Transdisciplinarity connotes a research strategy that crosses many
disciplinary boundaries to create a
holistic
Holism () is the idea that various systems (e.g. physical, biological, social) should be viewed as wholes, not merely as a collection of parts. The term "holism" was coined by Jan Smuts in his 1926 book '' Holism and Evolution''."holism, n." OED On ...
approach. It applies to research efforts focused on problems that cross the boundaries of two or more disciplines, such as research on effective
information system
An information system (IS) is a formal, sociotechnical, organizational system designed to collect, process, store, and distribute information. From a sociotechnical perspective, information systems are composed by four components: task, people ...
s for
biomedical research (see
bioinformatics), and can refer to concepts or methods that were originally developed by one discipline, but are now used by several others, such as
ethnography, a field research method originally developed in
anthropology
Anthropology is the scientific study of humanity, concerned with human behavior, human biology, cultures, societies, and linguistics, in both the present and past, including past human species. Social anthropology studies patterns of be ...
but now widely used by other disciplines.
The Belmont Forum elaborated that a transdisciplinary approach is enabling inputs and scoping across scientific and non-scientific stakeholder communities and facilitating a systemic way of addressing a challenge. This includes initiatives that support the capacity building required for the successful transdisciplinary formulation and implementation of research actions.
Usage
Transdisciplinarity has two common meanings:
German usage
In German-speaking countries, ''Transdisziplinarität'' refers to the integration of diverse forms of research, and includes specific methods for relating knowledge in problem-solving. A 2003 conference held at the
University of Göttingen
The University of Göttingen, officially the Georg August University of Göttingen, (german: Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, known informally as Georgia Augusta) is a public research university in the city of Göttingen, Germany. Founded ...
showcased the diverse meanings of multi-, inter- and transdisciplinarity and made suggestions for converging them without eliminating present usages.
When the very nature of a problem is under dispute, transdisciplinarity can help determine the most relevant problems and research questions involved. A first type of question concerns the cause of the present problems and their future development (system knowledge). Another concerns which values and norms can be used to form goals of the problem-solving process (target knowledge). A third relates to how a problematic situation can be transformed and improved (transformation knowledge). Transdisciplinarity requires adequate addressing of the complexity of problems and the diversity of perceptions of them, that abstract and case-specific knowledge are linked, and that practices promote the common good.
Transdisciplinarity arises when participating experts interact in an open discussion and dialogue, giving equal weight to each perspective and relating them to each other. This is difficult because of the overwhelming amount of information involved, and because of incommensurability of specialized languages in each field of expertise. To excel under these conditions, researchers need not only in-depth knowledge and know-how of the disciplines involved, but skills in moderation, mediation, association and transfer.
Wider usage
Transdisciplinarity is also used to signify a unity of knowledge beyond disciplines.
Jean Piaget
Jean William Fritz Piaget (, , ; 9 August 1896 – 16 September 1980) was a Swiss psychologist known for his work on child development. Piaget's theory of cognitive development and epistemological view are together called "genetic epistemolo ...
introduced this usage of the term in 1970, and in 1987, the
International Center for Transdisciplinary Research (CIRET) adopted the Charter of Transdisciplinarity at the 1st World Congress of Transdisciplinarity, Convento da Arrabida, Portugal, November 1994.
In the CIRET approach, transdisciplinarity is radically distinct from
interdisciplinarity. Interdisciplinarity, like pluridisciplinarity, concerns the transfer of methods from one discipline to another, allowing research to spill over disciplinary boundaries, but staying within the framework of disciplinary research.
As the prefix "trans" indicates, transdisciplinarity concerns that which is at once between the disciplines, across the different disciplines, and beyond each individual discipline. Its goal is the understanding of the present world, of which one of the imperatives is the overarching unity of knowledge.
