Achieving the promise of transdisciplinarity: a critical exploration of the relationship between transdisciplinary research and societal problem solving

Transdisciplinarity is often presented as a way to effectively use scientific research to contribute to societal problem solving for sustainability. The aim of this paper is to critically explore this statement. This is done in two ways. First, a literature survey of transdisciplinary research is used to identify the assumptions that underlie the positive relationship between transdisciplinarity and societal problem solving for sustainability. This mapping identifies the claim that in-depth participation of users and the integration of relevant knowledge from both practice and research in real-world problem contexts produce socially robust results that contribute to sustainability. Second, the ability to live up to this claim is presented and discussed in five case study projects from Mistra Urban Futures, a transdisciplinary center in Göteborg, Sweden. The conclusions show that transdisciplinary processes, which fulfill the above conditions, do produce different types of socially robust knowledge, but this does not necessarily result in the ability to influence change in a sustainable direction. This instead creates a paradox in that the participation of stakeholders and the integration of knowledge from diverse sources require spaces that are both embedded in and insulated from practice and science proper. Such spaces produce results that are not easily aligned with sector-based target groups and formal policy processes. Institutionalizing transdisciplinarity in a boundary organization therefore solves some problems regarding participation and balanced problem ownership. However, it also creates new, hybrid problems, regarding knowledge transfer and scalability, which bridge the boundaries and challenge the praxis of planning and policy making.     

The role of learning in transdisciplinary research: moving from a normative concept to an analytical tool through a practice-based approach

Transdisciplinary (TD) research is an example of a participatory research approach that has been developed to address the complexity of societal problems through the exchange of knowledge and expertise across diverse groups of societal actors. The concept of knowledge exchange is central to the ability of TD research to produce usable knowledge. There is, however, limited theoretical attention to the processes that enable knowledge exchange, namely learning. In this article, we analyze the “transferability” of knowledge generated in TD research settings from a practice-based approach. In this approach, learning and knowing are seen as situated in social practices, in meaning making processes where the involved participants make sense of what they do and why they do it. We describe and analyze three TD projects, and discuss the role of practitioners’ perspectives in the interpretation of the tasks and realization of TD, and in the consequences this has for the organization of the research process and the usability of its results. The analysis shows that while the project teams were given the same task and framework, they did not understand or enact TD in a similar fashion. The three projects created different goals and organizations. They also resulted in different challenges, which could be identified and analyzed by the use of a practice-based approach to learning. In the conclusions, we identify aspects for both practice and research that are important for creating sufficient conditions for learning in TD research processes so that they can better promote contributions to societal change.     

Divergence in stakeholder perception of sustainable remediation

The modern society is increasingly demanding sustainable practices in engineering fields. In the specific case of engineering practices for restoring contaminated land, there is an ongoing sustainable remediation movement which has rapidly drawn attention from both the industry and governments. It is well recognized that decision making in contaminated land remediation depends on the interaction of a variety of stakeholders. However, there is still no consensus as for how various stakeholders perceive sustainable practices in remediation, and how stakeholders interact in decision making that may lead to sustainable practices. The present study proposes a hypothetical model depicting the mediating effect of stakeholder perception in decision making. Using empirical experiences, questionnaire survey, and qualitative interview results, the present study found that there is divergent perception by various stakeholders regarding how sustainable behavior is adopted and how it is affected by stakeholder influence. The divergent view was attributed to varying organizational objectives, information access, and self-perception. Moreover, it found that incorporating sustainability into real engineering practice is transdisciplinary and requires transdisciplinary processes that can help various stakeholders to reach consensus.     

Evaluation of stakeholder participation in monitoring regional sustainable development

This paper presents a theoretical framework that can be used to discuss the question of how context, time and different participatory process designs influence the results of participatory monitoring projects in terms of concrete outputs (such as sustainability indicators) and the more intangible social outcomes (such as learning and stakeholder relations). We will discuss and compare four different cases of participatory monitoring of provincial sustainable development in the Netherlands. The results show sustainability issues selected by the stakeholders reflect the socio-economic and ecological structural characteristics of their region. In a different context, stakeholders not only assign different weights to the same set of issues, but more importantly they select a completely different set of regional aims altogether. Since these regional structural characteristics only change slowly over time, the influence of time on stakeholder preferences is shown to be only of minor importance. However, the dissipation of learning effects is shown to be a fundamental challenge for the cyclical nature of participatory monitoring, especially when its goal is shared agenda building. Another important conclusion is that, in the design of participatory processes, more attention should be devoted to providing stakeholders with the opportunity to comment on an ‘intermediate’ product.     

