What Expertise do you need to be an Effective Transdisciplinarian? - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

What Expertise do you need to be an Effective Transdisciplinarian? Gabriele Bammer

1990s Feasibility Research into a Trial of Heroin Prescription 2

Feasibility research involved… Demographers Drug users Clinicians Police Policy makers etc 3

1995: report presented to ACT Chief Minister, Kate Carnell 4

Supported by the Ministerial Council on Drug Strategy meeting 31/7/97 5

Prime Minister John Howard and cabinet withdraw support 18/8/97 6

What did Prime Minister John Howard have to say about it in his 2010 autobiography? 7

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Why tell this story? Seminal in my socialization into ‘transdisciplinarity’ (research that requires integration and implementation) - Socialization - Expertise - Terminology 9

Socialization and identity Where can I go in a university to learn about: - complex real-world problems? - inter- and trans- disciplinarity? - systems thinking? - making a difference? 10

Integration and implementation expertise… 1 To develop: • a more comprehensive understanding • more effective action Build on a solid base: • discipline-based expertise • Stakeholder expertise and lived experience (affected by and able to affect) 11

Integration and implementation expertise…2 It is no existing discipline’s business to: a) Integrate relevant discipline-based and stakeholder evidence b) Figure out how to implement the more comprehensive understanding in policy and practice change c) Do all the necessary background work eg figure out which disciplines & stakeholders d) Deal with ‘wickedness’ 12

The ‘necessary background work’… • Deal with problem and action space as systems • Identify which disciplines and stakeholders are relevant • Identify relevant aspects of context • Identify and manage value conflict • Worry about unknowns esp unintended consequences • Figure out best possible solution … 13

Four key elements of expertise… Different kinds of problems 1. Knowledge 2. Unknowns 3. Integration 4. Implementation 14

Key issues: 1. Knowledge • building a more comprehensive understanding of a problem • generating new ideas / break-through thinking • multiple disciplines +/- stakeholders 15

Key issues: 2a. Unknowns 1. Disciplinary unknowns 2. Unknowns of concern to stakeholders 3. Unknowns marginalised by power imbalances 4. Unknowns in the overlap between disciplines 5. New problem-based unknowns 6. Intractable unknowns 16

Key issues: 2b. Unknowns 1. Disciplinary i. Reduce 2. Concern stakeholders ii. Banish 3. Marginalised by power iii. Accept imbalances iv. Exploit 4. Overlap of disciplines v. Surrender to 5. Problem-based vi. Deny 6. Intractable 17

Key issues: 3. Integration • of/for what • how complex (number & diversity of disciplines/stakeholders; value conflict) • how (dialogue, model, product…) • when (beginning, end, continuous) • by whom (individual, whole team, sub-group) 18

Key issues: 4a. Implementation Yes/No. 19

Key issues: 4b. Implementation Yes/No. If yes: • Policy &/or practice change or product • Government, business, civil society How? • Inform, catalyse, engage, drive NB Difference in who is ‘in charge’ 20

Who is developing missing expertise? Teams working on complex problems – ad hoc Small organised efforts 21

Overcoming fragmentation • Important for - intellectual heft - political influence • Role of Integration and Implementation Sciences (i2S) 22

Expertise in three domains Synthesising Understanding disciplinary and managing and stakeholder diverse knowledge unknowns Providing integrated research support for policy and practice change 23

Expertise in addressing five questions Q1 For what and for whom? Synthesising Understanding disciplinary and managing and stakeholder diverse Q2 What is needed? knowledge unknowns Q3 How? Providing integrated Q4 Context? research support for policy Q5 Outcomes? and practice change 24

Q1 For what and for whom? Synthesising Understanding disciplinary and managing What is the research and stakeholder diverse knowledge unknowns aiming to achieve and who is intended to Providing integrated benefit? research support for policy and practice change 25

Q2 What is needed? • taking a systems view • scoping & boundary Synthesising Understanding setting disciplinary and managing and stakeholder diverse • framing knowledge unknowns • taking values into Providing account integrated research support for policy • harnessing and and practice managing differences change 26

Q3 How? Reduction Dialogue-based Banishment Synthesising Understanding Model-, product-, disciplinary and managing Acceptance vision-based and stakeholder diverse Exploitation knowledge unknowns Common metrics -based Surrender Denial Providing integrated research support Communication for policy and practice Advocacy change Engagement Fresh thinking Importance of critique ie not uncritical handmaide ns by whom and when? 27

Q4 Context? 1. Overall context Synthesising Understanding disciplinary and managing 2. Authorisation and stakeholder diverse knowledge unknowns 3. Organisational Providing facilitators and integrated research support barriers for policy and practice change 28

Q5 Outcomes?... 1 How successful was: • knowledge synthesis, Synthesising Understanding disciplinary and managing and stakeholder diverse • comprehensive knowledge unknowns consideration of unknowns and Providing integrated research support • support from for policy integrated research? and practice change 29

Q5 Outcomes?... 2 Framework provides useful evaluation questions, eg Synthesising Understanding disciplinary and managing • Met aims and and stakeholder diverse beneficiaries? knowledge unknowns • Appropriate systems view Providing chosen? Another better? integrated research support • Effective methods chosen? for policy and practice change 30

Ability to understand and deal with “wickedness” 31

S Y S T E M S

• Non-existent boundaries • Understanding the whole • Emergence • Feedback loops (reinforcing and balancing) • Non-linearity • Delays • Unintended consequences… 33

V A L U E S

Especially value conflict Contested problem definitions 35

C O N T E X T

1. Relevant historical, cultural, political, economic and other circumstances 2. Authorization 3. Institutional setting All put multiple constraints on what’s feasible 37

U N K N O W N S

Unknowns are infinite… - Continuous innovation and change - On-going research - Irreducible unknowns - Limited methods - Benefits of unknowns … research capacity is finite 39

Known knowns Known unknowns (conscious ignorance) Unknown knowns Unknown unknowns (tacit knowledge) (meta-ignorance) 40

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Reduce Banish Accept Exploit Surrender Deny 42

C U O N S K V N Y A S N T O T L E E U X W M E T N I M P E R F E C T I O N S S S

Imperfection is inevitable because of… • Artificial boundaries within systems • Inability to resolve value conflicts • Magnitude of context and constraints it imposes • Unavoidable unknowns 44

Imperfection means that… • ‘Solutions’ are partial and temporary 45

C I M P E R F E T I O N • Always some aspects of problem unresolved • Always some people unhappy with decisions made F T R A D E - O F S 46

Recap Multiple kinds of problems that require integration and implementation - Some are ‘wicked’ Still working out: - What the relevant expertise is - What to call it - How to socialize people into it 47

Making expertise accessible http://i2s.anu.edu.au/ 48

Developing a repository http://i2s.anu.edu.au/resources… 49

http://i2Insights.org 50

If you want to know more… http://i2s.anu.edu.au http://i2Insights.org Global Network for Research Integration and Implementation http://www.linkedin.com/groups/Global-Network- Research-Integration-Implementation-4888295 @GabrieleBammer #I2Sresources Gabriele.Bammer@anu.edu.au 51

Kulla’s Ripple by Tim Spellman 52

Ideal world… Complexity-based Reductionist theory theory and methods and methods Kulla’s Ripple by Tim Spellman 53

Currently… Reductionist theory Complexity-based theory and methods and methods 54