Common problems, common solutions

Christiane Weihe

Whether to get involved in socio-ecological transformation is not a question but a given in the field of transdisciplinary sustainability research. It is an indispensable part of the research process, because from the very outset, the approach incorporates different perspectives: the municipal administration, the business community, experts from various disciplines, citizens and civil society organisations. And to do so, it employs a variety of formats – which are also used at the Oeko-Institut.

“Transdisciplinary research is appropriate for numerous challenges,” says Dr Melanie Mbah, research coordinator for transdisciplinary sustainability research at the Oeko-Institut. “It can be used to pursue myriad objectives, apply numerous methods and examine a variety of outcomes.” The research process is flexible within the framework provided by a series of steps, but also has clear aspirations: “Transdisciplinary research is generally trying to develop a solution to a societal problem. Central to this is a collaborative process of knowledge production which involves the actors throughout the entire project duration and not just on a one-off basis. This breaks up old structures in which scientists confined themselves to their own work and their own disciplines.” It is receptive to both practical experience and other different forms of knowledge, and generates a mutual learning process that is equally beneficial for science and applied practice.

A clear procedure

Transdisciplinary research is still rather a new field, having only become established since the early 2000s. It follows a well-defined, ideal procedure, within which there is plenty of latitude. “The process is begun by jointly defining the problem, setting objectives and agreeing on a course of action. This is called co-design,” says the expert. “That is followed by co-production, which means working cooperatively. Ideally, the measures to be tested are designed in collaboration and shared knowledge is developed in a step-by-step process to solve the problem.” A third key element of transdisciplinary work is co-evaluation. “With reference to milestones and in reflection rooms, participants jointly review the status of the research process, whether it is working well or whether adjustments must be made – for instance with regard to the forms of cooperation or by involving other actors,” the researcher says. “It is important to be integrating knowledge throughout the entire research process so that collaborative research with practitioners can produce the desired effects.” Moreover, she emphasises that the aim is always to gain new knowledge and transferable findings and to communicate them more widely – a phase known as co-dissemination.

The tdAcademy

Dr Melanie Mbah is extensively involved in transdisciplinary research within the tdAcademy, a research and community platform founded by the Oeko-Institut together with the ISOE – Institute for Social-Ecological Research, Frankfurt am Main, and the Zentrum Technik und Gesellschaft (ZTG) at Berlin Technical University. It is funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research and the Robert Bosch Stiftung. “Its goals include developing the knowledge base as well as building competence in this field.” Under the auspices of the tdAcademy, the experts have clarified central aspects of transdisciplinary research. “Such research strives to achieve both societal and scientific effects,” says Dr Mbah, who also stresses the importance of considering the context in which a project will take place and using formats adapted to it.

Living labs, also termed real-world labs, are one of the best-known formats of transdisciplinary sustainability research, but by no means the only one (see “Futures tested” on page 8). “Ideally, such formats constitute the framework for the full duration of a project,” says the researcher. Here, too, she points out that the openness of the process matters: just like the objectives and the actors, the formats also need the freedom to develop and change.

The Oeko-Institut uses the tdAcademy platform to analyse different formats, their origins and objectives, their participation concepts and actors. These can involve artistic approaches. “Usually these include activities or installations which appeal to people on the haptic or visual level as well as the cognitive level. This can lead to new perspectives, stimulate learning and contribute to a stronger sense of identity.” Artistic formats are action- and discourse-oriented. Often they create experimental situations in which visions can emerge – for the design of public spaces, for example.

Other transdisciplinary research formats include transments. These experimental spaces are designed to break up the established routines of different actors and, via joint learning processes, to initiate sustainable behavioural changes in the form of system innovations; taking the example of leather production, this might entail disclosure and substitution of chemicals along the supply chain. “The ‘theory of change’, on the other hand, is a different format that can be useful for evaluating a research programme or for systematically examining effects while research is in progress and initiating them.” The ‘ten steps’ format focuses more on the launch of a transdisciplinary process and helps to structure it from the very start. “It employs a variety of methods to discover the participating actors’ different perspectives on a social problem and their expectations of the project. This enables everyone to reflect on issues of cooperation at a very early stage and to ensure strong linkage between research and practice.

