Axelsson, Robert and Ljung, Magnus and Blicharska, Malgorzata and Frisk, Michael and Henningsson, Marianne and Mikusinski, Grzegorz and Folkeson, Lennart and Goransson, Gorgen and Jonsson-Ekstrom, Sofia and Sjolund, Anders and Skoog, Jan and Törnblom, Johan and Angelstam, Per
(2020).
The Challenge of Transdisciplinary Research: A Case Study of Learning by Evaluation for Sustainable Transport Infrastructures.
Sustainability. 12
, 6995
[Research article]
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Abstract
While transdisciplinary (TD) research is desired in order to solve real world sustainability issues, this may be challenging for both academic and non-academic participants. Supporting learning through evaluation, we analyzed a project aiming at sustainable transport infrastructures. After developing a TD research framework as a benchmark, two external independent evaluators interviewed all project researchers, representatives for end-users, and donors. The evaluators compared results with the framework, and evaluators and participants critically reflected on the results together. There were three inconsistencies relative to the framework: (1) limited understanding of TD research among project management, end-users, and most of the researchers; (2) no structured learning process among end-users; instead, they expressed very diverse opinions about what they expected from the project; (3) project leaders had limited understanding of the special challenges of TD research, did not fully understand the status of the project's social system, and thus did not act as facilitators of the required collaborative learning process. Non-academic participants saw themselves as customers and not as partners in the knowledge production process. We conclude that TD problem-solving research requires much time and needs facilitation and training. A preparatory phase with a lower level of funding would be helpful in preparing for TD processes.
Authors/Creators: | Axelsson, Robert and Ljung, Magnus and Blicharska, Malgorzata and Frisk, Michael and Henningsson, Marianne and Mikusinski, Grzegorz and Folkeson, Lennart and Goransson, Gorgen and Jonsson-Ekstrom, Sofia and Sjolund, Anders and Skoog, Jan and Törnblom, Johan and Angelstam, Per | ||||||
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Title: | The Challenge of Transdisciplinary Research: A Case Study of Learning by Evaluation for Sustainable Transport Infrastructures | ||||||
Series Name/Journal: | Sustainability | ||||||
Year of publishing : | 2020 | ||||||
Volume: | 12 | ||||||
Article number: | 6995 | ||||||
Number of Pages: | 24 | ||||||
ISSN: | 2071-1050 | ||||||
Language: | English | ||||||
Publication Type: | Research article | ||||||
Article category: | Scientific peer reviewed | ||||||
Version: | Published version | ||||||
Copyright: | Creative Commons: Attribution 4.0 | ||||||
Full Text Status: | Public | ||||||
Subjects: | (A) Swedish standard research categories 2011 > 5 Social Sciences > 503 Educational Sciences > Learning | ||||||
Keywords: | learning through evaluation, research design, researcher-stakeholder collaboration, sustainability, transdisciplinary, sustainable development, transport infrastructure | ||||||
URN:NBN: | urn:nbn:se:slu:epsilon-p-108151 | ||||||
Permanent URL: | http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:slu:epsilon-p-108151 | ||||||
Additional ID: |
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ID Code: | 17836 | ||||||
Faculty: | LTV - Fakulteten för landskapsarkitektur, trädgårds- och växtproduktionsvetenskap S - Faculty of Forest Sciences | ||||||
Department: | (LTJ, LTV) > Department of Work Science, Business Economics, and Environmental Psychology (until 2020) (S) > School for Forest Management | ||||||
Deposited By: | SLUpub Connector | ||||||
Deposited On: | 15 Oct 2020 15:18 | ||||||
Metadata Last Modified: | 15 Jan 2021 19:17 |
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