![]() Finally, we discuss possible implications of the IDP for transdisciplinary research, learning and societal transformation.Ī dictionary definition of “insight” is the “capacity to gain an accurate and deep understanding of someone or something” (OUP, 2021). We then present the components of our IDP framework, together with evidence of how this process is experienced by Masters students, PhD candidates and post-doctoral researchers as a part of a transdisciplinary winter school that took place in Switzerland. In the following sections, we first give an overview of concepts and knowledge gaps related to the concept of “insight” in the literature. The focus of this “insight discovery process” (IDP) is not only on acquiring a greater quantity of information, but on improving how we can better interpret information that is already available to us. ![]() For example, how can different perspectives be brought together in a way that consistently results in a greater understanding that goes beyond divisions? How might we, as transdisciplinary researchers and practitioners, restructure our own assumptions such that these new understandings will be incorporated into future climate change actions? We propose that one way to address these questions is to foster a willingness and capacity for discovering and acting on insights. While the need for such a transdisciplinary approach to enquiry has been acknowledged (Gibbons et al., 1994), how this approach can be implemented in practice is still being developed. 25), learning from a wide range of disciplines and the inclusion of knowledge from outside of academia. ![]() They require “new ways of knowledge production” (Lang et al., 2012, p. In the case of climate change, for example, effective solutions are likely not to be derived from established ways of thinking and will also depend on the cooperation of diverse groups of people to be implemented. 6) or technical answers that can be easily transferable between different contexts. Insights are important for addressing the complex problems in transdisciplinary research and learning, because they cannot be effectively addressed by “reproductive solutions” (Weisberg, 2014, p. This paper argues that what enables effective engagement with this complexity is “insight discovery”, defined as the ability and willingness to identify and overturn one’s own assumptions by assimilating new experiences and knowledge. The solution or the means by which to arrive at a solution to the problem is therefore also open-ended (Rittel and Webber, 1973 Dörner and Funke, 2017 Alford and Head, 2017). A common characteristic of this type of problem is that its definition depends on the perspective of the individual confronting the problem. ![]() What are the necessary competences to tackle the challenges related to sustainable development, climate change, social unrest and other societal dilemmas? Authors have referred to such problems as “wicked” (Rittel and Webber, 1973), “complex” or “ill-defined” (Dörner, 1996). There is a potential for incorporating such process as a fundamental competence for transdisciplinary curricula in undergraduate and graduate programmes by cultivating specific practices and safe learning environments, focused on the enquiry, exchange and integration of diverse perspectives. Within a group setting, a person begins with an “original mental model”, experiences an “insight trigger”, processes new information within the “liminal space”, “formulates an insight” and eventually forms an “adapted mental model”. The process which we describe, named the insight discovery process (IDP), is made up of five aspects. Based on experiences and empirical observations within the scope of an educational programme for Masters students, PhD candidates and post-doctoral researchers, we suggest that insights are the outcome of a learning process influenced by the collective and environment in which they are conceived, rather than instant moments of individual brilliance. The capacity for “insight discovery” means becoming aware of personal mental representations of the world and being able to shape and integrate perspectives different from one’s own. To address complex societal and environmental problems facing the world today, a particular expertise that can identify new connections between diverse knowledge fields is needed in order to integrate diverse perspectives from a wide range of stakeholders and develop novel solutions. In this paper, we develop and apply the concept of ‘insight discovery’ as a key competence for transdisciplinary research and learning.
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