Key Definitions
Interdisciplinary research combines or applies data, techniques, theories or approaches from two or more disciplines to advance fundamental understanding or solve a problem(s).
Transdisciplinary research integrates experiential and non-academic knowledge alongside academic disciplines to create a holistic understanding of complex issues. This methodology transcends traditional disciplinary boundaries by actively incorporating insights from practitioners, community members, and other stakeholders, facilitating collaborative problem-solving.
Sustainability is both an interdisciplinary field of study and an applied area of practice[1] that takes a broad, integrated approach to understanding interactions among human and natural systems. Similar to medicine, it is an interventionist science, meaning that sustainability scholars and practitioners use integrated systems knowledge to design and deliver interventions that lead to a better present and future for people and the planet.[2] It requires transdisciplinary approaches that are interdisciplinary and integrate academic and non-academic knowledge through engagement with end-users, stakeholders, communities and decision makers where solutions are implemented.[3]
Relevant Concepts
Ohio State sustainability research priority areas: Based on Ohio State’s distinctive strengths and the pressing needs of our state and region, we have identified four sustainability research priority areas. These present significant opportunities for interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary funding and partnerships, effectively addressing pressing local, regional, and global challenges through collaborative research initiatives. This collaborative approach will empower Ohio State to transform sustainability-centered research efforts into impactful solutions for complex real-world challenges.
- Clean and Reliable Energy: Innovating new technologies and systems that improve efficiency, improve air quality, and electrify transportation while ensuring consistent power delivery and a just transition for fossil fuel communities.
- Sustainable Waters: Protecting clean waters and fostering healthy communities by removing toxins, reusing water, enhancing watershed management, and conserving vital ecosystems.
- Circular Economy: Eliminating waste, regenerating nature, and advancing a sustainable economy through renewable biological resources and responsible consumption.
- Healthy and Resilient Communities: Transforming human, animal, and planetary health through community-centered solutions that prevent environmental exposures and disease, advance nature-based solutions, and enable effective adaptations to changing climate and health conditions.
AI and Sustainability: AI has dual sustainability impacts: while it can offer solutions for energy efficiency, resource optimization and environmental monitoring, its development and use also contribute to a significant environmental footprint through high energy and water consumption, electronic waste and resource extraction for hardware. Innovations that use AI to advance sustainability solutions include improved modeling or management systems that result in greater energy or resource efficiency, environmental monitoring and prediction or lower emissions. The environmental impacts of AI arising from the physical infrastructure or training models of AI include impacts on energy and water resources, resource extraction, ecosystem health or other environmental harms. In addition, other sustainability impacts include its implications for the economy and jobs, local communities and human health and well-being.
Climate Adaptation and Mitigation: Changing climate conditions are a powerful force multiplier that intensifies environmental, social and economic challenges across all areas of sustainability. Addressing this requires both mitigation—reducing greenhouse gas emissions to limit future warming through cleaner energy, sustainable land use and carbon sequestration—and adaptation—building resilience to unavoidable impacts by strengthening infrastructure, protecting ecosystems and supporting vulnerable communities in coping with climate-related risks.
Footnotes
[1] Clark, W. C., and Dickson, N. M. (2003). Sustainability Science: The Emerging Research Program. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 100, 8059–8061. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1231333100
[2] Visiting Committee Final Report, Advancing Sustainability at Ohio State, August 2023.
[3] Shi, L., & Moser, S. (2021). Transformative climate adaptation in the United States: Trends and prospects. Science, 372(6549).