Another critical defining characteristic of transdisciplinary research is the inclusion of stakeholders in defining research objectives and strategies in order to better incorporate the diffusion of learning produced by the research. Collaboration between stakeholders is deemed essential – not merely at an academic or disciplinary collaboration level, but through active collaboration with people affected by the research and community-based stakeholders. In such a way, transdisciplinary collaboration becomes uniquely capable of engaging with different ways of knowing the world, generating new knowledge, and helping stakeholders understand and incorporate the results or lessons learned by the research.
Transdisciplinarity is defined by
Basarab Nicolescu
Basarab Nicolescu (born March 25, 1942, Ploieşti, Romania) is an honorary theoretical physicist at the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Laboratoire de Physique Nucléaire et de Hautes Énergies, Université Pierre et Marie ...
through three methodological postulates: the existence of levels of Reality, the logic of the included middle, and complexity. In the presence of several levels of Reality the space between disciplines and beyond disciplines is full of information. Disciplinary research concerns, at most, one and the same level of Reality; moreover, in most cases, it only concerns fragments of one level of Reality. On the contrary, transdisciplinarity concerns the dynamics engendered by the action of several levels of Reality at once. The discovery of these dynamics necessarily passes through disciplinary knowledge. While not a new discipline or a new superdiscipline, transdisciplinarity is nourished by disciplinary research; in turn, disciplinary research is clarified by transdisciplinary knowledge in a new, fertile way. In this sense, disciplinary and transdisciplinary research are not antagonistic but complementary. As in the case of disciplinarity, transdisciplinary research is not antagonistic but complementary to multidisciplinarity and interdisciplinarity research.
According to Nicolescu, transdisciplinarity is nevertheless radically distinct from multidisciplinarity and interdisciplinarity because of its goal, the understanding of the present world, which cannot be accomplished in the framework of disciplinary research. The goal of multidisciplinarity and interdisciplinarity always remains within the framework of disciplinary research. If transdisciplinarity is often confused with interdisciplinarity or multidisciplinarity (and by the same token, we note that interdisciplinarity is often confused with multidisciplinarity) this is explained in large part by the fact that all three overflow disciplinary boundaries. Advocates maintain this confusion hides the huge potential of transdisciplinarity. One of the best known professionals of transdisciplinarity in Argentina is
Pablo Tigani
Eugenio Pablo Tigani (born November 16, 1955, Buenos Aires) is an Argentinian economist and political scientist recognized for his transdisciplinary work involving politics, economics, administration, corporate finance and leadership. His book Arge ...
, and his concept about transdisciplinarity is:Currently, transdisciplinarity is a consolidated academic field that is giving rise to new applied researches, especially in
Latin America
Latin America or
* french: Amérique Latine, link=no
* ht, Amerik Latin, link=no
* pt, América Latina, link=no, name=a, sometimes referred to as LatAm is a large cultural region in the Americas where Romance languages — languages derived f ...
and the Caribbean. In this sense, the transdisciplinary and
biomimetics research of Javier Collado on
Big History
Big History is an academic discipline which examines history from the Big Bang to the present. Big History resists specialization, and searches for universal patterns or trends. It examines long time frames using a multidisciplinary approac ...
represents an ecology of knowledge between scientific knowledge and the ancestral wisdom of
native peoples, such as
Indigenous peoples in Ecuador. According to Collado, the transdisciplinary methodology applied in the field of
Big History
Big History is an academic discipline which examines history from the Big Bang to the present. Big History resists specialization, and searches for universal patterns or trends. It examines long time frames using a multidisciplinary approac ...
seeks to understand the interconnections of the human race with the different levels of reality that co-exist in nature and in the cosmos, and this includes mystical and spiritual experiences, very present in the rituals of
shamanism with
ayahuasca
AyahuascaPronounced as in the UK and in the US. Also occasionally known in English as ''ayaguasca'' ( Spanish-derived), ''aioasca'' (Brazilian Portuguese-derived), or as ''yagé'', pronounced or . Etymologically, all forms but ''yagé'' desce ...
and other sacred plants. In abstract, the teaching of
Big History
Big History is an academic discipline which examines history from the Big Bang to the present. Big History resists specialization, and searches for universal patterns or trends. It examines long time frames using a multidisciplinary approac ...
in universities of
Brazil
Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
,
Ecuador
Ecuador ( ; ; Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechua: ''Ikwadur Ripuwlika''; Shuar: ' ...
