Creating Inspiring Workshops and Courses in Transdisciplinarity: A Guide - Manual / Resource - Page 82
marginalized entities while critiquing powerful actors, for
example) or sequentially (“wearing different hats”) at different
stages of a project. This can help researchers adapt to changing
circumstances or situations, and take advantage of opportunities
that may arise. For example, if a researcher has focused on
working with a community to generate a relevant evidence base
on their chosen problem, and are then invited to present their
findings to a political forum, the roles can change very quickly!
Another value-driven stance lies in the integration of knowledge
itself. For example, researchers who believe it is critical to
integrate scientific knowledge with the tacit knowledge held for
millennia by an Indigenous tribe are taking a sociopolitical stance
on the nature and relevance of science itself.
While some researchers welcome and seek out more active
social and political roles, others may feel uncomfortable
stepping into a space that seems more aligned with advocacy
than science. Recognizing that this is all possible within the
TDR process can help researchers with any discomfort – it
is not “wrong” or “unscientific” to move to a more overtly or
deliberately politically active part of the spectrum. Political
action in TDR is still evidence-based and built from careful and
systematic consideration of different perspectives, experiences,
and interpretations of complex issues. Yet it is also grounded in
the holistic values and normative commitments that we hold as
participants in complex research-action arenas.
p. 77
Further reading:
•
Bulten, Ellen, Laurens K. Hessels, Michaela Hordijk, and
Andrew J. Segrave. 2021. Conflicting Roles of Researchers
in Sustainability Transitions: Balancing Action and
Reflection. Sustainability Science 16 (4): 1269–83.
•
Hilger, Annaliesa, Michael Rose, and Andreas Keil. 2021.
Beyond Practitioner and Researcher: 15 Roles Adopted by
Actors in Transdisciplinary and Transformative Research
Processes. Sustainability Science, October.
•
Pohl, Christian, Stephan Rist, Anne Zimmermann, Patricia
Fry, Ghana S. Gurung, Flurina Schneider, Chinwe Ifejika
Speranza, et al. 2010. Researchers’ Roles in Knowledge
Co-Production: Experience from Sustainability Research
in Kenya, Switzerland, Bolivia and Nepal. Science & Public
Policy 37 (4): 267–81.
Practices Role(s) of researchers