A multicriteria-based methodology for site prioritisation in sediment management

Decision-making for sediment management is a complex task that incorporates the selections of areas for remediation and the assessment of options for any mitigation required. The application of Multicriteria Analysis (MCA) to rank different areas, according to their need for sediment management, provides a great opportunity for prioritisation, a first step in an integrated methodology that finally aims to assess and select suitable alternatives for managing the identified priority sites. This paper develops a methodology that starts with the delimitation of management units within areas of study, followed by the application of MCA methods that allows ranking of these management units, according to their need for remediation. This proposed process considers not only scientific evidence on sediment quality, but also other relevant aspects such as social and economic criteria associated with such decisions. This methodology is illustrated with its application to the case study area of the Bay of Santander, in northern Spain, highlighting some of the implications of utilising different MCA methods in the process. It also uses site-specific data to assess the subjectivity in the decision-making process, mainly reflected through the assignment of the criteria weights and uncertainties in the criteria scores. Analysis of the sensitivity of the results to these factors is used as a way to assess the stability and robustness of the ranking as a first step of the sediment management decision-making process.     

基于结构方程模型的农户清洁能源应用行为决策研究

推进农户应用清洁能源对于促进农村生态建设至关重要。本文将农户清洁能源应用行为视为是一个"外部情境因素-内部心理因素-农户清洁能源应用行为"的过程,基于环境行为理论和技术接受模型,构建出农户清洁能源应用行为影响因素概念模型。利用江西省农户的调查数据,运用结构方程模型从农户购买行为和使用行为两个维度,研究农户清洁能源应用行为的影响因素,以及这些因素的作用机理。研究表明,情境因素(经济激励政策、自愿活动、宣传教育、清洁能源产品属性)以农户感知为中介,进而正向影响农户清洁能源使用行为,从众心理、行为便利性直接正向影响农户清洁能源使用行为;生态价值观和感知因素在经济激励政策与农户清洁能源购买行为之间起到部分中介效应,行为便利对农户清洁能源购买行为有直接正向影响;相对于经济激励政策,农户自愿活动对提升农户生态价值观会更有效;在影响农户感知的四个情景因素(经济激励政策、自愿活动、宣传教育、清洁能源产品属性)中,自愿活动对农户感知的正向影响程度最大;对农户清洁能源购买行为正向影响程度最大的是经济激励政策,对农户清洁能源使用行为正向影响程度最大的是行为便利性。基于上述结论,提出以下政策建议:政府要扩大清洁能源产品补贴的范围,加大农户购买清洁能源产品的补贴力度,降低农户购买清洁能源产品的成本;加强清洁能源知识、环境保护的宣传教育,提升农村居民的环境责任感,增强农村居民的生态环境价值观;完善农村清洁能源应用服务体系,提升农户应用清洁能源的易用性感知;充分发挥清洁能源示范村的辐射效应,增强农户应用清洁能源有用性感知;引导基层村干部、党员或环保意识强的农户率先应用清洁能源,在从众心理作用下,促使更多的农户应用清洁能源。     

Finnish stakeholder engagement in the restoration of a radioactively contaminated food supply chain

An expert group was established in 2001 representing various organisations and authorities responsible for primary production, food processing, the distribution and consumption of foodstuffs, food safety and availability, catering and extension services, nature conservation, research into environmental impacts, and the media. The aim was to strengthen networking and improve the stakeholder response to accidental radioactive contamination of rural areas through participation in the FARMING network project. A hypothetical contamination of a large milk-producing area provided a suitable framework for evaluation of actions ensuring clean feeding of dairy cows during grazing. The following year the group received a compilation of rural countermeasures and waste disposal methods, described by the STRATEGY project. The robust, uncomplicated approach of the evaluation meetings was fruitful and efficient, and the multidisciplinary group was capable of taking shared views on various measures after updating their knowledge together. High priority was given to measurements of radioactivity and the provision of information and advice to a wider audience.     

