Problem framing in transdisciplinary research (Christian Pohl)

Problem framing is the first of three distinct phases in transdisciplinary research. The video briefly describes how problem framing achieves its aims to:
• specify a shared problem that is socially relevant and scientifically interesting
• identify a team of researchers from different disciplines, as well as stakeholders from different sectors of society, willing to work on it
• clarify the different ways group members perceive the problem
• agree on a set of achievable project goals.
Transdisciplinary research projects typically start with a topic, rather than a research question. Topics are acknowledged to be complex and there are many ways to address them. For example, a topic such as starvation could be addressed by:
• a company with a business idea
• a government agency with a food program
• an investigation focused on the just distribution of resources
• an investigation focused on economic drivers.
A transdisciplinary project then needs to bring together the expertise needed for comprehensive understanding and management of an issue. In order to make a difference regarding the problem this needs to include those affected by the problem in a negative or positive way, as well as those who have the power to make a change. Expertise, power and interest should all be considered in deciding who to involve. Stakeholder analysis is a useful tool. Further, different understandings should be made explicit and known to all participants.
Many participants will be involved by being physically present in the project, but this may not be possible for all participants, for example those involved in illegal activities. Nevertheless, all relevant perspectives should be taken into account.
Additional issues to be addressed at the problem framing stage are to clarify:
• how the scientific knowledge generated about the problem will be linked to the societal issues
• each participant’s perspective on the project goals. The outcome spaces tool can be useful here differentiating between effects on the situation on the ground, knowledge about the problem or learning processes among the participants and beyond.
The speaker, Dr Christian Pohl, is Co-director of the Transdisciplinarity Lab of the Department of Environmental Systems Science at ETH Zurich in Switzerland.
This video is taken from week 3 of the Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) “Partnering for Change - Link Research to Societal Challenges.” See transdisciplin...
and www.futurelear....
References mentioned:
- Hirsch Hadorn, G., Bradley, D., Pohl, C., Rist, S. and Wiesmann, U. (2006). Implications of transdisciplinarity for sustainability research. Ecological Economics, 60: 119-128.
- Pohl, C., Krütli, P. and Stauffacher, M. (2017). Ten reflective steps for rendering research societally relevant. GAIA, 26, 1: 43-51. (Online - open access) (DOI): doi.org/10.145...
- Other resources mentioned in the video are available at: naturalscience... (see for example: naturwissensch....