Please download the Rapporteurs’ Report for this session here.
Soils and land resources are under threat. At the same time, the role in soils and land for climate change, biodiversity, food security and poverty reduction is increasingly acknowledged up in global political spheres, as evidenced by the current process to negotiate the Post-2015 Development Agenda. However, the way in which soil and land problems are addressed by society is often characterised by separating and fragmenting issues that should be addressed from a holistic perspective. In the efforts towards a more sustainable development, the concept of transdisciplinarity has gained importance and is now entering scientific, political, and economic spheres.
However, despite this boom and the willingness of many researchers, policymakers and civil society representatives, to actually do transdisciplinarity in practice remains a huge challenge in an institutional and societal context that still relies on the principles of classic hierarchical, disciplinary and excellence-driven mindsets. Thus, in practice, organizations as well as individuals are often overwhelmed with the question of how to meaningfully involve and cooperate with scientists from different disciplines, farmers, land users and owners, as well as markets, policies, rights, laws, communities and cultures. In practice, different settings and purposes imply different benefits but also challenges and limits for the application of transdisciplinarity.
Against this backdrop, representatives from different sectors (science, social movements, policy and economy) and levels (global, national, local) will share their experiences in a discussion of the expectations, potentials and limits of transdisciplinary processes. What are the different faces of transdisciplinarity and how can transdisciplinarity help to address persistent challenges in sustainable soil management and responsible land governance?
You may also be interested in the following Lunch Break Forum (LBF) contributions:
–> LBF-09: Creatively capturing perceptions of soil sustainability
–> LBF-10: Volunteer Soil Doctors in Thailand
–> LBF-21: Raising awareness and sharing S O I L utions
–> LBF-23: ‘Soil selfies’ from down under
Download the session description here.
Programme
Contact: Franziska Linz