Quality of currently available methodology for monitoring viruses in the environment

A variety of methods have been proposed, developed, and evaluated for detecting viruses, especially human enteric viruses, in water, wastewater, and other environmental samples, and continued developments and improvements have led to simpler and more reliable methodology. However, the use of currently available methods is still limited primarily to special circumstances, such as investigation of waterborne disease outbreaks, research studies on virus reductions by water and wastewater treatment processes and systems, especially reuse systems, and research monitoring and surveying of natural and treated waters. Widespread and routine virus monitoring is still not possible due to technical limitations and deficiencies of present detection methods and their relatively high cost. Although continued development of new methods and further improvement of existing methods is desirable, it is perhaps more important that current methods be systematically evaluated in carefully designed collaborative (round-robin) studies and quality assurance tests. Until virus detection methods are further improved and systematically evaluated, the establishment of virus standards for such materials as water and edible shellfish requiring routine monitoring appears to be unjustified.     

An interlaboratory comparison of nanosilver characterisation and hazard identification: Harmonising techniques for high quality data

Within the FP7 EU project NanoValid a consortium of six partners jointly investigated the hazard of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) paying special attention to methodical aspects that are important for providing high-quality ecotoxicity data. Laboratories were supplied with the same original stock dispersion of AgNPs. All partners applied a harmonised procedure for storage and preparation of toxicity test suspensions. Altogether ten different toxicity assays with a range of environmentally relevant test species from different trophic levels were conducted in parallel to AgNP characterisation in the respective test media. The paper presents a comprehensive dataset of toxicity values and AgNP characteristics like hydrodynamic sizes of AgNP agglomerates and the share (%) of Ag⁺-species (the concentration of Ag⁺-species in relation to the total measured concentration of Ag). The studied AgNP preparation (20.4 ± 6.8 nm primary size, mean total Ag concentration 41.14 mg/L, 46–68% of soluble Ag⁺-species in stock, 123.8 ± 12.2 nm mean z-average value in dH₂O) showed extreme toxicity to crustaceans Daphnia magna, algae Pseudokirchneriella subcapitata and zebrafish Danio rerio embryos (EC50 < 0.01 mg total Ag/L), was very toxic in the in vitro assay with rainbow trout Oncorhynchus mykiss gut cells (EC50: 0.01–1 mg total Ag/L); toxic to bacteria Vibrio fischeri, protozoa Tetrahymena thermophila (EC50: 1–10 mg total Ag/L) and harmful to marine crustaceans Artemia franciscana (EC50: 10–100 mg total Ag/L). Along with AgNPs, also the toxicity of AgNO₃ was analyzed. The toxicity data revealed the same hazard ranking for AgNPs and AgNO₃ (i.e. the EC50 values were in the same order of magnitude) proving the importance of soluble Ag⁺-species analysis for predicting the hazard of AgNPs. The study clearly points to the need for harmonised procedures for the characterisation of NMs. Harmonised procedures should consider: (i) measuring the AgNP properties like hydrodynamic size and metal ions species in each toxicity test medium at a range of concentrations, and (ii) including soluble metal salt control both in toxicity testing as well as in Ag⁺-species measurements. The present study is among the first nanomaterial interlaboratory comparison studies with the aim to improve the hazard identification testing protocols.     

Energy rating methodology for light-duty vehicles: geographical impact

The aim of this paper was to describe a new energy dependency score methodology and its consequent application to cars sold in twelve regions: Europe (EU-28) and eleven specific countries worldwide (Australia, Brazil, China, India, Japan, Norway, Portugal, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa and USA). This methodology was developed as a potential tool to inform consumers of their choice impact on the country’s economy. This methodology is based on primary energy assessments and origins for each energy pathway associated with a gasoline-, diesel-, natural gas (used for H₂ production)- or electricity (balanced with country electricity mix)-powered vehicle. An energy dependency index was attributed to the best-case (100 % endogenous production) and worst-case (0 % endogenous production) scenarios and consequently weighted with vehicle fuel consumption. This enabled obtaining an energy dependency index (10–0). This index could be assigned to an environmental and social index to provide a sustainability index and therefore complement a road vehicle environmental rating system, providing a combined index rating. Internal combustion engine vehicles and hybrid vehicles (that have oil products as energy source) rate the lowest for almost all locations, with the exception of regions that are energy independent (Norway, Saudi Arabia or Russia). Electric vehicles rank higher when comparing to the other technologies analyzed for all locations in this study. The plug-in hybrid electric vehicle shows generally a rank in an intermediate place, except for Japan where it scores lower than all other technologies.     