,
Colombia, and
Argentina
Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...
implies a transdisciplinary vision that integrates and unifies diverse epistemes that are in, between, and beyond the scientific disciplines, that is, including ancestral wisdom,
spirituality,
art
Art is a diverse range of human activity, and resulting product, that involves creative or imaginative talent expressive of technical proficiency, beauty, emotional power, or conceptual ideas.
There is no generally agreed definition of wha ...
, emotions, mystical experiences and other dimensions forgotten in the
history of science, specially by the positivist approach.
Transdisciplinary education
Transdisciplinary education is education that brings integration of different disciplines in a harmonious manner to construct new knowledge and uplift the learner to higher domains of cognitive abilities and sustained knowledge and skills. It involves better neural networking for lifelong learning.
Transdisciplinarity has been flagged internationally as an important aim of education. For example,
Global Education Magazine
''Global Education Magazine'' is a quarterly peer-reviewed journal formed in 2012 by a group of cognitive analysts. The journal focuses on global education. Each edition has a different theme, published on specified days by the United Nations to ...
, an international journal supported by
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...
and
UNHCR
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is a United Nations agency mandated to aid and protect refugees, forcibly displaced communities, and stateless people, and to assist in their voluntary repatriation, local integrat ...
:
"transdisciplinarity represents the capable germ to promote an endogenous development of the evolutionary spirit of internal critical consciousness, where religion and science are complementary. Respect, solidarity and cooperation should be global standards for the entire human development with no boundaries. This requires a radical change in the ontological models of sustainable development, global education and world-society. We must rely on the recognition of a plurality of models, cultures and socio-economical diversification. As well as biodiversity is the way for the emergence of new species, cultural diversity represents the creative potential of world-society."
Influence in disciplines and fields
Arts and humanities
Transdisciplinarity can be found in the
arts
The arts are a very wide range of human practices of creative expression, storytelling and cultural participation. They encompass multiple diverse and plural modes of thinking, doing and being, in an extremely broad range of media. Both ...
and
humanities
Humanities are academic disciplines that study aspects of human society and culture. In the Renaissance, the term contrasted with divinity and referred to what is now called classics, the main area of secular study in universities at the t ...
. For example, the
Planetary Collegium
The Planetary Collegium (a.k.a. CAiiA / Centre for Advanced Inquiry in Integrative Arts) is an international transcultural and transdisciplinary new media art educational research platform that promotes on the doctorate level the integration of a ...
seeks "the development of transdisciplinary discourse in the convergence of art, science, technology and consciousness research." Th
Plasticities Sciences Arts(PSA) research group also develops transdisciplinary approaches regarding humanities and fundamental sciences relationships as well as the Art & Science field.
Human sciences
The range of transdisciplinarity becomes clear when the four central questions of biological research ((1) ''
causation'', (2) ''
ontogeny
Ontogeny (also ontogenesis) is the origination and development of an organism (both physical and psychological, e.g., moral development), usually from the time of fertilization of the egg to adult. The term can also be used to refer to the s ...
