Workshop
Transdisciplinary research/education for Sustainable Development
Date: 16-19 June 2025
Venue: OSCE Academy in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan
Format: In-person
Deadline for Applications: 15 March 2025
About the Course
Problems and solutions in the field of sustainable development and climate protection are generally complex and involve political, economic and social sectors. Achieving climate goals, for example, depends not only on political regulation and public investments, but also on the interaction with public and private companies, private sector investments, or on the ability and willingness of craftsmen and private users to engage with new technologies.
This poses challenges for policy makers and other practitioners. However, scientific research and higher education also need to develop approaches and methods for dealing with it. Transdisciplinarity offers a promising approach to deal with complexity. While there is no single definition of the concept, two features are usually prominent:
Firstly, researchers are integrating the knowledge of relevant stakeholders from politics, business or society more strongly into the research process or even conducting research together with these stakeholders (co-creation). Secondly, transdisciplinarity is not only concerned with analysing problems, but also with identifying and studying solutions, including their implementation. The aim is to integrate academic and non-academic knowledge and transfer it into the context of real-world challenges in order to develop practical solutions and generate new academic knowledge.
The OSCE Academy in Bishkek, the SPCE Hub and their partners invite you to an exciting course on Transdisciplinarity in University Education and Research (TDER). The course is aimed at lecturers and researchers from all disciplines at universities and research institutions in Central Asia who have a connection to sustainability goals in their teaching and/or research.
Organisers
The OSCE Academy in Bishkek is a public foundation that promotes regional cooperation, conflict prevention, and good governance in wider Central Asia through postgraduate education, professional training, and intellectual exchange. The Academy offers MA degree programmes in Economic Governance and Development, Politics and Security, Human Rights and Sustainability as well as BA degree programme in Economics. The Academy provides expert training and conducts demand-driven research. More information: www.osce-academy.net.
The Intersectoral School of Governance Baden-Württemberg (ISoG BW) aims to promote intersectoral cooperation between the state, business and society. In our executive programme ‘Intersectoral Governance’, participants address current issues affecting society: mobility, health, housing and integration. The executive programme is aimed at anyone who works together in cooperative projects across sectoral boundaries.
SPCE Hub is a network for the joint planning and implementation of interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary transfer-oriented living lab projects in international teams. SPCE Hub also aims to create the conditions for meaningful and equitable research collaborations.
Trainers
Dr Monika Gonser, sociologist and transdisciplinarity researcher, professor and head of the Intersectoral School of Governance (ISoG BW) in Heilbronn, Germany.
Dr Jochen Eckart, engineer and transport scientist, professor at Hochschule Karlsruhe – University of Applied Sciences, Germany.
Dr Thorsten Philipp, political scientist and communication scholar, expert on transdisciplinary learning in higher education, senior researcher at the Technische Universität Berlin (TU Berlin), Germany.
Your Hosts are Almakan Orozbekova (OSCE Academy in Bishkek) and Dr Sebastian Schiek (SPCE Hub)
Useful information
1) Introduction to transdisciplinary education (Day 1)
Transdisciplinary education encompasses attempts to shape research and learning processes in dialogue with stakeholders outside of universities and to tap into the diversity of knowledge resources (including professional knowledge, everyday knowledge, tacit knowledge) from politics, society, business and culture in the research process.
The introduction is based on various practical exercises. Based on their interests, participants will be given various toolkits for use in teaching, such as design thinking, service learning, or living lab approach.
2) Introduction to transdisciplinary research (Day 2)
The second day is an introduction to the principles, goals and challenges of transdisciplinary research. Participants will learn a number of tools for this, including stakeholder analysis and backward mapping. The introduction contains concrete examples and practical exercises.
3) Exercise (Day 3)
On the third day, the concepts learned will be applied in working groups. In the morning, the working groups will design a transdisciplinary project based on a given guideline on a topic of their choice that is highly relevant to Central Asia. In the afternoon, the working groups will discuss the opportunities and challenges of conducting transdisciplinary research and teaching in Central Asia.
4) Presentation (Day 4 / half day)
On the fourth day, the working groups and trainers will meet to present the projects and discuss the opportunities and challenges of TDER in Central Asia.
In order to facilitate a debate on the prospects and challenges of TDER in the Central Asian higher education landscape, we would like to use the training as an opportunity to co-produce and publish a publication in Russian and English together with you. The main target audience will be higher education experts and lecturers as well as policy makers and other relevant stakeholders. The publication will provide a brief overview of the TDER, but will also include the main outcomes of the exercises and discussions during the training.
English, with consecutive interpretation from English into Russian. Working group exercises will be conducted entirely in Russian.
Thanks to funding from the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), there are no course fees. Also, travel, accommodation, and meals are covered. Please note that travel and accommodation are covered for non-Bishkek based participants.
- Connection to Sustainability Goals in teaching or research;
- Mid-level and senior professionals from higher education institutions, including researchers and lecturers from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan and also citizens of Tajikistan who reside in Kyrgyzstan;
- Completed MA or PhD degree;
- From intermediate to advanced knowledge of English
- Be motivated and ready to dedicate 3.5 full days to the intensive course (attending lectures and participating in all exercises and discussions).
Please read all the information about the workshop on this website carefully. Only the online form linked below can be used to apply for participation. If you have any questions, please email contact(at)tdrt-training.net.
How to apply
A total of 23 places are available for participants from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan. If more applications are received than there are places available, a selection will be made.
Please note that we do not accept applications after the deadline.
Deadline for applications was 15 March 2025
