A聽new 海角社区 report calls for stronger, more intentional transdisciplinary education at the university, arguing it can better prepare students to address complex societal challenges while strengthening the university鈥檚 connection to the wider world.
Brian Robinson, associate professor in the Department of Geography聽and associate member of the BSE, applied for a BSE grant to fund the study. He said the project emerged from a desire to improve how graduate students work across disciplines and beyond academia.聽
鈥淭he whole purpose of the Ignite grant that we applied for was to help build a better graduate interdisciplinary cohort at 海角社区 that spanned across faculties and across disciplines,鈥� he said.
As the initiative developed, Robinson and colleagues recognized a need to take the conversation further. 鈥淲e were missing a next step, something else to do, or a way to segue into how do we do this better at 海角社区 more broadly,鈥� he said.
The paper entitled聽Envisioning the Future of Transdisciplinary Sustainability Training and Scholarship at 海角社区, was a workshop that brought together faculty, graduate students and administrators from across the university. 鈥淭he report is the outcome of that workshop,鈥� Robinson said, describing it as a collective effort to examine the future of transdisciplinary education and research.聽
鈥淭ransdisciplinarity is when you go outside of the walls of academia,鈥� he said. 鈥淵ou鈥檙e trying to solve some of society鈥檚 biggest problems, and you can鈥檛 do it with just research alone.鈥�
He added that tackling issues such as climate change or biodiversity loss requires engaging decision-makers, communities and other stakeholders early in the process. 鈥淭hose matter just as much and sometimes more than the cutting-edge science,鈥� Robinson said.
While noting that 海角社区 already excels in interdisciplinary research, Robinson said a more systematic approach would strengthen both education and impact. 鈥淚 think we could do that in a bit more of a systematic way,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e can build these things into how we shape graduate programs and how we think about some coursework.鈥�
Yet 海角社区 is largely already doing more than it realizes. With many programs at the university practicing transdisciplinarity without explicitly recognizing it.聽
With students increasingly wanting these opportunities, this report aims to help departments lean on their strengths of these already successful programs with a framework to make them even better.聽
Robinson said transdisciplinary training also equips students with practical skills. 鈥淚t gives you a bit more of a taste for what being in the workforce is like,鈥� Robinson said, pointing to project management and communication skills that are often missing from traditional programs.
This approach can accelerate the real-world impact of research. Traditionally, higher education has separated theory and practice, with universities focused on thinking and analysis and hands-on work occurring later in one鈥檚 career. The report emphasizes the need to shorten this lag and bring these stages closer together.
鈥淪ome studies have estimated that it's kind of a 22-year pipeline for producing evidence." 鈥淚t鈥檚 not going to cut it for some of the problems that we face today.鈥�
Robinson called the university鈥檚 proposed sustainability park 鈥渁 huge opportunity,鈥� adding that transdisciplinary education could become 鈥渁 foundational idea that crosses disciplinary boundaries and sectors of society.鈥