Transdisciplinarity 101: Short-Term Training in Knowledge CoProduction to Face Global Environmental Change

The report details a 2022 workshop organized by the Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research (IAI) and the Belmont Forum to promote transdisciplinary (TD) knowledge co-production. It analyzes three case studies—Jamaican Women in Coffee (JAWiC), NICH-Arctic, and FRACTAL—to identify common challenges such as power imbalances and conflicting priorities between funders and local communities. The document concludes with best practices for TD project implementation, emphasizing the need to center local timeframes and enhance communication, as well as pedagogical recommendations for future 'train the trainers' events.

• Transdisciplinary (TD) practice often faces power asymmetries where Western and academic knowledge is prioritized over local and indigenous knowledge, particularly in policymaking.
• A significant source of conflict in TD projects is the misalignment between the objectives of funding agencies and the actual needs or timeframes of local communities.
• The Jamaican Women in Coffee (JAWiC) project utilized a TD approach to address systemic industry issues, including climate change and gender inequality, by integrating experts in IT, research, and sustainability with farmers.
• The NICH-Arctic project, focusing on the subarctic North Atlantic, encountered challenges regarding the diversity of time scales—ranging from decades to millennia—which complicates dialogue between academics and stakeholders.
• The FRACTAL project in southern Africa employed an 'Embedded Researcher' approach to bridge the gap between universities and local governments in eight cities to improve climate-sensitive decision-making.
• To improve TD project outcomes, the report recommends identifying conflicting priorities early, centering local timeframes, and creating safe spaces for marginalized voices through tools like speaking objects.
• For short-term TD training, the report suggests using experience-based pedagogy, providing standardized templates for case studies, and increasing the inclusion of non-academic partners.

APA

Sandroni, L., Quispe, F. R., House-Peters, L., Alonso-Yanez, G., Carabajal, M. I., Valentine, M., Schweizer, S., Murisa, M., Roy, N., de Vernal, A., Arbour, N., & Stewart-Ibarra, A. (2023). Transdisciplinarity 101: Short-Term Training in Knowledge CoProduction to Face Global Environmental Change. Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research. https://iai.int/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Transdisciplinarity-101-ShortTerm-Training-in-Knowledge-CoProduction-to-Face-Global-Environmental-Change.pdf

Chicago

Sandroni, Laila, Fany Ramos Quispe, Lily House-Peters, Gabriela Alonso-Yanez, Maria Ines Carabajal, Marshalee Valentine, Sarah Schweizer, et al. Transdisciplinarity 101: Short-Term Training in Knowledge CoProduction to Face Global Environmental Change. Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research, 2023. https://iai.int/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Transdisciplinarity-101-ShortTerm-Training-in-Knowledge-CoProduction-to-Face-Global-Environmental-Change.pdf.

Wikipedia

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BibTeX

@techreport{sandroni2023transdisciplinarity, author = {Sandroni, Laila and Quispe, Fany Ramos and House-Peters, Lily and Alonso-Yanez, Gabriela and Carabajal, Maria Ines and Valentine, Marshalee and Schweizer, Sarah and Murisa, Mzime and Roy, Natasha and de Vernal, Anne and Arbour, Nicole and Stewart-Ibarra, Anna}, title = {{Transdisciplinarity 101: Short-Term Training in Knowledge CoProduction to Face Global Environmental Change}}, institution = {Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research}, year = {2023}, month = jun, url = {https://iai.int/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Transdisciplinarity-101-ShortTerm-Training-in-Knowledge-CoProduction-to-Face-Global-Environmental-Change.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }