Short abstract:

Over the past 30 years inter and transdisciplinary international, comparative, global environmental change research has evolved. This paper reviews the changes, the advances, the challenges, and the path forward. While the challenge is daunting, the outcome is necessary.

Long abstract:

Evolving from ‘climate change’ to ‘global environmental change’ (GEC), the challenges of this field constantly redouble becoming more complex, and transcending the natural sciences to encompass material and symbolic human dimensions. It is no longer just a scientific field, but also a matter of interest for non-academic actors, who increasingly recognize themselves as having a stake in adaptation decisions. GEC’s wicked problems increasingly require interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary methods for producing knowledge that achieves transformation, but experience shows that it is easier said than done effectively. What are the missing links in understanding across disciplines and in the encounter -or clash- of worldviews of scientists and people from diverse backgrounds? How to operationalize concepts such as relevance, team-building/partnership, co-learning and co-production in the framework of comparative research involving countries and regions with similar GEC problems but different scientific milieus, societies, and local communities? Are there real trade-offs? How to overcome the opposing tensions without losing scientific quality or social/policy relevance and usefulness for users? How have these inter/transdisciplinary projects changed over time?

The authors bring their experience in management of international comparative science projects over the past three decades, in scientific management of international science funding organizations, in participation in the IPCC, and in the involvement with non-academic actors to make a new assessment of the burning issues that continue to be renewed as progress is made in achieving (or persistently seeking) inter and transdisciplinarity, as they are being tackled in the BWAG project (#895-2022-1016) developed in the framework of the Partnership Grant from the SSHRC, Canada.