Envisioning sustainable water futures in a transdisciplinary learning process: combining normative,explorative, and participatory scenario approaches

Competing water demands for household consumption as well as the production of food, energy, and other uses pose challenges for water supply and sustainable development in many parts of the world. Designing creative strategies and learning processes for sustainable water governance is thus of prime importance. While this need is uncontested, suitable approaches still have to be found. In this article we present and evaluate a conceptual approach to scenario building aimed at transdisciplinary learning for sustainable water governance. The approach combines normative, explorative, and participatory scenario elements. This combination allows for adequate consideration of stakeholders’ and scientists’ systems, target, and transformation knowledge. Application of the approach in the MontanAqua project in the Swiss Alps confirmed its high potential for co-producing new knowledge and establishing a meaningful and deliberative dialogue between all actors involved. The iterative and combined approach ensured that stakeholders’ knowledge was adequately captured, fed into scientific analysis, and brought back to stakeholders in several cycles, thereby facilitating learning and co-production of new knowledge relevant for both stakeholders and scientists. However, the approach also revealed a number of constraints, including the enormous flexibility required of stakeholders and scientists in order for them to truly engage in the co-production of new knowledge. Overall, the study showed that shifts from strategic to communicative action are possible in an environment of mutual trust. This ultimately depends on creating conditions of interaction that place scientists’ and stakeholders’ knowledge on an equal footing.     

Building a catchment-based environmental programme: a stakeholder analysis of wetland creation in Scania, Sweden

The Kävlinge River Programme is a catchment-based initiative in Scania, Sweden, for converting agricultural land into wetlands in order to reduce nutrient emissions to the sea. The design and implementation of this programme are analysed, following a stakeholder analysis methodology. The most important components of the establishment and implementation of the Kävlinge River programme were found to be the following: (1) the existence of an overarching policy objective, (2) devotion and endurance found among a few local officials and local politicians, (3) a willingness among municipalities included in the catchment area to find compromises and funds, (4) the combination of traditional Swedish agri-environmental policy instruments and a trustful and constructive atmosphere in which the target group (farmers) is treated as an equal in negotiations, and (5) the existence of a mediating agent between authorities and the target group.     

Design methodology for active disassembly based on the decapitated head method

Due to the characteristic that shape memory materials can quickly return to their original shape and have large deformation, such materials can be used as the connection in active disassembly devices. However, existing active disassembly devices typically require two moulding steps and complicated machining processes that result in high manufacturing cost. The active disassembly device based on the proposed decapitated head method has only one moulding step and lower manufacturing cost. Its disassembly mode is local damage disassembly, which can decrease the active disassembly cost and improve disassembly efficiency. This paper describes the active disassembly theory and the design methodology based on the decapitated head method, and then analyses the design criteria and feasibility of this method with a real case study.     

基于AHP-Fuzzy的循环经济技术综合评价方法研究

国家将制定重点领域循环经济技术清单,引导和发展循环经济。在此背景下,本文针对循环经济技术的筛选,开展了综合评价方法的实证研究,结果显示该技术属于一级循环经济技术,并在资源节约与废弃物减排方面具有显著效益,表明本文构建的综合评价方法实现了对备选循环经济技术的综合评价、分级和排序,可以为企业、国家选择循环经济技术提供参考。     

Policy networks,stakeholder interactions and climate adaptation in the region of South East Queensland,Australia

The strategic use of science in regional policy-making forums often assumes collaborative interactions between stakeholders. However, other types of stakeholder interactions are possible. This paper uses the ecology of games to frame an investigation into stakeholder participation in the policy networks for regional climate change planning for South East Queensland, Australia. We tracked organisational participation in policy forums between 2008 and 2012. We then used a novel bipartite network theoretical approach to identify participation by different types of organisations across shared multiple forums, which we argue prefaces: cooperation, collaboration, support or advocacy. Network analysis was then combined with semi-structured interviews to access how scientific information was utilised across the regional network. Our results suggest that stakeholder interactions were predominately used to advocate for organisational agendas. Advocacy artificially narrows the scope of possible policy options and represents a biased, selective use of information. While advocacy is an important part of policy process, as a counter balance, explicit efforts are needed to recurrently expand the scope of policy options.     

