How to address sustainability challenges that are often complex and global, transcend disciplinary barriers and require competencies that stretch beyond academia? Keeping the theme of this year’s conference in mind, how to foster “cooperative, cross-border solutions that transcend geographical and political boundaries” and recognize “the imperative for tailored, society- and community-driven approaches to address challenges rooted in specific socio-economic, cultural, and environmental contexts”?

Transdisciplinary research (TDR) - defined as the co-production of knowledge through a reflexive approach that addresses societal problems by means of interdisciplinary collaboration and collaboration between academic and non-academic actors– appears as a way to connect academic research and practice of development, contribute to knowledge(s) and practical solutions that are locally rooted, and link academic excellence with policy and impact. 

Transdisciplinarity is intimately connected to the rise of the sustainability agenda in the 1990s, yet barriers and challenges to its wider adoption still remain. Faculties and research and development agencies have shown a growing interest in the approach. Its advantages are numerous: pragmatic and solution-oriented, linking global challenges to local actors and results, facilitating scaling of knowledge and solutions by transcending academic barriers, and contributing to mutual and transformational learning for both researchers and practitioners. However, challenges to TDR are also many: institutional, cultural, motivational, or political.

How is transdisciplinarity contributing to "Shaping Sustainable Futures"? Is TDR well-understood and accepted in academic and development circles? Is TDR compatible with academic excellence? What do development and research donors like and dislike about TDR? How is society included in TDR and how to ensure that research outcomes are co-produced and usable by practitioners? What are the conditions for impactful transdisciplinary research? What institutional barriers (e.g. funding, academic incentives, publication norms) hinder transdisciplinary collaboration and how to overcome them?

The roundtable will bring together researchers, practitioners, funders and policy makers from the North and South involved in transdisciplinary research to discuss the promises, successes and challenges of TDR through concrete examples drawn from transdisciplinary programmes (Tech4Dev, ETH4D, SOR4D, etc.) and projects. The public will be invited to contribute to the debate with their own experience and interrogations, and extend the community of practice on TDR.