Transdisciplinary Environmental Research

This book explores the practice of transdisciplinary research through the narratives of different individuals taking part in a project investigating local water management. The research project ran for one year and brought seven university scientists together with seven local residents to explore relationships between water quantity, water quality, abstraction of water resources and how to reduce pollution.

Landström presents three conversations that convey the experience of transdisciplinary practice in natural language in order to offer insights into the workings of a transdisciplinary Environmental Competency Group. The conversations highlight Environmental Competency Groups as tools enabling collaboration between knowledgeable individuals who do not share a common scientific vocabulary.

Transdisciplinary Environmental Research will appeal to natural and social scientists interested in working collaboratively with each other and the general public on environmental research projects.

Features conversations between social scientists, natural scientists and local residents on approaches to river management Presents transdiscplinary research in practice with a local river management project undertaken by individuals from different scientific backgrounds Provides insight into the strengths of Environmental Competency Groups as a methodology for transdisciplinary engagement and research

Autorentext
Catharina Landström is Senior Researcher at the University of Oxford, UK. She specializes in environmental science and technology studies and has worked with the transdisciplinary Environmental Competency Groups methodology in the Understanding Environmental Knowledge Controversies: The Case of Flood Risk Management project (2007-2010) and, since 2014, in the MaRIUS (Managing the Risks, Impacts and Uncertainties of Drought and Water Scarcity) project.

Inhalt

1. Introduction: Transdisciplinary Environmental Engagement.- 2. The Professors.- 3. The Post Docs.- 4. The Mixed Encounter.- 5. Conclusion: How Does Transdisciplinary Practice Make a Difference?