737322 Inter- and transdisciplinary approaches and processes

Type
Lecture and exercise
Semester hours
4
Lecturer (assistant)
Lopez Cifuentes, Marta , Smetschka, Barbara , Spittler, Nathalie , Dörler, Daniel , Heigl, Florian , Bohunovsky, Lisa , Mayer, Monika , Penker, Marianne , Plank, Christina , Lemke, Stefanie , Radinger-Peer, Verena , Reinwald, Florian
Organisation
Social Ecology
Offered in
Sommersemester 2025
Languages of instruction
Englisch
Content

Inter-and transdisciplinary (ID/TD) approaches are of high importance in climate and sustainability sciences. This course offers knowledge about different inter- and transdisciplinary approaches, including collaborative and transformative, co-conceptualizing and co-creating research and methods.

The course consists of 7 lecture units and 7 exercise units. Lectures include
1.Introduction: diversity of disciplines in this VU
2.Introduction to workshops and methods
3."Structures for a climate-friendly living" exhibition with discussion
4.Climate Change Detection, Attribution & fingerprints
5.ID/TD: history, approaches, communities, motivation
6.Citizen Science
7.ID/TD: tools/methods/processes and toolkits
8.Evaluation & quality criteria: which results do we trust?
9.Power, gender, justice, equality, intersectionality: Ethical considerations in research, concepts, project examples
10.Education for Sustainable Development & ID/TD in Institutions

The exercise part of the course is organised in two blocks with four exercises offered in each block. An exercise combines a topic from the teachers’ climate research project experience with methods for inter- and transdisciplinary research and is guided by a pair of teachers. Students chose one exercise of each block. Exercises are organized as teamwork for students with the following elements: research on topic and method, research design and implementation, presentation of results, documentation and reflection.
Previous knowledge expected

Basic knowledge of interdisciplinary research is advantageous. We expect a commitment to reflecting on one's own academic experiences and a strong interest in learning from other disciplines and engaging in interdisciplinary cooperation.
Objective (expected results of study and acquired competences)

Students will learn about their own discipline and the diversity of disciplinary approaches regarding climate change and social-ecological transformation present in the group of students and lecturers. Understanding and reflecting communalities and differences in disciplinary cultures concerning theories, methods, “doing” research and quality criteria is key to be able to identify the opportunities and limitations of different disciplinary approaches. This is an important prerequisite for inter- and transdisciplinary research.
Students will also gain an understanding of the different expectations in science-society interactions, particularly regarding problem definition (societal and scientific problems) and relevant outcomes (solutions and new knowledge).
Students will develop skills to apply different interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary methods to integrate different types of knowledge adequately and to reflect on the limitations of these methods.
Students will acquire competencies which enable them to design cooperative research elements and set-up, implement and reflect on a transformation process. They will gain experience in dealing with uncertainty, unknown situations, heterogeneous groups and conflicting interests and expectations of different actors involved and acquire basic knowledge on communication and conflict management.
Additionally, they have learned to reflect on power and intersecting inequalities in transformative processes. Social and personal competences result from reflecting on experiences in transformative learning on different levels (self, group, organization, society) and on their own role in transformative processes.
You can find more details like the schedule or information about exams on the course-page in BOKUonline.