Relational Transdisciplinarity: Five Reflexive Steps for Embodying Relational Ontologies in Transdisciplinary Learning Contexts

Authors

  • Farina L. Tolksdorf Leuphana University - Germany
  • Claire Grauer Leuphana University - Germany
  • Bagele Chilisa Professor of Post Graduate Research and Evaluation, University of Botswana - Botswana
  • David Manuel-Navarrete Associate Professor in Sustainability, Arizona State University - United States. Corresponding Author: davidmn@ASU.edu
  • Zainal Abidin Sanusi Associate Professor in Political Science, Islamic University Malaysia - Malaysia
  • Sophie Rühl Leuphana University - Germany
  • Daniel J. Lang Leuphana University - Germany

Keywords:

Transdisciplinary Learning, Interpersonal Relations, Human-Nature Relationality, Interconnectedness

Abstract

Transdisciplinary learning is achieved through building reciprocal relationships in collaborative processes that hold room for diverse worldviews and ways of knowing and being. Understanding how to nurture relational dynamics in specific research contexts is key to co-produce transdisciplinary knowledge. In this article, we propose five reflexive steps to embody relational ontologies for transdisciplinary learning. Embodying a relational ontology goes beyond building relationships or learning relationally. It means that researchers open up to co-becoming in-relation with the transdisciplinary learning context. Developed by a fellow group of international researchers from Malaysia, Botswana, the US, and Germany, we seek to provide guidance for a diversity of people interested in exploring how to enrich transdisciplinary learning processes.

Author Biographies

Claire Grauer, Leuphana University - Germany

I am a research associate and PhD candidate at Leuphana University Lüneburg. A social anthropologist by training, I previously worked for an international child rights NGO and as an independent consultant and trainer in development and environmental education before joining Leuphana in 2018. My research interests are in qualitative research and in better understanding approaches to teaching and learning about sustainable consumption in formal and informal education settings.

Within my PhD research I am interested in studying learning approaches linking time as a resource for sustainability to ESE teaching and learning. The application of an intercultural perspective and my interest in applying artistic methods such as creative writing and improvisation theatre have been two important crosscutting issues in my previous work, connecting my professional and private interests.

Bagele Chilisa, Professor of Post Graduate Research and Evaluation, University of Botswana - Botswana

Professor Chilisa is a renowned post-colonial scholar, researcher, author, educator, and an important African thought leader. Some of the courses that she has been facilitating for over 30 years include Research design, policy design, and Measurement and Evaluation courses, among others. As a full Professor at the University of Botswana she has supervised more than 50 masters and PhD dissertations with diverse academic discourse and has served as external examiner for PhD thesis in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region. Her interest in community-based research has driven her to write extensively on indigenous knowledge as well as publish a book titled “Indigenous Research methodologies”. A book that has sparked international discourse on importance of indigenous methodologies, especially in Africa. She has shared her intellectual knowledge about indigenous research methodologies on several platforms and at several conferences in Universities in South Africa, USA, Norway, UK, and Italy. With over 80 publications, Prof. Chilisa has been recognized as the Researcher of the Year and awarded UB Research Team Leadership at University Research Awards Ceremony in 2019. She has also been awarded the Prestigious USA National Institute of Health Research Award on capacity building on HIV/AIDS.

David Manuel-Navarrete, Associate Professor in Sustainability, Arizona State University - United States. Corresponding Author: davidmn@ASU.edu

David Manuel-Navarrete plays the role of Associate Professor in Sustainability at Arizona State University. His research has addressed the (un-)sustainability of agroforestry systems, coastal areas, agriculture frontiers, tourism enclaves, megacities, and other social-ecological and technological systems across Latin America. He is currently focused on horizontal ways of co-producing knowledge and solutions in the Ecuadorian Amazon with Kichwa and Waorani people. His use-inspired research seeks to decolonize conservation and development through kin-centric networks that generate income locally while fostering the thriving of all rainforest beings. Specific projects include: creation of infrastructure in remote communities so that locals can provide education services based on their biocultures to foreign students, sustainable transportation through solar canoes to disincentivize road construction, participatory monitoring of biodiversity by combining acoustic ecology with ancestral knowledge, and leveraging virtual reality and Indigenous biocultures to promote a global eco-centric culture based on relationality and away from rational materialism.

Corresponding Author: davidmn@ASU.edu

Zainal Abidin Sanusi, Associate Professor in Political Science, Islamic University Malaysia - Malaysia

Zainal Abidin Sanusi is currently Director, Sejahtera Centre for Sustainability and Humanity, International Islamic University Malaysia while serving as an Associate Professor at the Department of Political Science, Kuliyyah of Islamic Revealed Knowledge and Human Science.  Prior to this post, he served as Minister Council (Education) at Malaysian High Commission, London. He had also served as Deputy Director, Centre for Leadership Training at Higher Education Leadership Academy of the Ministry of Education Malaysia.

Daniel J. Lang, Leuphana University - Germany

Daniel J. Lang is Professor in Real-World Lab Design at the Institute for Technology Assessment and Systems Analysis, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology and UNESCO Chair in Higher Education for Sustainable Development at Leuphana University. He was Dean of this faculty between 2012 and 2016. Since 2016 he is the President’s Special Advisor for Sustainability at Leuphana. Furthermore he is adjunct faculty member at the School of Sustainability at Arizona State University and Honorary Professor at the Universiti Sains Malaysia. The main focus of Daniel’s work revolves around the further development of the theoretical, methodological as well as process-related foundations of Sustainability Science. In particular his professorship focuses on cooperation and mutual learning processes between different scientific disciplines as well as science and society with the aim to develop robust solution options for urgent sustainability problems of the 21st century.

Downloads

Published

2023-12-19

How to Cite

Tolksdorf, F. L., Grauer, C., Chilisa, B., Manuel-Navarrete, D., Sanusi, Z. A., Rühl, S., & Lang, D. J. (2023). Relational Transdisciplinarity: Five Reflexive Steps for Embodying Relational Ontologies in Transdisciplinary Learning Contexts. Social Innovations Journal, 22. Retrieved from https://socialinnovationsjournal.com/index.php/sij/article/view/7003

Issue

Vol. 22 (2023): Transformative Partnerships: Proceedings of Transformations Conference '23

Section

Co-producing Transformative Knowledge

Categories

License

Copyright (c) 2023 Farina L. Tolksdorf, Claire Grauer, Bagele Chilisa, David Manuel-Navarrete, Zainal Abidin Sanusi, Sophie Rühl, Daniel J. Lang (Author)

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

The Social Innovations Journal permits the Creative Commons License:

CC Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0

Under the following terms:

  • No additional restrictions — You may not apply legal terms or technological measures that legally restrict others from doing anything the license permits.

Notices:

  • You do not have to comply with the license for elements of the material in the public domain or where your use is permitted by an applicable exception or limitation.
  • No warranties are given. The license may not give you all of the permissions necessary for your intended use. For example, other rights such as publicity, privacy, or moral rights may limit how you use the material

Copyright and Publishing Rights

For the licenses indicated above, authors retain the copyright and full publishing rights without restrictions.