Development and Sustainability Science - The Challenge of Transdisciplinary Knowledge for Social Change

SEMINAR organised by the Department of Health Promotion and Development (HEMIL), UiB Global, and CROP.

The organizers plan that the workshop leads to a book on the subject, which will be practical steps to forge a new international collaboration between the University of Bergen and other national and international institutions. It’s goal is to work towards connecting social and environmental sciences for a definite purpose: enhancing the well-being of people and their environments where it is most needed, namely the places where severe poverty stubbornly continues to hamper sustainable human development.

The seminar will focus on, but not be limited to, these issues:

• The disciplines in environmental science have succeeded in forging a new discipline, ‘sustainability science’. What lessons learned along the way should we take on board as we seek to forge broad-based and critical transdisciplinary research that supports transitions to green economies or other social models conductive to social change towards sustainable and equitable development?

• How can poverty studies break out of the traditional disciplinary focus and limitations to embrace an expanded role for poverty researchers in transdisciplinary and critical research for social change towards sustainable and equitable development?

• The diverse cultures and traditions of the development-oriented academic communities – economics, sociology, psychology, social geography, applied anthropology, agriculture and land use, to name some – are barriers to achieving transdisciplinary research for the green economy or alternative socio-economic models. Which new arenas and ways of collaboration must be established in research environments to extract real synergy from the richness of the various disciplines?

• The study of factors that impede/foster transdisciplinary research is today a mature arena of research. What insights can be extracted from this knowledge base that can guide the way to the most innovative research for the green economy and alternative socio-economic models?

The workshop will bring together a maximum of 15 participants from across all university disciplines. This call for papers is open to all, although preference will be given to researchers based in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean. Those presenting Workshop papers are expected to actively participate with presentations and in discussions of all the papers. The Workshop will be conducted in English.

DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSION OF ABSTRACTS WAS FRIDAY, JANUARY 4, 2013. IT IS NOW CLOSED FOR NEW SUBMISSIONS.

For questions in relation to the workshop, contact the organizers by E-mail at: CROP Secretariat (cropWS@crop.uib.no); and UiB Global (post@global.uib.no).

Workshop Programme Development and Sustainability Science, Bergen 2013

See special website for the initiative