Dierk participates to workshop "Advancing Transformative Research"

The workshop offered the great opportunity to discuss the different elements, the advantages and disadvantages, definitionsand modes of the complex field of transformation-oriented research.

Transformative research (TS) focuses on understanding real-world problems of unsustainability and on developing knowledge to solve these problems by engaging with different societal actors in a co-creative research setting. It builds on the acknowledgement that real-world problems are persistent, complex, ambiguous and require fundamental societal change processes (so called “transformations”) to be overcome.

During the workshop, participants gained a better understanding of what we collectively mean by transformative research and advanced critical questioning and reflections regarding experiences from the field. Instead of developing clear and foreclosing answers, participants explored the multiple perspectives and understandings of transformative research.

Three key lessons have been drawned for the community, that led to follow-up questions and elaborations:

• Transformative research critically advances from collaborative questioning: Is it really a matter of combining efforts to formulate the right questions instead of generating fast knowledge and solutions?
• Transformative research benefits from a shared identity: Who are we and what does transformative research change for us in our role and every-day scientific practice?
• Embodying participatory practices is key for transformative research: What kind of attitudes and formats do we use to come together in meaningful ways?

Valerie Voggenreiter and Felix Beyers from the Research Institute for Sustainability (RIFS) in Potsdam published a paper on the workshop "A Journey of Collective Scientific Learning: A Networking Event on Transformative Research Hosted by the Austrian Institute of Technology" (August 2023).