The Nexus Network workshop on ‘Transdisciplinary Methods for Developing Nexus Capabilities’, at the University of Sussex, UK on 29-30 June 2015, will take a critical look the research challenge in addressing nexus issues. Professor Andy Stirling and colleagues from the Nexus Network have set out a series of questions and provocations to set the scene for the workshop in the provocation paper.
We have (nearly) the full line up of speakers for the workshop and are very pleased to have such a great diversity of expertises and perspectives in the room. Workshop interactions will be based on short panel interactions, with break-out groups and lots of room for discussion with all participants. If you would like to join in the workshop then please see more information on the Apply to Attend blog post.
Day one of the workshop will start with an Introduction and a view from the ESRC Nexus Network team, given by James Wilsdon, Director of the Nexus Network and Professor of Science and Democracy, University of Sussex. Andy Stirling, Professor of Science & Technology Policy, University of Sussex will then set the scene for the workshop with his stimulus talk on ‘Mapping and Ordering Methods’.
The first panel quickfire session will take a look at some of the work that has already been done in the Nexus Network. Frances Harris from Kingston University and co-author of ‘Approaches to knowledge co-production at the food, water, energy, and environment nexus’ Thinkpiece will talk about ‘Transdisciplinarity’, followed by Christian Stein, from the Stockholm Environment Institute on ‘Governance & Strategic Action’. The final quickfire in this panel session will be ‘Is this a new debate?’ from Alice Bows-Larkin, Tyndall Centre.
This should give participants plenty to think about and so throughout the workshop there will be a range of plenary and group discussions to explore these in more detail.
The second panel quickfire will take a look at major issues, including
- Complexity and Agility. Nigel Gilbert, University of Surrey.
- Diversity and Plurality. Henrietta Moore, Director of the Institute for Global Prosperity and Chair in Philosophy, Culture and Design at UCL.
- Credibility and Legitimacy. Gary Kass, Deputy Chief Scientist, Natural England.
- Power and Reflexivity. Andrea Cornwall, Professor of Anthropology and International Development.
- Scale and Globalization. Tim Benton, Professor of Population Ecology and UK Champion for Global Food Security.
- Excellence and Engagement, John Gaventa, Institute of Development Studies
The plenary discussion which follows this will ask are there any different views, tricky problems or indeed what’s missing?
Day two will start with a Panel quickfire session on ‘Mixing Methods in Real Problem Contexts’. Five speakers start the discussions with a 10 minute interventions on each of; Climate and Energy with Jim Watson, Professor of Energy Policy, University of Sussex; Biodiversity and Food with Sue Hartley, Director of the York Environmental Sustainability Institute and Raw Material Conflicts with Raimund Bleischwitz, Sustainable Global Resources, UCL. We are just finalising the speakers for Particular application example and for Water and Poverty.
The final session will cover a range of perspectives from early career researchers, natural to social science, business, civil society and more, with quickfire contributions from: Rose Cairns, coordinator of the Nexus Network and Research Fellow at the Science and Technology Policy Research Unit (SPRU), University of Sussex; Guy Poppy, Chief Scientific Adviser to the Food Standards Agency and Andrew Watkinson, Professor in Environmental Sciences.
For more information on the event see the Methods Workshop page.
We really hope you can join us for this workshop to add your ideas and perspectives on interdisciplinary approaches. The workshop is free to attend (although participants will need to cover their own travel and accommodation costs) and we welcome people from all career stages, and from all sectors (business, policy, civil society, academia).
Apply to attend – now closed
We would love you to join us. All we ask is that you take a look at the provocation paper and then fill in your details on the Apply to Attend short form. There are also a couple of questions on the form, which we will use to help guide the selection of participants:
- Why would you like to attend this event? (in about 200 words)
- Please give a brief outline of your experience of inter and transdisciplinary working (in about 200 words)
- What do you think you would bring to the workshop in terms of skills and expertise? (in about 200 words)
Application deadline – now closed
Please complete your application by attend by 5 pm on Friday 8 May 2015.
Image credit: from Playing Futures: Applied Nomadology on Flickr.
