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Partnering for Change: Link Research to Societal Challenges

How can we address societal challenges with research? Investigate the principles, processes, and uses of transdisciplinarity.

2,626 enrolled on this course

Abstract picture, based on an essential graph in the course, showing cycles and arrows, symbolizing processes in transdisciplinary research.

Partnering for Change: Link Research to Societal Challenges

2,626 enrolled on this course

  • 6 weeks

  • 5 hours per week

  • Digital certificate when eligible

  • Introductory level

Find out more about how to join this course

Discover the methods and tools of transdisciplinary research.

In today’s world, we face many complex societal challenges. Projects addressing these challenges often involve actors and stakeholders from different fields and disciplines bringing together their own perspectives or knowledge on a topic. Accordingly, collaborative transdisciplinary approaches are crucial for the success of a project.

In this course, you’ll explore how to meet the challenges of conducting effective transdisciplinary research. You’ll gain insights into a variety of case studies from different fields as you learn from the experiences of peers and experts.

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Skip to 0 minutes and 9 seconds We call complex what is difficult to understand. Systems made of parts that interact in manifold ways. Situations in which actors need to cooperate, even if they have diverging aims and approaches. Climate change is complex and so are societies. Migration starts from local necessity and leads into difficult contexts. Health care is a basic need, but faces intricate issues on a local, as well as, on a global scale. Today, we need to address many challenges that are complex. All have one thing in common. They cannot be tackled by one party alone. To improve them, several actors need to bring together what they know, jointly creating new knowledge. Researchers are often one of these actors.

Skip to 0 minutes and 59 seconds They bring science to the table to address problems that can only be solved together with decision makers and affected people. For this, they propose an approach that is called transdisciplinary research. Our cause brings together scientists from several esteemed Swiss universities and institutions who let you experience transdisciplinary research. They have the vision to share it with everybody motivated to address complex societal challenges. Five cases show how the approach may vary when applied. Climate change demands new water management systems in the Alps. Mobile pastoralists need better health care. A peripheral village faces many challenges because of tourist development. Labour migrants from Nepal to India start to understand their rights.

Skip to 1 minute and 55 seconds A project supports the World Health Organisation to address the problem of antibiotic resistance. With these cases, you will explore how transdisciplinary research works. You will investigate benefits and pitfalls. In addition, experts explain the theoretical background, proposing methods and tools, and inviting you to develop your own ideas. Many people collaborated for this course, coordinated by the network for transdisciplinary research, which is part of the Swiss Academies of Arts and Sciences.

Skip to 2 minutes and 31 seconds They are convinced that the approach is promising to address the complex challenges in our current world.

Skip to 2 minutes and 40 seconds So find out what this means for you, for your research, for your career, for your life. We very much look forward to welcome you to the course.

What topics will you cover?

  • Research skills needed in order to produce relevant outcomes for society and academia
  • Transdisciplinarity: principles, research processes, and application
  • Guiding questions, phases, and steps in transdisciplinary projects
  • Pitfalls and opportunities in transdisciplinary projects
  • Ethical implications of co-production processes
  • Examples of transdisciplinary projects on sustainable development, migration, and health topics

When would you like to start?

Start straight away and join a global classroom of learners. If the course hasn’t started yet you’ll see the future date listed below.

  • Available now

Learning on this course

On every step of the course you can meet other learners, share your ideas and join in with active discussions in the comments.

What will you achieve?

By the end of the course, you‘ll be able to...

  • Develop your research skills as you investigate how to co-produce knowledge for society and academia.
  • Reflect transdisciplinarity – its principles, its research processes and the context in which it is promising.
  • Apply transdisciplinary approaches to societally relevant questions.
  • Identify guiding questions, phases and steps of transdisciplinary project.
  • Apply the principles and steps of transdisciplinary research to examples in order to reflect the implication for your own projects.
  • Reflect the role of scientists and stakeholders in society and consider the ethical implications of co-producing processes.

Who is the course for?

Students and researchers from all backgrounds; stakeholders involved in searching solutions for complex societal challenges. Mentoring will take place from Monday, March 14 to Friday, April 22, 2022.

Who will you learn with?

Professor of Epidemiology at the Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute and the University of Basel, Switzerland.

Scientific Director Institute of Social-Ecological Research ISOE, Professor Goethe University Frankfurt

Executive Secretary of the Global Alliance for Inter- and Transdisciplinarity.
Expert for collaborative research, with profound experience in designing, conducting and reflecting TDR processes.

Professor at the Institute of Geography, University of Bern. Research interests: Critical Sustainability Studies, Mobilities and Migration, Labour and Education, Digital Media, Social Learning

Co-director of the Transdisciplinarity Lab of the Department of Environmental Systems Science at ETH Zurich

Research Associate at the Institute of Sociocultural Development of Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts - Social Work, Switzerland.

I am a professor of Human Geograpy at the Institute of Geography and holder of the UNESCO Chair on Cultural and Natural Heritage and Sustainable Mountain Development, Unviersity of Bern, Switzerland.

Senior Researcher at the Global Studies Institute of the University of Geneva. Background in medicine and international relations and interest for complexity science to research antibiotic resistance

Professor of Inter- and Transdisciplinary Studies at the Center for Children’s Rights Studies, University of Geneva, Switzerland.

Who developed the course?

University of Basel

The University of Basel has an international reputation of outstanding achievements in research and teaching.

Swiss Academies of Arts and Sciences

The Swiss Academies advance transdisciplinary and intercultural research with the Network for Transdisciplinary Research and the Commission for Research Partnerships with Developing Countries.

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University of Lucerne Applied Sciences and Arts logo

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Ways to learn

Choose the best way to learn for you!

Subscribe & save

$27.99

For the first two months. Automatically renews

Develop skills to further your career

  • Access to this course
  • Access to 1,000+ courses
  • Learn at your own pace
  • Discuss your learning in comments
  • Digital certificate when you're eligible

Cancel for free anytime

Buy this course

$104/one-off payment

Fulfill your current learning need

  • Access to this course
  • Learn at your own pace
  • Discuss your learning in comments
  • Printed and digital certificate when you’re eligible

Limited access

Free

Sample the course materials

  • Access expires 9 May 2024

Find out more about certificates, Unlimited or buying a course (Upgrades)

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