Making transdisciplinarity work for complex systems: A dynamic model for blending diverse knowledges

Abstract

The world is increasingly characterized by a paradigm of interconnectivity within a complex system, so that impact to any single element or location is likely to cause unanticipated, unequal, and disruptive impacts elsewhere. As society has become more complex, the intractable problems of our global community have also become complex, interconnected, dynamic and nonlinear. Potential solutions to complex global issues will not be identifiable through efforts associated with any single discipline. Boundary-spanning collaborations and collective action are required to create the necessary paradigm shifts. In response to this need, this paper presents a transdisciplinary framework designed to blend different knowledges and resources via a non-hierarchical, self-organizing collaboration. This boundary-spanning process fosters the integration of diverse scholarly expertise, artistic expression and lived experiences to engage broad audiences in knowledge exchange. As illustration, a virtual art + science exhibition produced during the COVID-19 pandemic, Long COVID: We Are Here! is examined. The exhibition, co-created by six artists and six scientists, curated multiple voices, skills, talents and artefacts to explore perspectives of an emerging global health and social problem. This paper scrutinizes the design process, production, and outcomes of the exhibition as a model for engaging with complexity, at multiple scales; as a method of knowledge sharing and new knowledge creation, of disseminating empirical knowledge to a broad audience, and for enabling and catalyzing transformative and sustainable pathways for social change.