Transdisciplinary Research and Sustainability Sciences: Towards a Research School

Africa stands at a critical juncture, facing complex and interconnected sustainability challenges. Climate change, biodiversity loss, rapid and often unplanned urbanisation, water scarcity, food insecurity, socio-political dynamics, global inequality, and the urgent need for just energy transitions are not isolated issues; they are deeply intertwined, demanding innovative and integrated solutions. Effectively addressing these complex transnational and multifaceted challenges demands a radical shift in how knowledge is produced, shared and applied.   One such approach is Transdisciplinary (TD) Science. By definition, TD is broader and more exogenous than the traditional disciplines; it builds on, and also addresses the inevitable reductionism of disciplines.  Research shows that TD has evolved as a science that engages with complex societal issues and that is boundary-crossing, generative and solution-oriented (Schäpke et al., 2018; Lang et al., 2021).    While applied and practice-oriented, TD research is also philosophical. It involves an approach to problem-solving strategies in which the role of science and specific disciplinary contributions are still essential, but appreciated in the full context of the uncertainties of natural systems and the relevance of human values.  In an African context, TD research finds its meaning in the full context of uncertainties of natural systems and the relevance of human values and communities. As such, it is also political in that it explicitly seeks to make the science system more inclusive of African epistemologies, ontologies, values and lived realities, addressing historical exclusions.   This interactive session will draw on various perspectives and experiences of developing TD Scientific practice from different contributors.  Our intention is to generate discussion on this type of research, and how we can better support it through research teaching in an African TD SS research school, which the Future Earth Africa Hub Leadership Centre and partners plan to design and develop in the upcoming two years.