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Researchers working with city administrations: Reflecting on transdisciplinary collaboration under conditions of shared goals but different constraints

Home, Robert and Bauer, Nicole (2021) Researchers working with city administrations: Reflecting on transdisciplinary collaboration under conditions of shared goals but different constraints. Urban Ecosystems, online, pp. 1-6.

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Document available online at: http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11252-021-01146-y


Summary

Academics and city administrations generally agree that environmental management decisions should be science based, which suggests the value of collaboration between city officials and researchers. Such collaboration, termed “ecology with cities”, is an example of translational ecology that should integrate ecological and social sciences to inform decision-makers. However, there has been insufficient reflection on whether ecology with cities achieves the expected development of practical social-ecological knowledge for the common good. We addressed this gap by asking city officials and researchers, in Switzerland and with whom we have collaborated in the past, about their motivations for, and experiences with, transdisciplinary collaboration. The respondents reported largely overlapping goals and an awareness of the mutual benefits of accessing the skills and resources of the other group. However, the reflections also unearthed latent tensions related to insufficient mutual awareness of institutional boundaries and limitations. We conclude that researchers should try to include collaboration partners who have experience in translational ecology practice and should establish learning processes early in a collaboration. Building good working relationships with city administrations and establishing such processes would facilitate the creation of realistic mutual expectations in which institutional limitations are considered so that common goals of maintaining or improving the ecological quality of cities can be amicably reached


EPrint Type:Journal paper
Keywords:urbanism, ecology, interdisciplinary research, Translational ecology, Transdisciplinary, Urban ecology, Collaborative research, Ecology with cities, Abacus, FiBL35195
Agrovoc keywords:
Language
Value
URI
English
urbanism
http://aims.fao.org/aos/agrovoc/c_49989
English
ecology
http://aims.fao.org/aos/agrovoc/c_2467
English
interdisciplinary research
http://aims.fao.org/aos/agrovoc/c_24402
Subjects: Farming Systems > Social aspects
Research affiliation: Switzerland > FiBL - Research Institute of Organic Agriculture Switzerland > Society > Rural sociology
Switzerland > Other organizations
DOI:10.1007/s11252-021-01146-y
Deposited By: Home, Dr Robert
ID Code:42930
Deposited On:20 Jan 2022 09:02
Last Modified:16 Feb 2022 10:27
Document Language:English
Status:Published
Refereed:Peer-reviewed and accepted

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