Further reading

The guide Roles of Scientists in Sustainability Transitions is based amongst others on insights from the literature. For those who would like to delve deeper into some of the issues addressed by scholars, a selection of texts is provided below.

• Adelle C, Pereira L, Görgens T, Losch B (2020) Making sense together: The role of scientists in the coproduction of knowledge for policy making. Science and Public Policy 47 (1): 56-66. https://doi.org/10.1093/scipol/scz046

• Arpin I, Likhacheva K, Bretagnolle V (2024) Actors’ roles and their distribution in transdisciplinary research in sustainability science: an exploratory study of research projects in the French LTSER network. Sustainability Science 19, 1881–1896. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11625-024-01567-6

• Bulten E, Hessels LK, Hordijk M, Segrave AJ (2021) Conflicting roles of researchers in sustainability transitions: balancing action and reflection. Sustainability Science 16 (4): 1269-1283. Source of Model 3. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11625-021-00938-7

• Cash DW, Clark WC, Alcock F, Dickson NM, Eckley N, Guston DH, Jäger J, Mitchell RB (2003) Knowledge systems for sustainable development. PNAS 100 (14):8086–8091. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1231332100

• Collins H, Evans R (2007) Rethinking Expertise. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press

• Conde M (2015) From activism to science and from science to activism in environmental-health justice conflicts. Journal of Science Communication 14(02):1-14. Text 1. https://doi.org/10.22323/2.14020304

• Defila R, Di Giulio A (2017) Sidebar: managing consensus in inter- and transdisciplinary teams: tasks and expertise. In: Frodeman R, Klein JT, Pacheco RCS (eds) The Oxford handbook of interdisciplinarity. Oxford University Press, Oxford, pp. 332–337

• Defila R, Di Giulio A (2018) What is it good for? Reflecting and systematizing accompanying research to research programs. GAIA-Ecologocal Perspectives for Science and Society 27(S1):97–104. https://doi.org/10.14512/gaia.27.S1.17

• Deutsch L, Belcher BM, Claus R, Hoffmann S (2021) Leading inter- and transdisciplinary research: lessons from applying theories of change to a strategic research program. Environmental Science & Policy 120:29–41. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envsci.2021.02.009

• Dressel M (2022) Models of science and society: transcending the antagonism. Humanities and Social Sciences Communications 9(1): 1–15. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41599-022-01261-x

• Fisher E, Brondizio E, Boyd E (2022) Critical social science perspectives on transformations to sustainability. Current Opinion on Environmental Sustainability 55:101160. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1877343522000124

• Funtowicz SO, Ravetz J (1993) Science for the Post-Normal Age. Futures 25:739–755. https://doi.org/10.1016/0016-3287(93)90022-L

• Hampton SE, Parker JN (2011) Collaboration and productivity in scientific synthesis. BioScience 61 (11): 900–910. https://doi.org/10.1525/bio.2011.61.11.9

• Hendren CO, Ku ST-H (2019) The interdisciplinary executive scientist: Connecting scientific ideas, resources and people. In: Hall K, Vogel A, Croyle R (eds) Strategies for Team Science Success. Cham, Switzerland: Springer, pp. 363–373.

• Hilger A, Rose M, Kell A (2021) Beyond practitioner and researcher. 15 roles adopted by actors in transdisciplinary and transformative research processes. Sustainability Science 16: 2049-2068. Source of Model 5. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11625-021-01028-4

• Hilger A, Rose M, Wanner M (2018) Changing faces-factors influencing the roles of researchers in real-world laboratories. GAIA-Ecological Perspectives in Science and Society 27(1):138–145. https://doi.org/10.14512/gaia.27.1.9

• Hoes A-C, Regeer BJ, Bunders JFG (2008) TransFormers in knowledge production: building science-practice collaborations. Act Learn Research Practice 5(3):207–220. https://doi.org/10.1080/14767330802461298

• Hoffmann S, Deutsch L, Thompson Klein J, O’Rourke M (2022) Integrate the integrators! A call for establishing academic careers for integration experts. Humanities & Social Sciences Communications, 147, 9 (1): 1-10. Source of Model 6. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-022-01138-z

• Hoffmann S, Pohl C, Hering JG (2017) Exploring transdisciplinary integration within a large research program: empirical lessons from four thematic synthesis processes. Research Policy 46:678–692. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.respol.2017.01.004

• Hofmann B, Salomon H, Hoffmann S (2025) Roles of researchers in inter-and transdisciplinary sustainability research: a reflection tool. Sustainability Science. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11625-024-01619-x

• Hubbs G, O’Rourke M, Orzack SH (eds) (2020) The Toolbox Dialogue Initiative: The Power of Cross-disciplinary Practice. Boca Raton: CRC Press.
• Isopp B (2015) Scientists who become activists: are they crossing a line? Journal of Science Communication 14(02). Text 2. https://doi.org/10.22323/2.14020303

• Jahn T, Bergmann M, Keil F (2012) Transdisciplinarity: between mainstreaming and marginalization. Ecological Economics 79: 1–10. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2012.04.017

• Jahn T, Keil F (2015) An actor-specific guideline for quality assurance in transdisciplinary research. Futures 65: 195–208. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.futures.2014.10.015

• Kessler SH, Rabinovich M, Boulila S (2024) Science vs. Activism? Exploring the Boundary: Perspectives of Young Researchers in Switzerland. Bern, Switzerland: Swiss Young Academy (SYA). PDF

• Klein JT (2021) Beyond Interdisciplinarity: Boundary Work, Communication, and Collaboration. Oxford, New York, NY: Oxford University Press.

