Constructing collaborative communities of researchers in the environmental domain. A case study of interdisciplinary research between legal scholars and policy analysts

•Flooding is an example of “messy problem” which needs the investigation by different elements.•Constructing collaborative communities among researchers of different disciplines is suggested a way to approach “messy problems”.•Interdisciplinary work is not considered to be a pre-condition for the study.•Interdisciplinary work is rather the result of the research process itself.•The analysis draws attention to the actual (working) conditions established to create an interdisciplinary community of flooding practices by challenging disciplinary borders. The article offers an analysis of the interactions between legal and policy science researchers within a European project on flood risk management using a “Policy Arrangement Approach” (PAA). While interdisciplinary research is increasingly becoming a ‘must’ in environmental governance, under what conditions is cooperation possible and desirable? Our analysis shows that the PAA is not mobilized as an interdisciplinary method, but offers a framework for researchers from different disciplines to learn to work together on a subject such as flooding, requiring interdisciplinary insights. The paper shows the steps that are progressively put in place to reach a common language and reformulate issues by benefitting from each other’s view and approaches. The article concludes by drawing attention to new means of knowledge production relating to so-called “messy” or “wicked” problems, such as environmental issues. Within this framework, interdisciplinary work is not considered to be a pre-condition for the study, but rather the result of the research process itself. The analysis draws attention to the actual (working) conditions established to create an interdisciplinary community of flooding practices by challenging disciplinary borders.