In recent years, the literature on transdisciplinary research has highlighted the importance of learning, trust, and participation in commons co-management and collective action (Hensler et al., 2024; Merçon, 2021; Trimble & Plummer, 2019). Some studies point out that a high level of participation in research can help identify integrated, locally acceptable solutions. However, they have also shown that high participation does not automatically translate into positive outcomes (Hahn et al., 2023). There may be a gap between anticipated and perceived participation. Moreover, perceptions of transdisciplinarity can vary throughout the phases of the research process. Comparative case studies help analyze challenges and opportunities in transdisciplinary research, and the convergence of diverse experiences becomes the seed for more and better methodological knowledge (Merçon et al., 2018).
In the Latin American context, transdisciplinary research is also linked to decolonial studies, acknowledging the region’s specific history, culture, and ethnic diversity (Streck, 2021; Merçon, 2021). For a decolonial turn, local actors must participate in decision-making about resources, research topics, and how knowledge is used (Zonta et al., 2023). Transdisciplinary approaches therefore seek to increase the relevance, credibility, and legitimacy of scientific research by ensuring the active participation of non-academic actors (Rébola, 2019). When successful, the co-production of knowledge can lead to policy and practice outcomes that take into account a diversity of values, perceptions, and worldviews, making them appear legitimate and credible to local populations (Hensler et al., 2024; Reed et al., 2023).
Research methodologies and tools in transdisciplinary research projects undoubtedly come from various disciplines and ways of knowing. These are chosen through dialogue and coordinated action among collaborators. No methodological guides exist for this process beyond the goal of collaboratively combining the most suitable methods and tools for each particular case (Merçon et al., 2018), therefore, it is a process that requires experience and great mediation and facilitation skills. Since 2021, the Latin American Participatory Research Network (RIPAL) has sought to create spaces for dialogue and interaction to develop participatory research, action, teaching, and learning processes and tools drawn from diverse forms of knowledge for the environmental sustainability of Latin American countries.
With this special issue we first seek to open a space that accommodates diverse transdisciplinary research experiences in Latin America. Second, we hope this space will serve for critical analysis of research methods, tools, and strategies, making visible both the diversity of approaches and the challenges encountered. This special issue seeks to enrich the literature on knowledge production from diverse perspectives and to showcase the richness and complexity that arise when different ways of seeing and understanding territories converge.
Authors are encouraged to consider the following elements to guide their analysis:
- In what ways did the project enable knowledge exchange, collective learning, and the co-creation of knowledge and participatory action proposals?
- Which actions adopted during the project fostered the formation or strengthening of pre-existing pluralistic democratic institutions, such as cooperatives and family associations?
- How did the project open pathways to continue the initiatives, such as articulation spaces or the existence of projects with organizational stability?
- Which methods, tools, and strategies have proven effective for establishing dialogue and building trust between academia and local communities in the field of collective action for the commons?
- How can the research capacities of each party in this type of project be improved?
- Where can we move toward building better tools and methodologies for transdisciplinary research? How can academia play a mediating/facilitating role in implementing transdisciplinary research projects in the field or in local/rural communities?
Contributions are accepted in English, Spanish, or Portuguese in one of the following formats (for more information visit the website: Submissions | Alternautas):
- Academic articles between 7,000 and 10,000 words
- Dialogues between 500 and 2,000 words
- Book reviews: 2,500 words
- Translations
Alternautas is a multi-disciplinary journal devoted to counter-balancing mainstream understandings of development in/from Latin America – Abya Yala. Alternautas emerges from a desire to bridge language barriers by bringing Latin-American critical development thinking to larger, English-speaking audiences. The journal covers a broad range of development issues in a mix of regular and special issues. The journal was launched in 2014 and is fully open-access without fees for readers or authors.
Please send your abstracts to edupuits@usfq.edu.ec and ipalenred@gmail.com
Deadlines
- 15 July 2025: CfP release
- 15 October 2025: Submission of abstracts
- 15 November 2025: Notification of acceptance
- 15 February 2026: Submission of manuscripts
- 15 April 2026: First round of revisions
- 15 June 2026: Second round of revisions
- 31 July 2026: Publication of the SI
References
Hahn, A., Kirschke, S., Caucci, S., Müller, A., Benavides, L., & Avellán, T. (2023). Perceptions of transdisciplinary research–A comparative case study from Latin America. Current Research in Environmental Sustainability, 5, 100207. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.crsust.2022.100207
Hensler, L., Hernández-Hernández, C. N. A., Molina-Rosales, D., Mesa-Jurado, M. A., & Merçon, J. (Eds.). (2024). Investigación colaborativa desde la diversidad: Entretejiendo experiencias y reflexiones en la frontera sur de México. CopIt-arXives y Red de Socioecosistemas y Sustentabilidad, Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología (Conacyt). https://copitarxives.fisica.unam.mx
Merçon, J. (Ed.). (2021). Investigación transdisciplinaria e investigación-acción participativa: Conocimiento y acción para la transformación. CopIt-arXives y Red de Socioecosistemas y Sustentabilidad, Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología (Conacyt). https://copitarxives.fisica.unam.mx
Merçon, J., Rosell, J. A., Ayala-Orozco, B., Bueno, I., Lobato, A., & Alatorre-Frenk, G. (2018). Colaboración transdisciplinaria para la sustentabilidad en México: Principales retos y estrategias. En: M.J., A-O. B. & J.R. (Eds.). Experiencias de colaboración transdisciplinaria para la sustentabilidad. (pp. 17-48). CopIt-arXives y Red de Socioecosistemas y Sustentabilidad, Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología (Conacyt).
Rébola, Romina C. (2019). El diálogo interinstitucional en el territorio. La experiencia del Consejo Consultivo Social de Rafaela (Santa Fe, Argentina). En: : P Y. P., R. R. & S. E. M (Eds.) Procesos y Metodologías Participativas. Reflexiones y experiencias para la transformación social. (pp. 322-345). CLACSO – UDELAR
Reed, M. G., Robson, J. P., Campos Rivera, M., Chapela, F., Davidson‐Hunt, I., Friedrichsen, P., ... & Vasseur, L. (2023). Guiding principles for transdisciplinary sustainability research and practice. People and Nature, 5(4), 1094-1109. https://doi.org/10.1002/pan3.10496
Streck, D. R. (2021). TRANSDISCIPLINARITY AS A DECOLONIZING RESEARCH PRACTICE: A LATIN AMERICAN PERSPECTIVE. Diálogos Latinoamericanos, 29, 88–100. https://doi.org/10.7146/dl.v29i0.120252
Trimble, M., Plummer, R. Participatory evaluation for adaptive co-management of social–ecological systems: a transdisciplinary research approach. Sustain Sci 14, 1091–1103 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11625-018-0602-1
Zonta, A. L., Jacobi, J., Mukhovi, S. M., Birachi, E., Groote, P. V., & Abad, C. R. (2023). The role of transdisciplinarity in building a decolonial bridge between science, policy, and practice. GAIA-Ecological Perspectives for Science and Society, 32(1), 107-114. https://doi.org/10.14512/gaia.32.1.7