Keywords
Abstract
Transdisciplinary research often requires researchers to go beyond their traditional roles and assume additional responsibilities, acting as self-reflective researchers, knowledge intermediaries, process facilitators, or even change agents or activists. While the challenges associated with these roles - whether for knowledge co-production, project implementation, decision-making, or policy development - have been widely discussed, most studies focus on contexts in the Global North. To help bridge this gap, this article analyses, from a qualitative perspective, the roles that we, as researchers play in transdisciplinary projects situated in Latin America. Drawing on an online-survey administered among the research team to systematize our reflections on our experiences, we explore the challenges we face in adopting multiple roles in this type of research, such as the increased time commitment required for project management, the need for greater institutional support and funding, and the mediation of epistemological, communication, and agenda-related differences between researchers and third-party stakeholders. Finally, we compare our findings with existing literature, highlighting the similarities, differences, challenges, and opportunities we see between the Global North and Latin America.
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Copyright (c) 2026 Barbara Schröter, Adriana Saldaña-Espejel, Paúl Cisneros, Emilie Dupuits, Luisa Galindo, Irina Llamas-Torres, Francisco Marmolejo-Cossío, Luciana Porter-Bolland, Micaela Trimble, Emma Inés Villaseñor Sánchez