Transdisciplinary Research and Sustainability

Martina Padmanabhan is W3 Chair of Comparative Development and Cultural Studies - Southeast Asia, University of Passau, Germany

• Preface: Bernhard Gläser & Heike Egner, series editorsForeword by the editor: Martina Padmanabhan Introduction: Transdisciplinarity for sustainabilityMartina Padmanabhan Section 1: Understanding sustainability science as challenge and necessityA transdisciplinary approach to the process of socio-technical transformation: the case of German ‘Energiewende’ Armin GrunwaldReal-world laboratories as an institutionalisation of the new social contract between science and societyMandy Singer-Brodowski & Matthias Wanner & Uwe SchneidewindTransdisciplinarity in social-ecological research: Constraints, challenges and opportunities. Reflections on personal experienceSabine HofmeisterSection 2: Cooperating with partners of practiceFrom the plurality of transdisciplinarity to concrete transdisciplinary methods. The case of PoNa and its dialogue with practitioners on a picture discourse analysis.Daniela Gottschlich & Jedrzej SulmowskiSocial learning videos: A method for successful collaboration between science and practicePatricia FryDeveloping landscape scenarios and identifying local management options:Outcomes and evaluation of a participatory approach in the Swabian Alb, GermanyClaudia Bieling, Holger Gerdes, Bettina Ohnesorge, Tobias Plieninger, Harald Schaich, Christian Schleyer, Kathrin Trommler & Franziska WolffSection 3: Pursuing methodological innovations for transdisciplinarityThis is the case (study) - so what? Reflections on a constitutive tension in sustainability scienceRafael Ziegler

Sustainability can neither be understood nor realized without transdisciplinarity. In this collection of outstanding contribution by a stellar cast of international scholars and practitioners, Dr. Padmanabhan brilliantly demonstrates how sustainability science researchers and practitioners can speak to and learn from each other. This model of integrative work will prove to be of lasting and immense value.Arun Agrawal is a Professor at the School of Natural Resources & Environment at the University of Michigan, USACo-design, co-production and co-dissemination are often applied in transdisciplinary research, but still lacks methodological clarity in practise. The volume offers outstanding research from German speaking countries that can further elucidate the implementation of these concepts. It clearly demonstrates that power, gender and culture must be considered carefully to establish transdisciplinarity as emancipatory force." Christoph Görg, Professor of Social Ecology, Alpen-Adria Universtät Wien, Austria