Creating Inspiring Workshops and Courses in Transdisciplinarity: A Guide - Manual / Resource - Page 86
Practices in transdisciplinary research
Communication
Communication is an essential crosscutting task for practically every
aspect of a TDR project. It is important
to understand communication as
an ongoing process that holds the
entire project together and must be
implemented throughout the project,
not simply at the end to report on
project findings.
As the commonly cited adage goes6,
“The problem with communication
is the illusion that it has been
accomplished.” Communication is never
done. Project teams typically fail to
begin (or quickly cease) talking about
it, even be conscious of it, because
it is so deeply embedded in human
interactions. But communication tends
to be remembered when lack of or
miscommunication leads to problems.
When is communication needed and for what?
Because communication is necessary at every phase of a project, it needs to be made an
explicit cross-cutting practice to prevent or minimize problems. It is needed for different
aspects at different stages of project implementation.
In the co-design phase, communication is necessary for:
•
Idea formulation and negotiation with team members and societal partners;
•
Reflection and reflexivity on one’s own role and stance vis-à-vis the matter of
concern and others in the project;
•
Relationship and trust building;
•
Developing a shared language (and understanding) across disciplines and sectors;
•
Articulation of project goals;
•
Writing a persuasive funding proposal;
•
Setting the tone for a meeting or to launch a collaboration; and
•
Developing and coming to a jointly agreed project plan.
6 Various authors have been attributed to this adage, but who expressed this sentiment first has not been conclusively established (see https://quoteinvestigator.com/2014/08/31/illusion/).
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Practices When is communication needed and for what?
