Interdisciplinarity and transdisciplinarity

Abstract

The production of new scientific knowledge and practical solutions to complex problems require increasing amounts of interdisciplinary collaboration, while requirements for transdisciplinary cooperation have recently likewise become more frequent. In practice, however, they are rarely implemented adequately; what occurs instead is merely multidisci­plinary collaboration. True implementation of inter- and/or transdisciplinary collaboration is often met with certain difficulties and obstacles: problems due to limited disciplinary competence, problems due to protecting knowledge and power, the problem of competence required for inter- and transdisciplinary collaboration, complexity problems, method­ological problems and problems caused by differences in cultural traditions. It is necessary to acquire clear general defi­nitions of the concepts of multidisciplinarity, interdisciplinarity and transdisciplinarity, to define and implement general guidelines for the development of multidisciplinary and transdisciplinary practice and to develop a new general culture of collaboration in research and practice of complex problem-solving.Interdisciplinarna suradnja sve je nužnija za postizanje novih znanstvenih spoznaja i za praktično rješavanje složenih problema, a u zadnje su vrijeme sve češći i zahtjevi za transdisciplinarnom suradnjom. U praksi, međutim, često izostaje njihova istinska provedba, već se provodi tek multidisciplinarna suradnja. Za istinsko provođenje inter- i/ili transdisciplinarne suradnje postoje određene poteškoće i zapreke: problemi ograničenja disciplinarne kompetencije, problemi uslijed zaštite znanja i moći, problem kompetencije za inter- i transdisciplinarnu suradnju, problemi složenosti, metodološki problemi i problemi uslijed razlika u kulturalnim tradicijama. Potrebno je usvojiti jasne opće definicije pojmova multidisciplinarnosti, interdisciplinarnosti i transdisciplinarnosti, definirati i provoditi opće smjernice za razvoj interdisciplinarne i transdisciplinarne prakse i razvijati opću novu kulturu suradnje u znanstveno istraživačkom radu i rješavanju složenih praktičnih problema.