Social and environmental trade-offs in tree species selection: a methodology for identifying niche incompatibilities in agroforestry

Natural resource degradation in highland regions is of increasing concern to the global community due to its role in aggravating poverty and the loss of environmental services to local and downstream users. The integration of trees into smallholder farming systems has been promoted as a means to enhance rural livelihoods while reversing the degradation of soil, water, biodiversity and related environmental services. Yet in addition to these benefits, negative impacts of trees on certain stakeholders or system components have also accompanied such efforts—suggesting that important trade-offs accompany afforestation. This paper presents a methodology for diagnosing problems stemming from cultivation of certain tree species in specific landscape niches. Data derived from the application of this methodology in two sites in the eastern African highlands are presented. Participatory diagnoses of landscape-level problems suggest that the negative impact of trees on water resource availability and crop yield are of critical concern to smallholder farmers. Ethnoecological data highlight the properties of different tree species that determine their suitability to specific farm and landscape niches. These data point to important opportunities for more socially- and environmentally-optimal integration of indigenous and exotic tree species into agricultural landscapes, and highlight the critical importance of local knowledge in forging solutions appropriate to contemporary realities.     

"Reference Biospheres" for solid radioactive waste disposal: the BIOMASS methodology

The BIOMASS Theme 1 project has developed a methodology for the logical and defensible construction of 'assessment biospheres': mathematical representations of biospheres used in the total system performance assessment of radioactive waste disposal. The BIOMASS Methodology provides a systematic approach to decision making, including decisions on how to address biosphere change. The BIOMASS Methodology was developed through consultation and collaboration with many relevant organisations, including regulators, operators and a variety of independent experts. It has been developed to be practical and to be consistent with recommendations from ICRP and IAEA on radiation protection in the context of the disposal of long-lived solid radioactive wastes. The five main steps in the methodology are described in this paper. The importance of a clear assessment context, to clarify intentions and to support a coherent biosphere assessment process within an overall repository performance assessment, is strongly emphasised. A well described assessment context is an important tool for ensuring consistency across the performance assessment as a whole. The use of interaction matrices has been found to be helpful in clarifying the interactions between different habitats within the biosphere system and the significant radionuclide transfer pathways within the biosphere system. Matrices also provide a useful means of checking for consistency.     

Resilience thinking applied to fisheries management: perspectives for the mullet fishery in Southern-Southeastern Brazil

The mullet fishery system encompasses a complex arrange of ecological and socioeconomic factors interacting in multiple scales on the Southern-Southeastern Brazilian coast. Similarly, to other fisheries in developing countries, overfishing and poor governance have been threatening the resilience of the mullet fishery. In this paper, we explore aspects related to fisheries management from the perspective of the concept of resilience. The industrial and artisanal fishery sectors represent the different stakeholders. The main issues of concern are related to failures in the fisheries management to properly address equity in resource access and resource use sustainability among stakeholders. Asymmetry in technology and political and economic power affect food security and income generation especially for subsistence and small-scale fishing. Despite changes in rules-in-use, overfishing and conflicts between resource users are still relevant. Fishery dynamics and resource availability are greatly affected locally by forces such as pollution, urbanization, non-selective fishing, and regionally, by the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO), and industrial (purse-seine) fishery. Considering the influence of ENSO on this fishery, a time span of at least 7 years to investigate this system could provide better answers to improve the management. Effective resilient fisheries should rely on three aspects. First, there should be a flexible fish allocation system based on ecosystem variability. Secondly, fish allocation should prioritize food security and poverty alleviation. Thirdly, a monitoring system should be implemented that takes into consideration ecosystem, fisheries and human dimensions to support a flexible and adaptive fisheries management, with resilient fisheries as an ultimate goal.     

Derivation of a screening methodology for evaluating radiation dose to aquatic and terrestrial biota

The United States Department of Energy (DOE) currently has in place a radiation dose standard for the protection of aquatic animals, and is considering additional dose standards for terrestrial biota. These standards are: 10 mGy/d for aquatic animals, 10 mGy/d for terrestrial plants, and, 1 mGy/d for terrestrial animals. Guidance on suitable approaches to the implementation of these standards is needed. A screening methodology, developed through DOE's Biota Dose Assessment Committee (BDAC), serves as the principal element of DOE's graded approach for evaluating radiation doses to aquatic and terrestrial biota. Limiting concentrations of radionuclides in water, soil, and sediment were derived for 23 radionuclides. Four organism types (aquatic animals; riparian animals; terrestrial animals; and terrestrial plants) were selected as the basis for development of the screening method. Internal doses for each organism type were calculated as the product of contaminant concentration, bioaccumulation factor(s) and dose conversion factors. External doses were calculated based on the assumption of immersion of the organism in soil, sediment, or water. The assumptions and default parameters used provide for conservative screening values. The screening methodology within DOE's graded approach should prove useful in demonstrating compliance with biota dose limits and for conducting screening assessments of radioecological impact. It provides a needed evaluation tool that can be employed within a framework for protection of the environment.