335
GAIA 32/3 (2023): 335 – 337
COMMUNICATIONS
Towa ds b idging disconnec s be ween
eal-wo ld labo a o y and disciplina y
esea ch
The e ec s o his yea ’s ex emely ho
summe , which can be empi ically a ib-
u ed o human-made clima e change
(IPCC 2023), ha e once again highligh -
ed ha humani y is acing undamen al
challenges h ea ening he in eg i y and
e en he u u e exis ence o human-en i-
onmen o social-ecological sys ems (Rock-
s öm e al. 2023). A he same ime, he
ecen ly published epo o he Ge man
Council o Expe s on Clima e Change (Ex-
pe en a ü Klima agen 2023) clea ly
s a es ha policy measu es in Ge many o
add ess his challenge a e insu icien . In
addi ion, he e is a g owing demand om
a ious sec o s o socie y o science o ac-
i ely con ibu e o sol ing hese challeng-
es, a he han me ely desc ibing hem.
Agains his backg ound, ansdisciplin-
a y and ans o ma i e esea ch p ac ices
ha e been inc easingly called o and es-
ablished since he ea ly 2000s. Based on
he objec i e – o iginally o mula ed, o
example, in Mode2 esea ch (Gibbons e
al. 1994, Nowo ny e al. 2001) and pos -no -
mal science (Fun owicz and Ra e z 1993)
– o gene a e no only scien i ically, bu
also socially obus knowledge, hese e-
sea ch p ac ices p o ide a key ounda ion
o he de elopmen o a a ie y o o ma s
and esea ch se ings wi h an expe imen-
al and ac ion-o ien ed cha ac e . Besides
sus ainable and u ban li ing labs (Lied ke
e al. 2015, Voy enko e al. 2016), u ban
ansi ion labs (Ne ens e al. 2013), and
ans o ma ion labs (Pe ei a e al. 2020),
ci izen science app oaches ha e also been
linked o ansdisciplina y esea ch and
in es iga ed o hei ans o ma i e po-
en ial ( on Gönne e al. 2023, Agnew e
al. 2022). Membe s o he NaWis ne wo k
ha e been ac i ely engaged in de eloping,
p omo ing, and e ining such app oaches,
pa icula ly in he con ex o eal-wo ld
labs (RwLs) as se ings o ansdisciplin-
a y and ans o ma i e esea ch p ac ices.
RwLs as esea ch se ings build on eal-
wo ld expe imen s as co e esea ch me h-
od wi h he aim o ini ia e social lea ning
p ocesses o sus ainable de elopmen and
c ea e a space o con inuous lea ning o
ans o ma ion (Caniglia e al. 2020, Mc
C o y e al. 2022, Schäpke e al. 2018, Wan-
ne e al. 2018). O e he las decade, much
e o has been made o me hodologically
sha pen he RwL concep . This includes
de ining he co e cha ac e is ics o RwLs
(Schäpke e al. 2018, Wanne and S elze
2019, Pa odi and S eglich 2021), de elop-
Explo ing ui ul links be ween
eal-wo ld labo a o y and
disciplina y esea ch
In oduc ion o he DKN Fu u e Ea h
wo king g oup LinkLab
LinkLab is a newly es ablished wo king g oup unde he umb ella o Ge man Commi ee
Fu u e Ea h (DKN Fu u e Ea h). I opens up a space o discuss ele an connec ions and
in e aces be ween eal-wo ld lab esea ch and a ious scien i ic disciplines, explo ing ui ul
connec ions and pa hways o mu ual lea ning o u u e sus ainabili y-o ien ed esea ch.
Annika Weise , Ma hias Wanne , F anziska S elze , Daniel J. Lang ,
Hilke Be ge , Agnes Fö s e , Ch is a Lied ke , Hans-Wol gang Mickli z ,
Jö g Niewöhne , Oli e Pa odi , Thomas Po has , Flu ina Schneide ,
F anziska Sö gel , Michael Ziehl , Gesa Zieme
Explo ing ui ul links be ween eal-wo ld labo a o y and disciplina y esea ch.
In oduc ion o he DKN Fu u e Ea h wo king g oup LinkLab
GAIA 32/3 (2023): 335 – 337 | Keywo ds: eal-wo ld labs, esea ch me hodologies,
sus ainabili y esea ch
© 2023 by he au ho s; licensee oekom.
