Long abstract:

A central objective of any transdisciplinary (TD) sustainability project is to achieve deep levels of cross-sector integration and knowledge sharing. The science and technology studies (STS) framework proposed by Susan Leigh Star (Star & Greisemer, 1989) has been extensively applied as a method to examine knowledge integration and collaboration among team members in disciplinary diverse and geographically dispersed teams (Schröter et al., 2023). Our application of Star and Greisemer’s framework attends to the process of scientific work from the viewpoint of the excluded (Star, 2010). In our research, this means paying explicit attention to peripheral communities involved in TD work, communities that have long been marginalized as more attention has focused on scientists, academics, and policy makers. In this presentation, we focus on the issue of articulation work (Bowker et al., 2015)—work that allows ‘keeping things on track in transdisciplinary projects’. Articulation Work involves organizing and doing the myriad tasks needed to coordinate a particular project task. That is articulation work helps implement unstated assumptions or reconcile incommensurable procedures to get any frontline/on the ground job done (Timmermans & Freidin, 2007).

Drawing upon four cases of long-term global environmental change TD research in Colombia, Panama, Jamaica and Brazil, we describe the roles of key community members who act as brokers, intermediaries, mediators and liaisons. These individuals facilitate the exchange of knowledge and resources among epistemologically diverse communities and coordinate efforts across boundaries of work.