NEWS Four years after its launch in December 2020, Umeå Transformation Research Initiative, UTRI, is organising its first annual conference on November 28, 2024. Actions for sustainable transformation and interdisciplinary research are in focus when UTRI invites researchers and other professionals around campus for a whole day together. “We simply need collaboration between many different disciplines”, says philosopher Lars Samuelsson, one of the panelists at the conference.
The UTRI conference, titled “Actions for Sustainable Transformations”, will spotlight research contributions toward a more sustainable world, broadening the concept of transformation and exploring how it can be applied across various research fields. The program will include a keynote by professor Björn-Ola Linnér, from the Centre for Climate Science and Policy/Environmental Change, Linköping’s university. Thereafter follows parallel sessions addressing different key themes in relation to interdisciplinary and sustainable transformation(s).
One component of the program will present perspectives from all four faculties regarding actions for sustainable transformation, as well as insights into interdisciplinary collaborations. The intention is to establish a framework and illustrate transformation(s) from a range of perspectives.
During the conference the panelists Cornelia Redeker, Lars Samuelsson, Sofia Lundberg and Magnus Evander will share their fields perspective on actions for sustainable transformations.
Image UTRISustainable actions manifest differently across various research disciplines. Regardless of the approach, integrating sustainability into all faculties is crucial for driving significant and necessary change.
Lars Samuelsson is Senior lecturer and Associate professor at the Department of Historical, Philosophical and Religious Studies and explains that his work in philosophy addresses fundamental questions that are crucial to understanding various fields and avoiding misleading arguments or pure rhetoric.
“In the case of sustainable transformation, it is important both to scrutinize the goal as such, so that we understand it in a way that makes it truly desirable, and to investigate the ethical and political aspects of the goal.”
The formats for a more productive connection between education and research is an action that has been defined by the Umeå School of Architecture.
“In our case the key educational formats are architectural design studios which are per se propositional. Linking these both topically and methodologically to ongoing research projects with both academic partners and partners “on the ground” enables us to collaboratively, with our students, increase our learning curve and potentially accelerate change”, says Cornelia Redeker, Professor and Head of department at the Umeå School of Architecture.
By combining knowledge from various fields, researchers can create more holistic solutions
For Magnus Evander, Professor at the Department of Clinical Microbiology, who was active in UTRI already from the start the actions for sustainable transformation mean investing in research that investigates the links between vectors, animal reservoirs, ecology, and human disease.“I participate in projects that strengthen the local capacities by training their scientists and experts from interdisciplinary fields in One Health-approaches.”
All four panelists agree that their individual research fields cannot tackle the complex challenges of sustainable transformation alone. Progress in these issues definitely requires collaboration across faculty boarders.
“By combining knowledge from various fields, researchers can create more holistic solutions”, says Magnus Evander.
This collaborative approach is essential, especially when addressing sustainable development based on Agenda 2030 and the 17 goals, which involves goal conflicts that require both systematic perspectives and complementary skills. This is also something that Sofia Lundberg, Professor at Umeå School of Business, Economics and Statistics, emphasizes.
“I understand how markets function with incentive systems and policy design, while a natural scientist knows what is harmful to nature and how. These are just two of all the competencies needed to design impactful policies.”
Welcome to the first edition of Umeå Transformation Research Initiatives' annual conference which aims to highlight research efforts towards a better future.
Participation is free of charge and includes fika and lunch. We welcome everyone interested in sustainable transformation!
Register before November 25: Actions for Sustainable Transformations
