TY - JOUR

T1 - Co-creating sustainability science communication through aesthetic formats

T2 - This is what a transdisciplinary moment looks like

AU - Vitting-Seerup, Sabrina

AU - Berg, Kristine Marie

AU - Ferm, Elin Anna Elvira

AU - Thinggaard Hjortkjær, Laura

AU - Killeen, Brendan

AU - Kisbye, Sarah

AU - Kristoffersen, Jens Good

AU - Mathiesen, Cecilie Vad

AU - Achiam, Marianne

N1 - We want to acknowledge the many students who made it possible for us to conduct the experiments described and analysed in this article. In addition to our four student authors, Sarah Kisbye, Jens Good Kristoffersen, Cecilie Mathiesen and Laura Thinggaard Hjortkjær, we owe a profound thank you to Kristine Bergstein, Amalie Beate Albrechtsen, Anna Falbe-Hansen, Carl Gustav Henning Hansen, Sarah Hellebek, Sofie Ahrens Hesselager, Karoline Krabbe, Ida Bredahl Larsen, Kristina Vallentin Larsen, Louisa Mathies, Anders Nørrekær Mortensen, Emil Koch Pedersen, Anna Puggaard, Caroline Rude, Emma Sofie Vestergaard and Elena Volchkova. Without your collaboration, there would be no research.

PY - 2023

Y1 - 2023

N2 - Sustainability science calls for new methodologies and collaborations that go beyond disciplinary boundaries. This points to a new role for sustainability science communication. Here, we explore how science communication can employ aesthetic formats (e.g., storytelling, performance, artistic installations) to promote transdisciplinary collaborations. We conducted a series of experiments in a master-level science communication course at the University of Copenhagen, engaging students, practitioners and researchers in experimental collaborations and qualitative data collection. Through thematic analysis of classroom observations and interviews, five elements of transdisciplinarity emerged: Acknowledgement of disciplinary identities, negotiation of diverse vocabularies, disruption of hierarchical structures, experience of novel insights and evident learning processes among participants. These moments challenged direct observation but became discernible through post hoc analysis. We suggest they constitute a sequence that together describes a transdisciplinary moment. We thus conclude that the aesthetic formats we employed were instrumental in disrupting conventional boundaries and enhancing collaboration across disciplines. However, we also acknowledge the complexities of achieving transdisciplinary moments and emphasize the importance of reflective practice.

AB - Sustainability science calls for new methodologies and collaborations that go beyond disciplinary boundaries. This points to a new role for sustainability science communication. Here, we explore how science communication can employ aesthetic formats (e.g., storytelling, performance, artistic installations) to promote transdisciplinary collaborations. We conducted a series of experiments in a master-level science communication course at the University of Copenhagen, engaging students, practitioners and researchers in experimental collaborations and qualitative data collection. Through thematic analysis of classroom observations and interviews, five elements of transdisciplinarity emerged: Acknowledgement of disciplinary identities, negotiation of diverse vocabularies, disruption of hierarchical structures, experience of novel insights and evident learning processes among participants. These moments challenged direct observation but became discernible through post hoc analysis. We suggest they constitute a sequence that together describes a transdisciplinary moment. We thus conclude that the aesthetic formats we employed were instrumental in disrupting conventional boundaries and enhancing collaboration across disciplines. However, we also acknowledge the complexities of achieving transdisciplinary moments and emphasize the importance of reflective practice.

KW - Faculty of Science

KW - sustainability

KW - transdisciplinarity

KW - aesthetic formats

KW - arts-based

KW - sustainability communication

KW - Higher Education

U2 - 10.1177/09734082231222352

DO - 10.1177/09734082231222352

M3 - Journal article

VL - 17

SP - 179

EP - 199

JO - Journal of Education for Sustainable Development

JF - Journal of Education for Sustainable Development

SN - 0973-4082

IS - 2

ER -