Bridging divides in sustainability science

Transdisciplinary research between diverse academic and societal actors is a core practice in sustainability science. However, it often seems to fail in delivering new scientific insights while also significantly contributing to sustainability transformations. It is also often experienced as a burden instead of adding value, which leads to fatigue and disengagement. To address these challenges, we propose to bridge four divides: (i) positioning and linking disciplinary and transdisciplinary research; (ii) transferring and scaling insights from real-world experimentation; (iii) opening the “extended ivory towers” and reaching a majority of relevant societal actors; (iv) aligning research practice with broader sustainability values such as collaboration, mindfulness, and altruism.