,'' (3)
adaptation, (4)
phylogeny
A phylogenetic tree (also phylogeny or evolutionary tree Felsenstein J. (2004). ''Inferring Phylogenies'' Sinauer Associates: Sunderland, MA.) is a branching diagram or a tree showing the evolutionary relationships among various biological spe ...
fter_Niko_Tinbergen_1963,_see_also_Tinbergen's_four_questions.html" ;"title="Niko_Tinbergen.html" ;"title="fter Niko Tinbergen">fter Niko Tinbergen 1963, see also Tinbergen's four questions">Niko_Tinbergen.html" ;"title="fter Niko Tinbergen">fter Niko Tinbergen 1963, see also Tinbergen's four questions, cf. Aristotle: Causality / Four Major Causes]) are graphed against distinct levels of analysis (e.g. cell (biology), cell, organ (anatomy), organ, ''individual, Group (sociology), group''; [cf. "Laws about the Levels of Complexity" of
Nicolai Hartmann
Paul Nicolai Hartmann (; 20 February 1882 – 9 October 1950) was a Baltic German philosopher. He is regarded as a key representative of critical realism and as one of the most important twentieth-century metaphysicians.
Biography
Hartmann was ...
1940/1964, see also
Rupert Riedl
Rupert Riedl (22 February 1925 – 18 September 2005) was an Austrian zoologist.
Biography
Riedl was a scientist with broad interests, whose influence in epistemology grounded in evolutionary theory was notable, although less in English-speakin ...
1984]):
In this "scheme of transdisciplinarity", all anthropological disciplines (paragraph C in the table of the pdf-file below), their questions (paragraph A: see pdf-file) and results (paragraph B: see pdf-file) can be intertwined and allocated with each other for examples how these aspects go into those little boxes in the matrix, see e.g. the table This chart includes all realms of anthropological research (no one is excluded). It is the starting point for a systematical order for all human sciences, and also a source for a consistent networking and structuring of their results. This "bio-psycho-social" orientation framework is the basis for the development of the "Fundamental Theory of Human Sciences" and for a transdisciplinary consensus. (In this tabulated orientation matrix the questions and reference levels in ''italics'' are also the subject of the humanities.). Niko Tinbergen was familiar with both conceptual categories (i.e. the four central questions of biological research and the levels of analysis), the tabulation was made by Gerhard Medicus. Certainly, a humanist perspective always involves a transdisciplinary focus. A good and classic example of mixing very different sciences was the work developed by Leibniz in seventeenth-eighteenth centuries in order to create a universal system of justice.
Health science
The term transdisciplinarity is increasingly prevalent in health care research and has been identified as important to improving the effectiveness and efficiency in health care.
See also
*
Discipline (academia)
*
Interdisciplinarity
*
Multidisciplinarity
*
Science of team science
The Science of Team Science (SciTS) is a field of scientific philosophy and methodology which advocates using cross-disciplinary collaboration from diverse scientific fields to solve complex present-day problems. The field encompasses both conceptu ...
References
Citations
Sources
* Bernard Carmona â€
Inter and Transdisciplinary international conference– Lisbon 2014 December 11
* Bernard Carmona â€
ITD14 – Swiss Conference : Inter and Transdisciplinarity 2014* Bernard Carmona –
* Bernard Carmona, Ingénium transdisciplinaire – La pratique du débat dans le bouddhisme tibétain, Editions l'Harmattan, 2013
* Bernard Carmona, Le réveil du génie de l'apprenant, Editions l'Harmattan, 2009
*
Basarab Nicolescu
Basarab Nicolescu (born March 25, 1942, Ploieşti, Romania) is an honorary theoretical physicist at the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Laboratoire de Physique Nucléaire et de Hautes Énergies, Université Pierre et Marie ...
''Manifesto of Transdisciplinarity'', State University of New York (SUNY) Press, New York, 2002, translation from French by Karen-Claire Voss.
*
Basarab Nicolescu
Basarab Nicolescu (born March 25, 1942, Ploieşti, Romania) is an honorary theoretical physicist at the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Laboratoire de Physique Nucléaire et de Hautes Énergies, Université Pierre et Marie ...
(Ed.) ''Transdisciplinarity – Theory and Practice'', Hampton Press, Cresskill, NJ, USA, 2008.
