A call for papers on “Transdisciplinary Sustainability Research – Linking research processes and outputs to societal effects” has just been published by the journal “Environmental Science and Policy”.
The editors are particularly interested in work that addresses one or more of the following questions through either new conceptual formulations or empirical studies (meta-analyses of several transdisciplinary projects or transdisciplinary case studies):
- Which effects can transdisciplinary sustainability research unfold in society and science and what are the central categories for describing different types and scalar dimensions of effects?
- How can the challenges of assessing different types of effects be met, considering also the risks and unintended effects of TDR?
- How does the choice of methods and procedures specific for TDR (e.g. joint problem formulation, stakeholder participation, knowledge integration, assuring transferability of results and experiences) influence the effects of transdisciplinary research processes and the quality of their results? Which methodological elements can be included in transdisciplinary research processes to strengthen their potential for (societal) effects?
The first step is to hand in an extended abstract (max. 1000 words) that should be sent to Alexandra Lux (lux@isoe.de) and Martina Schäfer (schaefer@ztg.tu-berlin.de) by 15 January 2019. Further information about the scope and important deadlines can be found here. The Special Issue was conceived within the framework of the project TransImpact – effective transdisciplinary research and Martina Schäfer (ZTG), Matthias Bergmann (ISOE) and Alexandra Lux will be guest editors.