This Open Access a icle is licensed unde a C ea i e Commons
A ibu ion 4.0 In e na ional License (CC BY).
h ps://doi.o g/10.14512/gaia.32.3.13
D . Annika Weise (co esponding au ho ) | Ka ls uhe
Ins i u e o Technology (KIT) | Ins i u e o
Technology Assessmen and Sys ems Analysis
(ITAS) | Ka ls uhe | DE | annika.[email p o ec ed]
NaWis: Annika Rehm | Wuppe al Ins i u e o
Clima e, En i onmen andEne gy | Döppe s-
be g 19 | 42103 Wuppe al | DE | +49 202 2492273 |
[email p o ec ed] |
www.wuppe ins .o g
>
336
GAIA 32/3 (2023): 335 – 337
COMMUNICATIONS
ing and es ing app op ia e me hods o
esea ch and collabo a ion (De ila and Di
Giulio 2019, Di Giulio and De ila 2018,
Wanne e al. 2018), and de ining success
ac o s (Be gmann e al. 2021) as well as
e alua ing he impac o RwL esea ch1.
While he e is gene al ag eemen ha
he basic idea o ansdisciplina i y is o
enable mu ual lea ning p ocesses among
di e en knowledge domains, including
di e en disciplines, and o gene a e new
scien i ic insigh s in addi ion o con i-
bu ions o sol ing o mi iga ing socie al
p oblems (Jahn 2008), RwL esea ch o en
emains la gely disconnec ed om mo e
adi ional, disciplina y esea ch ou side
in e - and ansdisciplina y sus ainabili-
y esea ch. In many o hese disciplines,
howe e , key challenges o RwL esea ch
ha e long been ecognized and add essed:
a ious disciplines ha e de eloped com-
p ehensi e me hods, s a egies, commu-
nica ion ools, and skills o deal wi h he
demanding ask o no only collec ing da-
a “objec i ely”, bu also in e ac ing close-
ly wi h p ac ice pa ne s and socie al s ake-
holde s du ing and as pa o he esea ch
p ocess. O he s ha e specialized in issues
ela ed o legal, e hical, o no ma i e im-
plica ions o esea ch p ocesses, in e en-
ions, and knowledge ans e . A he same
ime, RwLs ha e g ea po en ial o en ich
disciplina y esea ch h ough hei spe-
ci ic app oaches and me hods. Thus, he e
is a need o a comp ehensi e unde s and-
ing o he pe spec i es and po en ials ha
a g ea e in eg a ion o hese app oaches
and me hods o e s o bo h eal-wo ld lab
esea ch and disciplina y esea ch. Such a
deepe unde s anding seems o be a sui -
able s a ing poin o enable ui ul mu-
ual lea ning p ocesses.
The LinkLab wo king g oup:
Objec i es and p ocedu e
This is whe e he LinkLab wo king g oup
comes in. Following epea ed calls om
in e na ional science ne wo ks – includ-
ing Fu u e Ea h – o mo e ansdisciplin-
a y esea ch o ma s o s eng hen sus ain-
abili y, an in e disciplina y DKN (Ge man
Commi ee Fu u e Ea h) wo king g oup
comp ising nine co e membe s is being se
up wi hin he amewo k o Fu u e Ea h
o wo k closely oge he on a de ined opic.
The LinkLab wo king g oup b ings o-
ge he esea che s om a a ie y o dis-
ci plines, including spa ial and planning
sciences, e hics and epis emology, legal
s udies, design esea ch, digi al pa icipa-
ion and da a science, an h opology and
e hnology, and social-ecological sys ems
esea ch. Some o hese disciplines ha e
s ong o e laps wi h RwL esea ch, bu
may di e in he me hods and app oach-
es hey use. Fo example, spa ial and plan-
ning sciences deal ex ensi ely wi h spa ial
si ua edness, which is also a cha ac e is ic
o mos RwLs. Design esea ch, as well
as an h opology and e hnology, o en use
highly pa icipa o y and pa icipa ing me h-
ods in hei esea ch, which RwLs may
also d aw upon.
O he disciplines may cu en ly ha e
less o e laps, bu o e in e es ing pe spec-
i es o he u he es ablishmen o RwL
esea ch. As an example, inno a ions in
da a science and isualiza ion open up new
oppo uni ies o pa icipa o y in ol e-
men , and a be e unde s anding o he
me hods and p ocedu es used in legal
s udies can o e aluable insigh s in o
how o app oach egula o y issues in mo e
expe imen al esea ch app oaches.