Articleby
Jürgen Mittelstrass entitled ''On Transdisciplinarity'' (URL accessed on 6 November 2014)
* ; see also 2017: Being Human – Bridging the Gap between the Sciences of Body and Mind (chapter 1 and 2). Berlin, VWB,
*Javier Collado-Ruano (2018), ''Co-evolution in Big History: A Transdisciplinary and Biomimetic Approach to the Sustainable Development Goals. Social Evolution & History, 2018'
Javier Collado´s official website
*Javier Collado-Ruano (2016), Cosmodern Education in the Sustainable Development Goals, A Transdisciplinary and Biomimetic Approach from the Big History. TheATLAS. vol. 6, pp. 98–122.
*Javier Collado-Ruano (2016), Coevolución en la Gran Historia - una introducción transdisciplinar y biomimética a los Objetivos de Desarrollo Sostenible. Tesis doctoral premiada por la Fundación Columbia como la mejor investigación de América Latina y el Caribe en Ciencia y Espiritualidad del año 201
Co-evolution in Big History - a transdisciplinary and biomimetic introduction to the Sustainable Development Goals
*Javier Collado-Ruano's TED tal
Learning to feel-think-act with Nature* Bambara, E., "Alle radici della Transdisciplinarità . Edgar Morin e Basarab Nicolescu", PhD Thesis, University of Messina, 2000
Brand, Frank; Schaller, Franz & Völker, Harald (Hrsg.): Transdisziplinarität. Bestandsaufnahme und Perspektiven. Beiträge zur THESIS-Arbeitstagung im Oktober 2003 in Göttingen. Göttingen: Universitätsverlag, 2004.Hirsch Hadorn, Gertrude; Hoffmann-Riem, Holger; Biber-Klemm, Susette; Grossenbacher-Mansuy, Walter; Joye, Dominique; Pohl, Christian; Wiesmann, Urs & Zemp, Elisabeth (Eds.) (2008): Handbook of Transdisciplinary Research, Springer.* Hamberger, E., Luger, K. (Hrsg.)(2008): Transdisziplinäre Kommunikation. Aktuelle Be-Deutungen im fächerübergreifenden Dialog, Wien: Österr. Kunst- und Kulturverlag, .
* Jaeger J., Scheringer M. 1998. Transdisziplinarität. Problemorientierung ohne Methodenzwang. GAIA 7(1): 10–25.
* Ronald Jones, Interdisciplinarian, The Experience Design Group, Konstfack University of Art Design and Craft, Stockholm, Swede
* Max-Neef, Manfred A. "Foundations of Transdisciplinarity" Ecological Economics 53(2005) 5-16.
*
Jürgen MittelstrassTransdisciplinarity – New Structures in Science presented at the conferenc
"Innovative Structures in Basic Research"at
Schloss Ringberg
Schloss Ringberg (Ringberg Castle) is located in the Bavarian Alps, 50 km south of Munich, on a foothill overlooking the Tegernsee. Not open to the general public, it is a property of the Max Planck Society and used for conferences.
Histo ...
, 4 October 2000
*
Jürgen Mittelstrass: Transdisziplinarität – wissenschaftliche Zukunft und institutionelle Wirklichkeit. 2003
V.S.Mokiy, Methodology of transdisciplinarity-4 (solution of complicated multi-factor problems of nature and society)Institute of transdisciplinary technologies, Russia, 2013.
V.S.Mokiy, Transdisciplinary research of the Big Bang potency transformation in regards to Earth and human beingsInstitute of transdisciplinary technologies, Russia, 2013.
*
Nicolai Hartmann
Paul Nicolai Hartmann (; 20 February 1882 – 9 October 1950) was a Baltic German philosopher. He is regarded as a key representative of critical realism and as one of the most important twentieth-century metaphysicians.
Biography
Hartmann was ...
: Der Aufbau der realen Welt, Berlin, 1939 (2nd Ed. 1964), de Gruyter
*
Basarab Nicolescu
Basarab Nicolescu (born March 25, 1942, Ploieşti, Romania) is an honorary theoretical physicist at the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Laboratoire de Physique Nucléaire et de Hautes Énergies, Université Pierre et Marie ...
