A Framing Approach to Cross-disciplinary Research Collaboration: Experiences from a Large-scale Research Project on Adaptive Water Management

• Published in: Ecology and society 2007-12, Vol.12 (2), p.14, Article art14
• Main Authors: Dewulf, Art, François, Greet, Pahl-Wostl, Claudia, Taillieu, Tharsi
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: actors; adaptive management; Ambiguity; cross-disciplinary research; Diagrams; Ecology; Experimentation; framing; Human ecology; issues; Observational learning; Participant observation; Research methods; Social systems; transdisciplinarity; Water management
• ISSN: 1708-3087; 1708-3087
• DOI: 10.5751/ES-02142-120214

Although cross-disciplinary research collaboration is necessary to achieve a better understanding of how human and natural systems are dynamically linked, it often turns out to be very difficult in practice. We outline a framing approach to cross-disciplinary research that focuses on the different perspectives that researchers from different backgrounds use to make sense of the issues they want to research jointly. Based on interviews, participants’ evaluations, and our own observations during meetings, we analyze three aspects of frame diversity in a large-scale research project. First, we identify dimensions of difference in the way project members frame the central concept of adaptive water management. Second, we analyze the challenges provoked by the multiple framings of concepts. Third, we analyze how a number of interventions (interactive workshops, facilitation, group model building, and concrete case contexts) contribute to the connection and integration of different frames through a process of joint learning and knowledge construction.