• Lingo EL (2018) Brokerage and creative leadership: process, practice, and possibilities. In: Mainemelis C, Epitropaki O, Kark R (eds) Creative leadership: contexts and prospects. New York, NY: Routledge, pp. 208–227

• Lux A, Schäfer M, Bergmann M, Jahn T, Marg O, Nagy E, Ransiek A-C, Theiler L (2019) Societal effects of transdisciplinary sustainability research – How can they be strengthened during the research process? Environmental Science & Policy 101: 183–191. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envsci.2019.08.012

• Lyall C (2019) Being an Interdisciplinary Academic. How Institutions Shape University Careers. Cham, Switzerland: Palgrave Pivot

• Maag S, Alexander TJ, Kase R, Hoffmann S. (2018) Indicators for measuring the contributions of individual knowledge brokers. Environmental Science & Policy 89: 1–9. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envsci.2018.06.002

• MacMynowski DP (2007) Pausing at the brink of interdisciplinarity: Power and knowledge at the meeting of social and biophysical science. Ecology & Society 12 (1):20. https://www.jstor.org/stable/26267854

• McNie EC, van Noordwijk M, Clark WC, Dickson NM, Sakuntaladewi N, Joshi SL, Leimona B, Hairiah K, Khususiyah N (2008) Boundary Organizations, Objects and Agents: Linking Knowledge with Action in Agroforestry Watersheds. Report of a Workshop held in Batu, Malang, East Java, Indonesia, 26–29 July 2007. CID Graduate Student and Research Fellow Working Paper Series 2008.34, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, December 2008. PDF

• Merkel W, Kollmorgen R, Wagener HJ (eds.) (2019) The Handbook of Political, Social and Economic Transformation. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780198829911.001.0001

• Miller TR (2013) Constructing sustainability science: emerging perspectives and research trajectories. Sustainability Science 8(2): 279–293. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11625-012-0180-6

• Moon K, Blackman D (2017) A guide to ontology, epistemology, and philosophical perspectives for interdisciplinary researchers. Integration and Implementation Insights. https://i2insights.org/2017/05/02/philosophy-for-interdisciplinarity

• Moon K, Cvitanovic C, Blackman DA, Scales IR, Browne NK (2021) Five questions to understand epistemology and its influence on integrative research processes. Integration and Implementation Insights. https://i2insights.org/2021/09/21/epistemology-and-integrative-research

• Nowotny, H, P Scott, Gibbons M (2001) Re-Thinking Science: Knowledge and the Public in an Age of Uncertainty. Cambridge, UK: Polity

• Oberlack C, Breu T, Giger M, Harari N, Herweg K, Mathez-Stiefel S-L, Messerli P, Moser S, Ott C, Providoli I, Tribaldos T, Zimmermann A, Schneider F (2019) Theories of change in sustainability science: Understanding how change happens. GAIA – Ecological Perspectives for Science and Society, 28 (2): 1016-111. Source of Model 2. https://doi.org/10.14512/gaia.28.2.8

• Oliver K, Kothari A, Mays N (2019) The dark side of coproduction: do the costs outweigh the benefits for health research? Health Research Policy and Systems 17(1): 33. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12961-019-0432-3

• Pielke Jr R (2007) The Honest Broker: Making Sense of Science in Policy and Politics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Source of Model 7

• Pielke Jr R (2015) Roger Pielke Jr.‘s Blog: Five Modes of Science Engagement. Source of Model 7. http://rogerpielkejr.blogspot.com/2015/01/five-modes-of-science-engagement.html

• Pohl C, Rist S, Zimmermann A, Fry P, Gurung GS, Schneider F, Speranza CI, Kiteme B, Boillat S, Serrano E, Hirsch Hadorn G, Wiesmann U (2010) Researchers‘ roles in knowledge co-production: Experience from sustainability research in Kenya, Switzerland, Bolivia and Nepal. Science and Public Policy, 37(4): 267–281. Source of Model 1. https://doi.org/10.3152/030234210X496628

• Proclim – Forum for Climate and Global Change/CASS – Conference of the Swiss Scientific Academies (1997) Visions by Swiss Researchers: Research on Sustainability and Global Change – Visions in Science Policy by Swiss Researchers. Bern, Switzerland. ProClim-, Forum for Climate and Global Change of the Swiss Academy of Sciences. PDF

• Schut M, van Paassen A, Leeuwis C, Klerkx L (2013) Towards dynamic research configurations: a framework for reflection on the contribution of research to policy and innovation processes. Science and Public Policy 41(2):207–218. https://doi.org/10.1093/scipol/sct048

• Turner RH (1990) Role change. Annual Review of Sociology 16:87–110. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.so.16.080190.000511

• Vega J, Krueger T, König B, Garcia A, Sachet E, Molla N, Tank L, Rege A, Zambrano J, Edwards G, Unverzagt K, Gürdan B, Gasmi H, Awuku-Sowah E, Aysal L, Tamang S (2021) How activist should scientists be? Thesys Discussion Paper No. 2021-1. Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany. Pp. 1–22. Text 3. PDF

• Wichmann C (2023) Wissenschaftskommunikation: Expertise reicht nicht. Die Zeit, 13. Juli 2023. Text 4

• Wiek A (2007) Challenges of Transdisciplinary Research as Interactive Knowledge Generation – Experiences from Transdisciplinary Case Study Research. GAIA 16/1 (2007): 52–57. https://doi.org/10.14512/gaia.16.1.14

• Wittmayer J, Schäpfke N (2014) Action, research and participation: roles of researchers in sustainability transitions. Sustainability Science 9 (4): 483–496. Source of Model 4. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11625-014-0258-4

• Wittmayer JM, Avelino F, van Steenbergen F, Loorbach D (2017) Actor roles in transition: Insights from sociological perspectives. Environmental Innovation and Societal Transitions 24 (2017) 45–56. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eist.2016.10.003