A challenge for transdisciplinary sustainability science is learning how to bridge diverse worldviews among collaborators in respectful ways. A temptation in transdisciplinary work is to focus on improving scientific practices rather than engage research partners in spaces that mutually respect how we learn from each other and set the stage for change. We used the concept of Nicolescu’s “Hidden Third” to identify and operationalize this transformative space, because it focused on bridging “objective” and “subjective” worldviews through art. Between 2014 and 2017, we explored the engagement of indigenous peoples from three inland delta regions in Canada and as a team of interdisciplinary scholars and students who worked together to better understand long-term social–ecological change in those regions. In working together, we identified five characteristics associated with respectful, transformative transdisciplinary space. These included (1) establishing an unfiltered safe place where (2) subjective and objective experiences and (3) different world views could come together through (4) interactive and (5) multiple sensory experiences. On the whole, we were more effective in achieving characteristics 2–5—bringing together the subjective and objective experiences, where different worldviews could come together—than in achieving characteristic 1—creating a truly unfiltered and safe space for expression. The novelty of this work is in how we sought to change our own engagement practices to advance sustainability rather than improving scientific techniques. Recommendations for sustainability scientists working in similar contexts are provided.

中文翻译：

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确定跨学科的变革空间：利用艺术进入隐藏的第三者。


跨学科可持续发展科学面临的挑战是学习如何以尊重的方式在合作者之间架起不同的世界观。跨学科工作的一个诱惑是专注于改进科学实践，而不是让研究合作伙伴参与相互尊重相互学习并为变革奠定基础的空间。我们使用尼科莱斯库的“隐藏的第三个”概念来识别和操作这个变革性的空间，因为它专注于通过艺术弥合“客观”和“主观”世界观。 2014 年至 2017 年间，我们探索了加拿大三个内陆三角洲地区原住民的参与，并作为一个由跨学科学者和学生组成的团队，共同努力更好地了解这些地区的长期社会生态变化。在共同努力中，我们确定了与尊重、变革性跨学科空间相关的五个特征。其中包括（1）建立一个未经过滤的安全场所，（2）主观和客观体验和（3）不同的世界观可以通过（4）互动和（5）多种感官体验聚集在一起。总体而言，我们在实现特征 2-5 方面（将主观和客观体验结合在一起，使不同的世界观可以融合在一起）比实现特征 1（创造一个真正未经过滤且安全的表达空间）更有效。这项工作的新颖之处在于我们如何寻求改变自己的参与实践以促进可持续性，而不是改进科学技术。为在类似背景下工作的可持续发展科学家提供了建议。