Methods for Transdisciplinary Research - A Primer for Practice; .

The logical structure of each chapter of the book, as well as that of the book as a whole, is motivated by one central purpose: to support researchers as directly as possible in carrying out their transdisciplinary research. To this end we have made the following assumptions, based on our own experience carrying out transdisciplinary research.

When describing the integration methods and instruments collected and analyzed in this book we have kept two things in mind with the hope of making the book as useful as possible for dealing with integration issues. First, the methods are described in such a manner that they can be used by different transdisciplinary research projects dealing with different problem fields and drawing on different constellations of scientific fields; that is, they have a context-independent, general value. Second, it is equally important not to lose sight of the context-dependence of transdisciplinary research because what one can learn from the individual examples-that is, from the application of the methods in specific research projects with their individual problem contexts and the constellation of scientific fields-can be of great benefit for research practice as well (cf. Krohn 2008).

In addition, the first way of describing the methods-as context independent-fulfills the purpose of giving, from an epistemological point of view, a structured overview of useful integration methods. Here a position within the philosophy of science is being assumed, one which takes a stand on which specific approaches to the generation of knowledge are appropriate to transdisciplinary research.

Therefore, we have chosen to give the readers of this book, in the central Chapters II and III, first the decontextualized, then the contextualized descriptions of the integration methods and integration strategies.

In Chapter II, the integration instruments and methods that we have identified in concrete transdisciplinary model projects are detached from

thods and identifying methodical needs80
C.2 Integration through interdisciplinary development of methods82
C.3 Integration through adopting established transdisciplinary methods85
II.D Integrative assessment procedures89
II.E Integration through the development and application of models95
II.F Integration through artifacts, services and products as boundary objects105
F.1 Integration through artifacts, services and products106
F.2 Integration through publications112
II.G Integrative procedures and instruments of research organization115
G.1 Integration through the formation of interdisciplinary teams115
G.2 Integration through stakeholder involvement and participation124
G.3 Integration through iteration/recursiveness129
G.4 Integration through key question procedure at end of project132

Chapter III: Integration strategies-Examples of comprehensive concepts in research practice136
III.A Preliminary remark136
III.B Example 1: Strategies for a sustainable urban mobility-Integratio of a target group192
F.1 Framework conditions and project's research goal192
F.2 Research strategy and integration methods193
F.3 Project brief199
III.G Example 6: Sustainable housing renovation-Integration through including practice partners and through product orientation202
G.1 Framework conditions and project's research goal202
G.2 Research strategy and integration methods203
G.3 Project brief209
III.HExample 7: Sustainability and urban design-Integration through cross-disciplinary categorial systems and iterative forms of work211
H.1 Framework conditions and project's research goal211
H.2 Research strategy and integration methods213
H.3 Project brief219
III.I Example 8: Water demand forecast for Hamburg-Integration through continual design of the research process and operationalization of the product220
I.1 Framework conditions and project's research goal220
I.2 Research strategy and integration methods222
I.3 Project brief

Matthias Bergmann, Dr. Ing., und Engelbert Schramm, Dr. rer. nat., sind wiss. Mitarbeiter am Institut für sozial-ökologische Forschung (ISOE) in Frankfurt. Dr. Thomas Jahn ist Mitgründer und Leiter des ISOE. Tobias Knobloch, Dr. phil., arbeitet als politischer Referent für die Bundesregierung in Berlin. Wolfgang Krohn ist Prof. em. für Wissenschafts- und Technikforschung an der Universität Bielefeld. Dr. Christian Pohl ist Co-Leiter des transdisciplinarity-net der Akademien der Wissenschaften Schweiz und Dozent an der ETH Zürich.