, "Manifesto of Transdisciplinarity", State University of New York Press, New York, USA, 2002, translation from the French by Karen-Claire Voss.
Pohl, Christian & Hirsch Hadorn, Gertrude (2007): Principles for Designing Transdisciplinary Research – proposed by the Swiss Academies of Arts and Sciences, München: oekom Verlag.*
Rupert Riedl
Rupert Riedl (22 February 1925 – 18 September 2005) was an Austrian zoologist.
Biography
Riedl was a scientist with broad interests, whose influence in epistemology grounded in evolutionary theory was notable, although less in English-speakin ...
: The Biology of Knowledge. Chichester, 1984, John Wiley
Thompson Klein, Julie; Grossenbacher-Mansuy, Walter; Häberli, Rudolf; Bill, Alain; Scholz, Roland W.; Welti, Myrtha (Hrsg.) (2001). Transdisciplinarity: Joint problem solving among science, technology, and society. An effective way for managing complexity. Basel: Birkhäuser*
Niko Tinbergen
Nikolaas "Niko" Tinbergen (; ; 15 April 1907 – 21 December 1988) was a Dutch biologist and ornithologist who shared the 1973 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with Karl von Frisch and Konrad Lorenz for their discoveries concerning the or ...
: On Aims and Methods in Ethology. Zeitschrift für Tierpsychologie, 1963, 20: 410–433
* Steinmetz, George. (2007). Transdisciplinarity as a Nonimperial Encounter. Thesis Eleven, 91 (1), 48–65. http://the.sagepub.com/content/91/1/48.short?rss=1&ssource=mfc/
* Stokols, D. (2006). Toward a science of transdisciplinary action research. American Journal of Community Psychology, 38, 63–77. https://doi.org/10.1007%2Fs10464-006-9060-5
* The Science of Team Science – Assessing the value of transdisciplinary research. Supplement issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, August, 2008. http://cancercontrol.cancer.gov/brp/scienceteam/ajpm.html
* Wickson, F., Carew, A.L. & Russell, A.W., 2006, 'Transdisciplinary research: characteristics, quandaries and quality', Futures, vol. 38, no. 9, pp. 1046–1059.
External links
Integral Research Centertransdisciplinary-net, Swiss Academies of Arts and SciencesTransdisciplinary Case Studies at ETH ZurichThe site of the International Center for Transdisciplinary Research (CIRET). E-zine "Transdisciplinary Encounters".
Transdisciplinary StudiesThe book series dedicated to transdisciplinary research.
*
*
World Knowledge Dialogue FoundationСoncept Russian school of TransdisciplinarityArticle of the Russian School of Transdisciplinarity 2007-2021Books of the Russian School of Transdisciplinarity 2007-2021Transdisciplinary Studiesat
Claremont Graduate University
PLASTIR : The Transdisciplinary Review of human plasticityJournal of the International Association of Transdisciplinary Psychology
GAIA: Ecological Perspectives for Science and SocietyA quarterly inter- and transdisciplinary journal for scientists and other interested parties concerned with the causes and analyses of environmental and sustainability problems and their solutions.
Global Education Magazine
''Global Education Magazine'' is a quarterly peer-reviewed journal formed in 2012 by a group of cognitive analysts. The journal focuses on global education. Each edition has a different theme, published on specified days by the United Nations to ...
disseminate specialized knowledge with multi, inter and transdisciplinary contents, with original works of research, studies, reviews and innovative experiences to improve management and practice of institutions and organizations with humanitarian and philanthropic educational activities. Their preferred writers are come from educational scientific community with international projects, humanitarian and voluntary activities, as well as cooperation and development: Public and Private Educational Institutions, NGOs, Development and Cooperation Associations, International Volunteers, etc
{{Authority control
Transdisciplinarity,
Academic discipline interactions
Holism