Maximising Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences integration in inter- and transdisciplinary research for effective responses to societal challenges - SHAPE-ID Policy Brief

This second SHAPE-ID policy brief presents additional recommendations to policymakers and funders on increasing and improving the quality of meaningful arts, humanities and social sciences integration in inter- and transdisciplinary research, maximising effective responses to societal challenges.

Interest in interdisciplinarity, policy narratives around innovation, and the increased attention to research impact, are highly intertwined in contemporary funding policy.1 If we understand societal impact in a broad manner as those changes that “affect the cultural, economic, and social life of individuals, organizations, and institutions”2, the need for interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary research (IDR/TDR) with arts, humanities and social sciences (AHSS) involvement makes perfect sense. Disciplines that deeply study the human experience, individuals, societies and cultures understand them in a nuanced way, sensitive to context, beliefs, values, interpretations and history, and are surely necessary to help tackle problems rooted in these human and societal contexts. In this brief, we present recommendations to policymakers to increase and improve the quality of AHSS integration in IDR/TDR, thereby increasing the potential for societal impact from such research. Recommendations are supported by evidence from a series of expert stakeholder workshops organised by SHAPE-ID throughout Europe.