Fostering inter- and transdisciplinarity in discipline-oriented universities to improve sustainability science and practice

Many problems we face today, including sustainability issues, are complex and encompass intertwined systems. As such, they are difficult to understand and define due to the pluralism of values within society, which also makes it hard to reach agreement on these issues. Technocratic solutions then may be perceived as improper by stakeholders, detaching citizens from urgent issues. Inter- and transdisciplinary approaches to science have recently been strongly advocated as activities that can bring science closer to society to co-produce knowledge suited to deal with such complex problems. Here, we present a heuristic model on how scholars working in discipline-oriented universities can either reinforce disciplinarity or foster transition to inter- and transdisciplinarity. We then describe strategies we implemented to promote this transition. Our model represents interactions scholars establish to perform academic activities and factors influencing how they develop such activities. According to the model, scholars’ interactions overcome disciplinarity when they are diversified and bidirectional, requiring that they work beyond the mainstream scientific practices, crossing the boundaries of traditional training, and using their expertise to influence academic policy and culture. Our strategies to foster inter- and transdisciplinarity encompassed learning-by-doing and influencing academic policies and culture by engaging in policy processes. The main challenges were associated with advancing our academic training while simultaneously navigating the discipline-oriented system of scholar evaluation. We hope our model and initiatives stimulate other scholars to confront discipline-oriented policies and culture, helping to close the gap between academic rigor and social relevance, and to integrate sciences contributing to sustainability, practice, and policy.