95739 Chap.10 Transdisciplinarity, Complex Systems and Design
Transdisciplinarity, Complex Systems and Design
Transdisciplinary work
Week 9 defines transdisciplinarity as reflexive, problem-driven collaboration across disciplines and with people outside research, guided by five principles.
Complex systems
In complex systems cause and effect are clear only in retrospect, patterns emerge and shift, and the whole cannot be read from its parts.
Design thinking
The double diamond explores the problem space and the solution space in turn, moving between divergent and convergent thinking, as in the module’s obesity example.
Where it leads
The same process supports the group project: define the problem with the people affected before choosing an initiative, and keep testing it as you learn.
What this chapter covers
- 01
Defining transdisciplinarity
- 02
Five transdisciplinary principles
- 03
Simple and complex systems
- 04
Emergence
- 05
Problem space and solution space
- 06
Divergent and convergent thinking
- 07
The double diamond
- 08
Transdisciplinary research and education models
Worked example · free
Place four team activities in the double diamond
- 1Interviewing many groups is divergent thinking in the problem space.
- 1Choosing one problem is convergent thinking that ends the first diamond with a problem definition.
- 1Brainstorming twenty ideas is divergent thinking in the solution space.
- 1Piloting and refining the lunch club is convergent thinking toward the chosen solution.
Key terms
- Divergent Thinking
- Generating broad insights or many alternative ideas before narrowing down.
- Convergent Thinking
- Narrowing many insights or ideas to one problem definition or one best solution.
- Complex System
- A system whose patterns emerge from interactions, cannot be predicted from its parts and keep changing.
- Double Diamond
- A design process model that explores a problem space and then a solution space, each by widening then narrowing.
Transdisciplinarity, Complex Systems and Design FAQ
What are the principles of transdisciplinary work?
The module lists five: integrating and transcending academic disciplines, involving diverse stakeholders, focusing on real-world problems, recognising complexity, and building explicit reflexivity so that mutual learning and knowledge integration happen. Practice-based knowledge and equal partnership with participants are part of it.
How do complex systems differ from simple ones?
In a simple system a change in one part leads predictably to a change in another. In a complex system cause and effect only make sense looking back and never repeat exactly, patterns that emerge can be seen but not forecast, and they shift because the system keeps changing.
Why does design thinking start with the problem?
With an ill-defined problem, jumping to a solution risks a mismatch between the two. Design treats both as things to explore: observing real cases to understand the problem, and developing many solution ideas in parallel through sketching and prototyping before narrowing down.
Who coined the term transdisciplinary?
The module traces it to the Swiss psychologist Jean Piaget in the 1970s, who used it for integrative approaches seeking a unity of knowledge. That early version lacked a strong societal dimension; more recent understandings tie transdisciplinarity to sustainability and to five working principles.
Why is obesity used as the example of a complex problem?
Because many factors combine: gut bacteria and metabolism, everyday habits, farm and economic policy, and how food is marketed and labelled. Obesity holds many problems and possible solutions at once, so the module shows why a team must explore and narrow the problem before designing a response.
What does emergence mean in a complex system?
Emergence is the way interactions among the parts of a complex system create new information and collective behaviour at a larger scale, so the whole shows properties its parts do not. The module compares it to many cells forming a living organism.
Assessment move
Learn the five principles and test any team or project against them, especially stakeholder participation. Practise explaining emergence with one public health example. Draw the double diamond from memory and place real activities in it. For the group project, use the first diamond to define your problem before you choose your initiative.
In the tutorial team exercise, keep a log of which diamond and which move, diverge or converge, each activity belongs to.
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