Evaluation of a Transdisciplinary Research Project for a Sustainable Development

Abstract

One major aim of student education is the integration of students in research and development projects for a sustainable development especially in master and Ph.D. programs. Sustainability research should be based on a transdisciplinary approach in order to reach the aim of shaping real processes into a sustainable society. Due to the high complexity of the problem statement as well as the various perspectives of the related stakeholders concerning everyday life and scientific problems, for evaluating transdisciplinary research projects appropriate methods and procedures are required. Through the realization of the evaluation, factors of success can be determined. The paper is going to introduce different methods that can be sub-classified into process evaluation and performance evaluation. Process evaluation looks at the research process itself whereas performance evaluation assesses the results and benefits in comparison with the everyday life problem. Both methods will be applied on a case study for sustainable regional development. Thereby, the integration of heterogeneous stakeholders in the evaluation process will be of particular importance.