Concrete application

The Oeko-Institut is not only involved in theoretical work on transdisciplinary sustainability research; its researchers are continuously applying its formats and methods in projects. A case in point is “Transens,” the first transdisciplinary research on highly radioactive waste management in Germany. This is a joint project involving researchers from 16 institutions, coordinated by Clausthal University of Technology and funded by the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, the Volkswagen Foundation and the Lower Saxony Ministry of Science and Culture. “One of project’s goals is to improve the links between science and society in the field of nuclear waste management and to understand the reciprocal effects between them. We are analysing various questions, such as how to design a waste management system that will be effective and flexible over the very long periods of time involved,” says the research coordinator. “Many of the participating disciplines and actors have had little or no contact with transdisciplinary research until now.” Transens uses different formats to involve citizens in the research process. “In addition to two permanent support groups, one format is to carry out workshops with diverse actors and objectives - for example, with students and citizens from different regions on the importance of identity and their perception of the surface facilities of a final repository site.”

Future of research

How can successful socio-ecological transformation be accomplished? And what can science contribute to it? These questions are also addressed by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research’s “Future Strategy for Research and Innovation”. In the view of Dr Melanie Mbah and the tdAcademy, the strategy in its present form does not place a strong enough focus on the involvement of different stakeholders, nor on diversity of perspectives and experiences. “As yet, the Ministry’s strategy is very much tailored to the technical and economic side of the transformation. But without the social and wider societal side, it will not work. Only by involving groups such as citizens’ initiatives or the administration the proposed solutions will really be relevant enough to be implemented. Particularly for civil society actors, settings must be optimised so that stakeholders are better able to contribute their input. The research coordinator also sees a need for some corrective work on the scientific side. “It is vital to continue to institutionalise transdisciplinary scientific work at the universities.”

Other formats supporting transformation

Transdisciplinary research is not the only way of integrating people’s experiences, knowledge and interests into socio-ecological transformation processes. Other approaches exist in parallel, originating from participation research and from formal and informal public participation. For example, state authorities commonly initiate targeted participation procedures on projects such as the expansion of renewable energies and the respective electricity grids. Some of these are stipulated by law while others go beyond the statutory requirements and are carried out more thoroughly as well as earlier in the process. In part, this practice is rooted in the experience that acceptance of projects increases when people are involved in good time and given a say in the more fundamental decisions.

The Oeko-Institut analyses such forms of participation. “Participatory and transdisciplinary research are closely interlinked and use similar methods,” says Franziska Wolff, head of the Environmental Law & Governance division at the Oeko-Institut. This applies to the ENGAGE project: the Oeko-Institut collaborated with the University of Münster, the Institute for Ecological Economy Research (IÖW) and ISOE to investigate the conditions in which civil society engagement and participation can contribute to public welfare and sustainability. “A trend analysis undertaken as part of the project shows that ‘traditional’ forms of participation such as elections or formal participation are declining while dialogue-oriented, informal participation procedures are gaining in significance,” says Wolff. “At the same time, not all sections of society participate equally. Older, educated, affluent people and German native speakers are overrepresented.” The project, funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research, consisted of interviews, participant observation, real-world experiments and workshops. “Furthermore, we developed recommendations with stakeholders on the design of participatory processes to ensure that participation really contributes to sustainability and public welfare.” Processes should be inclusive and fair, and foster people’s democratic and civic competence. “It is also important to integrate them well into political processes and make them open-ended, transparent, dialogue-intensive and cooperative.” In a further project, the Oeko-Institut carried out an evaluation on behalf of the Federal Environment Agency on public consultation and its environmental benefits in formal authorisation procedures.

Wider networks, assured quality

Through projects like these, community involvement in socio-ecological transformation is constantly evolving – as is research on the subject. “There are many different ways of understanding transdisciplinary and participatory research, and unfortunately some myths as well,” says Mbah. “For example, a transdisciplinary project does not require all project partners to engage in transdisciplinary research. And not everyone who holds a stakeholder workshop is fully versed in transdisciplinary working practices.” The research coordinator is actively involved in assuring the quality standards of transdisciplinary research, further developing its methods and concepts and strengthening exchange on the subject within the Oeko-Institut. She does the same within the tdAcademy, from which the initiative proceeded to found the Society for Transdisciplinary and Participatory Research in May 2023. “This is another important step towards the consolidation of this work,” says Dr Melanie Mbah.

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The geographer Dr Melanie Mbah has worked in the Oeko-Institut’s Nuclear Engineering & Facility Safety Division since 2018. She is particularly interested in transdisciplinary and participatory research in the fields of energy transition and the management of radioactive waste. In spring 2022, she also took over as research coordinator for transdisciplinary sustainability research.