Interdisciplinary, but how?

Author(s)

Sophie Elixhauser, Zofia Boni, Nataša Gregorič Bon, Urša Kanjir, Alexandra Meyer, Frank Muttenzer, Mareike Pampus, Zdenka Sokolíčková

Abstract

The aim of this perspective article is to rethink how anthropology can be involved in interdisciplinary research on climate and environmental change, considering wide-spread obstacles for successful collaboration and recommending best practices. Anthropologists complement ”big data“ with “thick data“, which must not be overlooked if the global scientific goal is to have a sustainable and responsible local impact in communities facing environmental change. Anthropologists are used to working with uncertainty, qualified for shifting scales and perspectives, and, perhaps most importantly, pre-occupied with studying the human dimensions of environmental change. However, there are still many practical, ontological and epistemological challenges concerning interdisciplinary research with an environmental focus. After outlining the most recent developments and literature on interdisciplinary research, we share our experience with integrating diverse forms of environmental knowledge including local and indigenous knowledge. Using an inductive approach, we build on and illustrate our conclusions with ethnographic vignettes that stem from a variety of our interdisciplinary projects. Several key themes and suggestions emerge: a) establishment of a joint epistemological framework before the research phase; b) humility and respect for methodologies used by other disciplines, including time spent on studying these with colleagues of different disciplinary backgrounds; c) openness, creativity and flexibility to step out of one’s own disciplinary comfort zone; d) communication within the project team based on trust and without disciplinary hierarchies. Finally, we share some practical suggestions on how to set up interdisciplinary projects.

Organisation(s)

Department of Social and Cultural Anthropology

External organisation(s)

Adam Mickiewicz University, Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts, Universität Luzern, Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg, University of Groningen

Journal

Environmental Science & Policy

Volume

151

Pages

103586

No. of pages

7

ISSN

1462-9011

DOI

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envsci.2023.103586

Publication date

01-2024

Peer reviewed

Yes

Austrian Fields of Science 2012

504017 Cultural anthropology, 106026 Ecosystem research

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Geography, Planning and Development, Management, Monitoring, Policy and Law

Portal url

https://ucrisportal.univie.ac.at/en/publications/cc8a52d9-3d32-4ebe-89a5-28332a70432e