The researcher as political mediator: co-creation processes in transdisciplinary and trans-sectoral research

Transdisciplinarity should be the starting point for researchers aiming to make sustainability research truly impactful. We argue that trans-sectoral, transcultural and transgenerational dimensions are as equally important in cocreation processes. When these dimensions are ignored, research projects can easily shift from co-creation to ‘creation’ with a top-down attitude. In fact, researchers working in sustainability research are often challenged when navigating different perspectives on the same issue, having to wear different hats in order to listen to and incorporate these perspectives in co-creation processes. In this roundtable discussion, we want to share our experience of our own journey with the Food Smart Dublin project while having others share theirs. We used a trans-sectoral approach between academia, industry and the public to co-create knowledge flow with the aim to encourage a behavioural shift from eating high trophic level seafood (tuna, salmon, cod - the tigers and lions of the sea) to lower trophic and more sustainable local seafood (molluscs, non-target species) by unearthing historical recipes and reconnecting Dublin’s society to their tangible and intangible coastal cultural heritage. The academic team consisted of STEM and AHSS researchers acting as knowledge providers in the sense of doing the groundwork, research into archival and environmental humanities as well as food and culinary history, while also developing and carrying out surveys on people’s behaviour toward seafood. The industry partner acted as the innovator being a trained chef and fishmonger; they had the ‘hands-on’ knowledge and reimagined the recipes to suit the modern pallet. The NGO partner was the agent of change being a youth and environmental education centre. They recruited young people and facilitated interactive workshops on sustainable seafood developed in close collaboration with the knowledge providers and the innovator. Now, at the end of the project, we want to reflect on obstacles and connecting nodes of our co-creation process and invite other researchers, educationalists and knowledge providers to share their experience of transdisciplinary and trans-sectoral work. We want to hear from those who may have had to become political mediators, but also advocates, lobbyists and educators in their ‘trans’ approach research. We also want to reflect on why policymakers seem uncomfortable with co-creation approaches and often do not support projects with concrete institutional change - or with funding. Furthermore, we encourage others to share their thoughts on what will have to change to make research projects more fluid and attractive for policymakers to achieve truly impactful sustainability change.