Design
Our goal is to transform the mentorship of emerging sustainability scholars and practitioners
TRANSECTS is designed to co-create and share innovative teaching tools, reduce barriers to knowledge sharing between North and South, help participating universities cement long-term relationships for ongoing research, and provide multi-site evidence by which to advocate for institutional change.
Today’s students of sustainability science are tomorrow’s practitioners and scholars, leading and “aiding humanity in its transition towards sustainability”. We define sustainability as the reconciliation of ecological, economic, social and cultural imperatives to sustain the flourishing of people and planet. Sustainability challenges such as climate change, biodiversity loss, inequality, poverty, overconsumption, and water security, are insistent, interconnected, and unevenly experienced at global and local levels. Together, these challenges have shaped the articulation and measurement of progress towards the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Transdisciplinarity – an approach that brings together academic researchers and external partners to co-create new knowledge and practice - has been promoted as a means to address complex societal challenges such as those associated with the SDGs. Our team of outstanding, interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary (transD) scholars and practitioners from across three continents proposes an innovative research training partnership that reconfigures sustainability science education, prepares graduates to be the next generation of sustainability change makers, and offers unparalleled opportunities for intercultural learning through shared international experiences and comparative analysis across the Global North and South.