisciplinary research for sustainable and just natural resource managementMargaret G. Wolff0Jessica J. Cockburn1Chris De Wet2Joana Carlos Bezerra3Matthew J. T. Weaver4Andiswa Finca5Alta De Vos6Mateboho M. Ralekhetla7Notiswa Libala8Qawekazi B. Mkabile9Oghenekaro Nelson. Odume10Carolyn G. Palmer11Institute for Water Research, Rhodes University, Makhanda/Grahamstown, South AfricaEnvironmental Learning Research Centre, Department of Education, Rhodes University, Makhanda/Grahamstown, South AfricaDepartment of Anthropology, Rhodes University, Makhanda/Grahamstown, South AfricaCommunity Engagement Division, Rhodes University, Makhanda/Grahamstown, South AfricaInstitute for Water Research, Rhodes University, Makhanda/Grahamstown, South AfricaAgricultural Research Council - Animal Production Institute, Makhanda/Grahamstown, South AfricaDepartment of Environmental Science, Rhodes University, Makhanda/Grahamstown, South AfricaInstitute for Water Research, Rhodes University, Makhanda/Grahamstown, South AfricaInstitute for Water Research, Rhodes University, Makhanda/Grahamstown, South AfricaInstitute for Water Research, Rhodes University, Makhanda/Grahamstown, South AfricaUnilever Centre for Environmental Water Quality, Institute for Water Research, Rhodes University, Makhanda/Grahamstown, South AfricaInstitute for Water Research, Rhodes University, Makhanda/Grahamstown, South AfricaTransdisciplinarity is gaining acceptance in sustainability science research as an approach to work across disparate types of knowledge and practices in order to tackle complex social-ecological problems. On paper, transdisciplinarity appears to be substantially helpful, but in practice, participants may remain voiceless and disadvantaged. In this paper, we retrospectively investigate four case studies using recent design principles for transdisciplinary research, to explore a deeper understanding of the practical successes and failures of transdisciplinary research engagement. We show that the transdisciplinary way of working is time consuming, challenging, and insists that researchers and participants contribute reflexively. Careful attention to research design and methodology is central. The acceptance that complexity renders knowledge provisional, and complete honesty about the purpose of the research are critical to building relationships between researchers and participants. Gaining an understanding of the values people hold influences the research process and the possible outcomes toward sustainable and just natural resource management. We suggest that in order to enable sustainable and just natural resource management, transdisciplinary research should include values and ethics in the design, implementation, and reporting of projects.http://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol24/iss4/art14/complex social-ecological systemsethicsreflexivitysustainability sciencetransdisciplinarityvalues |
| spellingShingle | Margaret G. Wolff Jessica J. Cockburn Chris De Wet Joana Carlos Bezerra Matthew J. T. Weaver Andiswa Finca Alta De Vos Mateboho M. Ralekhetla Notiswa Libala Qawekazi B. Mkabile Oghenekaro Nelson. Odume Carolyn G. Palmer Exploring and expanding transdisciplinary research for sustainable and just natural resource management Ecology and Society complex social-ecological systems ethics reflexivity sustainability science transdisciplinarity values |
| title | Exploring and expanding transdisciplinary research for sustainable and just natural resource management |
| title_full | Exploring and expanding transdisciplinary research for sustainable and just natural resource management |
| title_fullStr | Exploring and expanding transdisciplinary research for sustainable and just natural resource management |
| title_full_unstemmed | Exploring and expanding transdisciplinary research for sustainable and just natural resource management |
| title_short | Exploring and expanding transdisciplinary research for sustainable and just natural resource management |
| title_sort | exploring and expanding transdisciplinary research for sustainable and just natural resource management |
| topic | complex social-ecological systems ethics reflexivity sustainability science transdisciplinarity values |
| url | http://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol24/iss4/art14/ |
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