Pros and cons of transdisciplinary research: A case study of Swedish lawns and their sustainable alternatives

2020 ◽  
Vol 56 ◽  
pp. 126799
Author(s):  
M. Ignatieva ◽  
F. Eriksson ◽  
T. Eriksson ◽  
T. Kätterer ◽  
P. Tidåker ◽  
...  
2018 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Erin C. Pischke ◽  
Lucía Pérez Volkow ◽  
Mayra Fragoso-Medina ◽  
Laura Aguirre franco

In November 2016, a group of students from the Americas participated in an Inter-American Institute for Global Change Researchfunded two-week course organized by professors from the National Autonomous University of Mexico. The aim was to teach students and young researchers how to collaborate with non-scientists to conduct socioecological systems research in a transdisciplinary manner. This article will review the benefits as well as the challenges to doing so. It concludes with recommendations that other research teams can follow when conducting similar research that crosses disciplinary and international borders.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. 2572
Author(s):  
Stefano Rosso ◽  
Federico Uriati ◽  
Luca Grigolato ◽  
Roberto Meneghello ◽  
Gianmaria Concheri ◽  
...  

Additive Manufacturing (AM) brought a revolution in parts design and production. It enables the possibility to obtain objects with complex geometries and to exploit structural optimization algorithms. Nevertheless, AM is far from being a mature technology and advances are still needed from different perspectives. Among these, the literature highlights the need of improving the frameworks that describe the design process and taking full advantage of the possibilities offered by AM. This work aims to propose a workflow for AM guiding the designer during the embodiment design phase, from the engineering requirements to the production of the final part. The main aspects are the optimization of the dimensions and the topology of the parts, to take into consideration functional and manufacturing requirements, and to validate the geometric model by computer-aided engineering software. Moreover, a case study dealing with the redesign of a piston rod is presented, in which the proposed workflow is adopted. Results show the effectiveness of the workflow when applied to cases in which structural optimization could bring an advantage in the design of a part and the pros and cons of the choices made during the design phases were highlighted.


Author(s):  
Huai-Yang Sun ◽  
Shuo-Xue Li ◽  
Hong Jiang

Prediction of optical spectra of complex solids remains a great challenge for first-principles calculation due to the huge computational cost of the state-of-the-art many-body perturbation theory based GW-Bethe Salpeter equation...


2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 17
Author(s):  
Mikkel Snorre Wilms Boysen ◽  
Nils Falk Hansen ◽  
Mostafa Yamil

ResuméI de seneste 30 år har pædagogprofession og pædagoguddannelse ændret sig på måder, der tilsyneladende har gjort faglig fordybelse for pædagoger og UC undervisere vanskeligere. I dette lys synes entreprenante pædagogiske ildsjæle at repræsentere en mulig modpol, i den forstand at ildsjæle ofte evner at stå værn om faglig kvalitet, fx med afsæt i fagområder som drama, musik eller billedkunst. Ligeledes formår entreprenører ofte at etablere værdifulde initiativer indenfor, udenfor eller på tværs af formelle institutioner og organisationer. I artiklen undersøges denne hypotese og problemstilling via et empirisk studie af tre pædagogiske entreprenante ildsjæle før/under/efter en række workshops, hvor ildsjælene arbejder med pædagogiske målgrupper. Tre forskere/undervisere og 50 pædagogstuderende på tre forskellige campusser foretager undersøgelsen. Studiet peger på, at faglig ekspertise og specialviden kan opnås både udenfor og inden for etablerede formelle institutioner, men at entreprenørskab giver nogle særlige muligheder i forhold til at fastholde ildsjælenes fokus på deres pædagogiske visioner og deres faglige ekspertise. I artiklen diskuteres afslutningsvist ulemper og fordele ved at anvende entreprenørskabs-modeller til at oparbejde og tilbyde specialviden på kanten af den pædagogiske profession og uddannelse. AbstractSocial entrepreneurs within the pedagogical profession: A study of entrepreneurship as a possible way to build up specialized pedagogical competence and environments. In Denmark, the pedagogical profession and the field of social education have changed radically over the last thirty years: pedagogues are expected to acquire both academic and practical competence, as well as have a broad set of knowledge within many different pedagogical subcategories. In consequence, educators and pedagogues have found it increasingly difficult to achieve and maintain specialized, rather than general, professional expertise. In this perspective, social entrepreneurship seems to represent a possible gateway, because entrepreneurs are often able to focus on a specific professional agenda and approach, e.g. within the field of drama, music, visual art, therapy, etc. In the current article, this hypothesis is investigated through a qualitative case study of three social entrepreneurs’ pedagogical careers, methods, approaches and visions. The study is conducted by three researchers/educators and fifty students across three different campuses. The study indicates that specialized knowledge and competence can be achieved and maintained both within and outside formal institutions. Still, entrepreneurship seems to offer unique possibilities when it comes to the establishment of specialized pedagogical environments with a continuous focus on specific visions and approaches. At the end of the article, entrepreneurship within the pedagogical profession is discussed from a normative perspective and essential pros and cons are highlighted.


Author(s):  
Svetlana Perović

The chapter presents a case study based on transdisciplinary research, which was conducted at the Faculty of Architecture in Podgorica and is an innovation in architectural and urban practice of higher education in Montenegro. The study is based on the view that autonomous action of disciplines in the case of architecture and urbanism as multidisciplinary activities is limited, and an integrated approach to solving complex problems in the urban system is required. A global approach to research and solving urban issues is an important actor of sustainable development, where universities are central in this process. Collaborative educational discourses with a high degree of cooperation can develop an adequate platform for responses to the complex issues of the urban system. Producing experts with a developed awareness of a comprehensive understanding of the problem and transdisciplinary collaborative knowledge can strongly contribute to sustainable improvement, control, and management of urban spaces.


Author(s):  
Nhung Thi Hong Vu

Microfinance as argued in recent literature is not a panacea for poverty reduction as it was expected. The poor may need support from various ranges of non-financial services including business development services and social services alongside microfinance services. The main aim of this chapter is to provide policymakers and practitioners some discussions on the pros and cons of integrating non-financial services together with microfinance services. This chapter proposes a framework of both positive and negative effects of providing non-financial services on microfinance institutions and clients. A case study of offering non-financial services in a microfinance institution in Vietnam provides both quantitative and qualitative evidence of effects on the microfinance institution and its clients.


Author(s):  
Solange Oliveira Rezende ◽  
Edson Augusto Melanda ◽  
Magaly Lika Fujimoto ◽  
Roberta Akemi Sinoara ◽  
Veronica Oliveira de Carvalho

Association rule mining is a data mining task that is applied in several real problems. However, due to the huge number of association rules that can be generated, the knowledge post-processing phase becomes very complex and challenging. There are several evaluation measures that can be used in this phase to assist users in finding interesting rules. These measures, which can be divided into data-driven (or objective measures) and user-driven (or subjective measures), are first discussed and then analyzed for their pros and cons. A new methodology that combines them, aiming to use the advantages of each kind of measure and to make user’s participation easier, is presented. In this way, data-driven measures can be used to select some potentially interesting rules for the user’s evaluation. These rules and the knowledge obtained during the evaluation can be used to calculate user-driven measures, which are used to aid the user in identifying interesting rules. In order to identify interesting rules that use our methodology, an approach is described, as well as an exploratory environment and a case study to show that the proposed methodology is feasible. Interesting results were obtained. In the end of the chapter tendencies related to the subject are discussed.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document