Setting up a transdisciplinary framework: Brief step-by-step guide

The purpose of this Brief is to inform good practice for the development and activities that seek to include actors from across society, science and policy to inform research and dissemination activities. The guidance is at a high level in order to avoid ‘micro-management’ of an activity, thereby leaving space for account to be taken of the particularities and local context of activities, and the types of participants. The guidance for the transdisciplinary Multi-Actor Approach contributes to comparability and robustness of implementation across engagement activities, with an underpinning set of common aims which include: i) the identification and
interpretation of societal expectations using participatory processes with a range of actors (including end users); ii) the integration of knowledges across actors in the process of solution development for transitions to agroecological farming systems and in sustainability assessments; iii) guiding the efficient planning and implementation of engagement in line with the ethical and regulatory requirements (e.g. General Data Protection Regulation, GDPR); and iv) recognising time and labour requirements of engagements in Multi-Actor Platforms.

This methodological brief is one of a set produced by the H2020 UNISECO project. Others are accessible on the Zenodo repository under the UNISECO Community.

UNISECO is a European research project aiming to develop innovative approaches to enhance the understanding of socio-economic and policy drivers and barriers for further development and implementation of agro-ecological practices in EU farming systems. Learn more about the project: https://uniseco-project.eu/

This project has received funding from the European Union's H2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 773901.

This publication reflects only the authors' view and the European Commission is not responsible for any use that may be made of the information it contains.