EUKN - United Kingdom - Seven Sides to Every Question? Towards effective inter-disciplinary action on sustainable development

Seven Sides to Every Question? Towards effective inter-disciplinary action on sustainable development

Introduction

This project explored how different disciplines saw and evaluated local projects. Key aims were assessing ‘knowledge gaps’ and ‘language barriers’ and identify ways to improve inter-disciplinary understanding and co-operation in sustainable development.

Description

This short report is based on small, exploratory project tackling a very big issue – effective inter-disciplinary action on sustainable development. A specific objective of this particular project was to improve understanding of the knowledge and learning issues that might affect this work.

Background information

The project aims to work across the various disciplines involved in sustainable development at a local or neighbourhood level. Aims of this agenda include:

Assessing the ‘knowledge gaps’ and ‘language barriers’ that currently exist in multi-disciplinary work
Identifying opportunities to improve inter-disciplinary understanding and co-operation
Developing an inter-disciplinary framework for evaluation of local level work on sustainable development
Identifying, with the support of relevant professional bodies, common elements of evaluation criteria for locally-focused good practice that meets the needs of each discipline.

Methodology

The work was based around a set of discussion groups. Seven of these were discipline-specific and were assembled with the help of an organisation from that field. A final, wider discussion forum brought the different disciplines together.

Conclusions

A number of conclusions were made: a clear assessment of knowledge gaps between disciplines is essential; barriers seem to be most common among highly qualified professionals, institutions and traditions; there are some areas that are poorly understood.

Good communications is essential to better understanding – cutting out jargon and terminology. While local sustainability practitioners have a good understanding of the priorities of others and are keen to co-operate, this is often difficult due to their lack of core identity.

Focus areas to address problems:

relationships,
partnerships,
timing,
barriers and boundaries,
representation,
language and complexity.

Contact info

Community Development Foundation
admin@cdf.org.uk

Publication date

Project finished

//2004

Researcher

Chris Church, Ben Proctor of Ben Proctor Consulting, Jayne Humm at CDF, Gabriel Chanan, Alison Jarvis at JRF.

Links

Visit the Community Development Foundation website

Download the 'Seven Sides to Every Question?' Report (PDF, Eng, 265 KB)

Document type

research

Themes

Urban Policy

Keywords

Housing, Urban environment