Conference: Transdisciplinary coordination Workshop: building bridges for the next steps in knowledge co-production

Inter-American Institute For Global Change Research, Montevideo

Investigators

Abstract

This project supports a workshop focused on transdisciplinary (TD) research. Transdisciplinary research transcends disciplinary boundaries, involving nonacademic social actors with academics from various disciplines to co-produce knowledge and solutions for urgent and complex issues. Exploring alternative ways of doing science, like transdisciplinary approaches, also implies exploring alternative ways of funding and supporting science-building and collaboration. The workshop aims to bring together institutions currently working to develop coordination activities in TD. Participants will identify possible pathways to the improved effectiveness of TD funding schemes, scoping of calls, proposal writing, and project implementation and assessment. The anticipated outcomes of the workshop are: 1) Stakeholder map and analysis of institutions working on training and funding of TD research projects globally; 2) List of coordination activities needed during the different phases of a transdisciplinary funding call; and 3) List of possible training and networking processes to be developed to make possible or enhance such coordination activities. The workshop will serve as a starting point to develop a support system for the coordination of transdisciplinary projects, offering tools, capacity building, financial resources and time for researchers and stakeholders involved in TD to develop their skills. The activities that will follow the workshop will increase the likelihood that the evidence generated by the projects will be used by diverse actors to improve the decision-making process to mitigate the impacts of Global Environmental Change. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.