Wrapping up

An intensive week draws to its close. We would like to congratulate you on your achievements – there were quite a few!

In the first week of our course, we dove into some complex societal challenges and looked into their main characteristics. You shared where you are involved in addressing societal challenges or what motivated you to learn more about tackling them.

But how to address such challenges with research? The educators shared why they think transdisciplinary research (TDR) is a promising approach. For a first idea on how TDR can look in practice, five case studies were introduced. For each project, our course educators explained what societal challenges they address and gave a first glimpse on how they will engage with different actors in a transdisciplinary process to address those challenges.

Three main questions you should be able to answer now:

1. What are the main characteristics of complex societal challenges?
2. Why could TDR be a promising approach?
3. What are the challenges the five cases address? And which of the cases would you like to follow in depth? (Note: Of course you can follow all cases in depth – they are definitely all worth it. However, if you have limited time, you can choose two or three of them which are of particular interest to you.)

What were your most important insights from the first week of this course? Share your thoughts, we look forward to reading them! We also look forward to tackle with you in the next week the interesting topic of transdisciplinarity.

Author: Tobias Buser