Interdisciplinary and Transdisciplinary Failures: Lessons Learned from Cautionary Tales

Unlike other volumes in the current literature, this book provides insight for interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary researchers and practitioners on what doesn’t work. Documenting detailed case studies of project failure matters, not only as an illustration of experienced challenges but also as projects do not always follow step-by-step protocols of preconceived and theorised processes.

Bookended by a framing introduction by the editors and a conclusion written by Julie Thompson Klein, each chapter ends with a reflexive section that synthesizes lessons learned and key take-away points for the reader. Drawing on a wide range of international case studies and with a strong environmental thread throughout, the book reveals a range of failure scenarios for interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary projects, including:

• Projects that did not get off the ground;

• Projects that did not have the correct personnel for specified objectives;

• Projects that did not reach their original objectives but met other objectives;

• Projects that failed to anticipate important differences among collaborators.

Illustrating causal links in real life projects, this volume will be of significant relevance to scholars and practitioners looking to overcome the challenges of conducting interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary research.

Dena Fam is Associate Professor and Research Director at the Institute for Sustainable Futures, University of Technology Sydney. She has a decade of experience developing transdisciplinary programs and projects with an interest in negotiating the challenges of cross sectoral integration of knowledge.

Michael O’Rourke is Professor of Philosophy and faculty member in AgBioResearch and Environmental Science and Policy at Michigan State University. He is Director of the Center for Interdisciplinarity and Director of the Toolbox Dialogue Initiative, an NSF-sponsored research initiative that investigates philosophical approaches to facilitating interdisciplinary research.