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Working outside the box: Stories, approaches and tools for transdisciplinary research

  • Apr 27, 2021
  • 2 min read

Ahead of SRI2021, join us for a pre-congress panel discussion and workshop on transdisciplinary research, convened by the Transdisciplinary Training Collaboratory: Building Common Ground, led by the Earth Leadership Program.

Addressing today’s complex environmental and sustainability challenges calls for solutions-oriented, integrative, actionable science, often known as engaged science. Engaged science requires collaborative, team-based science focused on solutions for real-world problems, and this science is produced by teams that include a wide range of societal partners working closely with a range of disciplinary experts.

This offering consists of two parts:

  1. A publicly available panel discussion on May 6 at 14:00-15:30 UTC (Midnight – 01:30 Brisbane next day). To join us, please login to the SRI Congress Platform and add it to your agenda.

  2. A two-part interactive workshop for SRI registrants from around the world on May 11 and May 18 at 14:00-16:00 UTC (Midnight – 02:00 Brisbane next day). This workshop will be targeted at (but not limited to) early-career researchers from around the world, and capped at 20 participants. All costs associated with workshop participation will be covered by comprehensive scholarships provided by Future Earth! More information on the workshop can be found on the SRI Congress Platform.

To apply for the workshop, please become a member of Future Earth and fill out the application form by May 7th, 2021. Applications will be processed on a rolling basis. Apply early to give yourself the best chances of attending this fully-funded expert training!

The panelists, organizers and trainers involved in this panel and workshop are a part of, or convened by, a US National Science Foundation funded project called the Transdisciplinary Training Collaboratory: Building Common Ground, led by the Earth Leadership Program. The goal is to connect sustainability science researchers and leadership trainers from around the world, and work together to align best practices and training products that can be used and adapted in different regions around the world. This work is just beginning, but the goal is to make solutions-oriented, actionable science training more accessible in academic and informal learning environments, and improve the potential for researchers to partner effectively with government agencies, non-profit organizations, and the private sector to tackle pressing sustainability challenges.



10 Comments


Angus Cox
Angus Cox
Jun 26

This is such an inspiring initiative! Transdisciplinary research truly challenges us to move beyond siloed thinking and embrace collaboration across disciplines and sectors. The emphasis on engaged science — where researchers partner with government agencies, nonprofits, and communities to address real-world sustainability problems — mirrors the kind of integrative thinking we need to cultivate early in academic training. It's interesting how this approach parallels challenges in other fields too; students working on complex subjects like organisational behaviour or Human Resource Assignment Help often discover that the most meaningful insights come not from a single discipline but from connecting theories across sociology, psychology, and management. The Earth Leadership Program's effort to make solutions-oriented science training more accessible globally is commendable, and…

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Angus Cox
Angus Cox
Jun 24

Really enjoyed this post on working outside the box in transdisciplinary research. It resonates with how complex problems today rarely fit into a single disciplinary structure, much like how software design debates such as Object-Oriented vs Functional Programming reflect different ways of thinking about structure and problem-solving. In Object-Oriented vs Functional Programming, one emphasizes encapsulating state and modeling real-world entities, while the other focuses on pure functions and composability. Similarly, transdisciplinary work often requires switching between structured, entity-driven thinking and flexible, function-like collaboration across fields. What stood out is how the blog highlights storytelling and practical tools as bridges between disciplines, making collaboration less abstract and more actionable. In my experience, the biggest breakthroughs happen when teams stop defending their…

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Cole Owen
Cole Owen
Jun 18

This blog offers an insightful perspective on how transdisciplinary research can break traditional academic boundaries and create meaningful solutions to complex global challenges. I particularly appreciated the emphasis on collaboration between researchers, communities, and practitioners, as it highlights the value of diverse knowledge systems in driving sustainable change. The real-world stories and practical tools shared throughout the article make the concepts both accessible and inspiring for readers from different backgrounds. In today’s interconnected world, approaches like these are essential for addressing environmental, social, and economic issues that cannot be solved through a single discipline alone. As students and professionals engage with increasingly complex projects, resources such as this can provide valuable guidance. Similarly, services like Online Assignment Help can support…

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