Transdisciplinarity as strategy: lessons from the Maine aquaculture industry, USA
Keywords:
Transdisciplinarity, transdisciplinary research, practices, aquaculture, strategy, Maine, USAAbstract
Practice theorists and strategy researchers have argued for a practice-lens, yet this is a new concept for sustainability scientists and development actors who are rooted in traditional research paradigms. Practice-to-strategy emerged as a throughline for the Maine Aquaculture Hub, an organization established to develop aquaculture in Maine, USA. The authors observed a six-month strategy process where the Hub’s Core Team leaders engaged in sense-making about the aquaculture industry, go-to-market approaches, service-scope, and their own leadership. Transdisciplinary research was a concept familiar to the Core Team, and was even etched into the Hub’s mission statement. However, they had not expected to find transdisciplinarity permeating the Hub’s day-to-day work, namely educating citizens about aquaculture species, harbor-use, workforce gaps, and diversity. The Core Team reflected on the Hub’s approach to its work: acting through others (a network mindset), exposing and including diverse ways of knowing (productive conversation), and decision-making processes which were collective, scientific and narrative (strategic thinking). This three-pronged approach represented what we dubbed ‘practice-transdisciplinarity’. Practice-theory lies at the heart of practice-transdisciplinarity, as practice-theory combines diverse knowledge, systems thinking, and reflective processes as lenses into operations. Not only was practice-transdisciplinarity evident as the Hub Core Team reflected on operations, but it was also embodied by the Hub Core Team. Themselves, doing strategy-development. Practice-transdisciplinarity elements flowed into strategy considerations like open data, diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility, and partnerships. The authors theorize that practice-transdisciplinarity is relevant where organizations’ resource limitations and policy constraints require inclusive design and responsive action. A self-conscious practice-transdisciplinarity throughline into strategy could help development organizations to surface hidden strengths and to develop strategy reflexively and inclusively.
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