Transdisciplinary Research

Transdisciplinary research: Is needed when knowledge about a societally relevant problem field is uncertain when the concrete nature of problems is disputed, and when there is a great deal at stake for those concerned by problems and involved in dealing with them. Transdisciplinary research deals with problem fields in such a way that it can: (a) grasp the complexity of problems, (b) take into account the diversity of life-world and scientific perceptions of problems, (c) link abstract and case-specific knowledge, and (d) develop knowledge and practices that promote what is perceived to be the common good. Transdisciplinary research is research that includes cooperation within the scientific community and a debate between research and the society at large. Transdisciplinary research therefore transgresses boundaries between scientific disciplines and between science and other societal fields and includes deliberation about facts, practices and values. Transdisciplinarity implies that the precise nature of a problem to be addressed and solved is not predetermined and needs to be defined cooperatively by actors from science and the life-world. To enable the refining of the problem.