Transdisciplinary Learning for Sustainable Development Sharing Experience in Course and Curriculum Design
Many research findings can make a relevant contribution to SD. But a disciplinary approach may conceal detrimental side-effects that are taking hold elsewhere – such as in other parts of the same system. This is why a “systems approach” is needed, as illustrated in Figure 3 for “social-ecological systems”. Achieving SD involves sociocultural, economic, and environmental issues all at the same time, and consequently cannot be captured within the boundaries and approaches of individual scientific disciplines. Complex systems are still insufficiently understood, which indicates a lack of interdisciplinary (id) research taking place. Science organized in disciplinary structures acts like a number of blind persons investigating an elephant by touching different, non-overlapping parts. They come to entirely different conclusions about what the elephant really is. All are somehow right, all are somehow wrong, and nobody captures the entire context. And to take a step further – to not only understand complex systems, but also to improve, change, or transform them – we require a transdisciplinary research approach. What is a social-ecological system? A system is a combination of elements (components, variables) that continuously interact (through flows of e.g. energy, matter, information, money) to form a complex entity that serves a specific purpose or includes specific functions. Systems are dynamic, which means they are subject to constant change. Understanding complex society–environment interrelationships thus requires an interdisciplinary, systemic perspective (social-ecological systems approach, or SES, Ostrom 2009). However, achieving SD must go further than just understanding SES. Instead, unsustainable SES must be transformed, to enable them to reach more sustainable stages, which is only possible if scientists and practitioners (policymakers, decision-makers, resource users, farmers, etc.) cooperate closely. Such cooperation is what we call transdisciplinarity.
Figure 3: A social-ecological system (SES) The figure represents selected relationships between an environmental subsystem on the one hand (bluegreen), and a sociocultural & economic subsystem (orange) on the other. The figure demonstrates that understanding an SES and its biophysical and socio-economic processes requires a holistic approach to which various scientific disciplines and faculties can make relevant contributions (e.g. climatology, biology, hydrology, soil science, sociology, social anthropology, economy, political sciences, and veterinarian and medical sciences.) In addition, farmers, planners, policymakers, etc. are actors to cooperate with to transform the system, enabling it to reach a more sustainable stage. (Design: K. Herweg)
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