These disciplina y pe spec i es se e
as a s a ing poin o explo e and de ine
app oaches o delibe a ely designing and
using in e disciplina y connec ions. I is
expec ed ha he wo-di ec ional app oach
p ac iced by he wo king g oup will ul i-
ma ely bene i e e yone by enhancing he
e ec i eness o esea ch p ojec s in ad-
d essing sus ainabili y issues. To be mo e
speci ic: RwL esea ch could bene i om
many yea s o expe ience in e hnog aphic
esea ch wi h ega d o collabo a ion be-
ween wha used o be esea che s and he
esea ched (Lassi e 2005) and be sensi-
ized o social and socio-ma e ial issues
ha may need o be conside ed in labo a-
o y se ings, such as he possible in lu-
ence o social di e ences on pa icipa ion
o sha ed owne ship. In u n, in sys ems
inc easingly o med by humans, pu e eco-
logical esea ch may each a limi in ully
unde s anding he impac s and in e ac-
ions in changing en i onmen s. He e,
RwL app oaches can p o ide a deepe un-
de s anding o he eal-wo ld implica ions
and unc ionali ies o speci ic ansi ion
pa hways. App oaches om e hics and
epis emology can con ibu e o a mo e e-
ined unde s anding o he p ocesses o
knowledge p oduc ion and hei po en ial
implica ions o eal-wo ld ans o ma ion
p ocesses, hus also ad ancing RwL e-
sea ch as an es ablished esea ch ield.
Th ough discussion ounds in di e -
en cons ella ions, based on li e a u e wo k
as well as a s uc u ed mapping and syn-
hesis o app oaches, he LinkLab wo k-
ing g oup aims o p omo e p o essional
exchange among i s membe s and be-
yond and o con ibu e o he scien i ic
discou se on:
ele an connec ions and in e aces
be ween RwL ( esea ch) and a ious
scien i ic disciplines, including good
p ac ices and success ac o s o make
hese connec ions ui ul;
ways o o e come challenges and
exploi un apped po en ial o be e
capi alize on he me hodological
epe oi e o di e en esea ch a eas;
and
NaWis – Ve bund ü nachhal ige Wissenscha
The e is a need o a comp ehensi e unde s anding o he pe spec i es and
po en ials ha a g ea e in eg a ion o app oaches and me hods o e s o bo h
eal-wo ld lab esea ch and disciplina y esea ch.
1 A special issue o GAIA on impac s o RwLs on
sus ainabili y ans o ma ions is planned o 2024.
337NaWis – Ve bund ü nachhal ige Wissenscha
GAIA 32/3 (2023): 335 – 337
COMMUNICATIONS
implica ions o esea ch and policy o
enable impac ul, igo ous, and
inclusi e RwL esea ch.
Fu he s eps and in i a ion o
collabo a ion
The subs an i e wo k o LinkLab is guid-
ed by hese co e aspec s o esea ch. The
aim is o p oduce a se ies o conc e e ou -
pu s a ge ed a bo h he scien i ic com-
muni y and policy make s, including a
pee - e iewed esea ch a icle and a policy
pape . D a e sions o bo h documen s
will be discussed in-dep h a he na ional
le el wi h he scien i ic communi y and
poli ical s akeholde s wi hin he g oup’s
ne wo k. Insigh s om he wo king g oup
will also con ibu e o shaping he na ion-
al and in e na ional landscape o ans o -
ma i e and ansdisciplina y esea ch and
ela ed ac i i ies, o example on he na-
ional le el h ough he ne wo k o RwL
esea ch and he ecen ly ounded Socie-
y o T ansdisciplina y and Pa icipa o y
Resea ch (GTPF), bu also a he UN le -
el (including Uni ed Na ions Inno a ion
Technology Accele a o o Ci ies [UNI-
TAC] and Uni ed Na ions Educa ional,
Scien i ic and Cul u al O ganiza ion [UN-
ESCO]), in which some membe s o he
wo king g oup a e ac i ely in ol ed. In
his way, hese ac i i ies con ibu e o es-
ablishing a pe manen ne wo k o ex-
change on he opic beyond he LinkLab
p ojec .
The wo king g oup wa mly welcomes
u u e collabo a ion on he opic and in-
i es o he esea che s o con ibu e hei
expe iences and (disciplina y) pe spec i es.
To his end, we will – among o he hings
– de elop and publish a su ey o ad ance
ou mapping o he esea ch landscape
o e he coming mon hs. Please con ac
he g oup h ough he co esponding au-
ho o mo e in o ma ion o o exp ess
you in e es in wo king wi h us.
Acknowledgemen : This pape eme ged om a
wo king g oup o he Deu sches Komi ee ü
Nachhal igkei s o schung in Fu u e Ea h (DKN)
on LinkLab, suppo ed by DKN and unded by
he Deu sche Fo schungsgemeinscha
(DFG, Ge man Resea ch Founda ion).
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