December 2024 – Integration and Implementation Insights

Ninth annual review

January 14, 2025December 17, 2024

By Gabriele Bammer.

gabriele-bammer_nov-2021 — Gabriele Bammer (biography)

This is the ninth annual “state of the blog” review.

As we wrap up another year of i2Insights, what are the key issues to reflect on in our nine year history? What have been the highlights of year nine? What changes are underway or planned?

Moving forward globally

A key issue to reflect on in our nine year history is how well i2Insights is achieving its goal of being a global resource. In tackling complex problems through Integration and Implementation Sciences (i2S), transdisciplinarity, systems thinking, action research, post-normal science or other approaches, I have always thought that we have a unique opportunity to advance globally, combining experience from around the world. This would make us different from most disciplines and fields, which were first established in the Global North and then exported to the Global South.

Being a “conscious” leader: Three foundational commitments

December 10, 2024December 10, 2024

By Gemma Jiang and Jeni Cross.

authors_gemma-jiang_jeni-cross — 1. Gemma Jiang (biography)
2. Jeni Cross (biography)

As a leader, are you prone to defensiveness, blame and avoidance? Is your team trapped in a similar pattern? What is the alternative and how to get there?

The Conscious Leadership framework’s 15 commitments (Dethmer, Chapman and Klemp, 2014) offer powerful tools for addressing these questions. Central to this framework is the distinction between operating “above the line,” which involves openness, curiosity, and a commitment to growth, and “below the line,” characterized by defensiveness, blame, and avoidance. The first three commitments—taking radical responsibility, learning through curiosity, and feeling all feelings—serve as foundational steps for leaders and teams to maintain an “above the line” mindset. This post explores these commitments and the associated tools to empower leaders in guiding their teams from below to above the line.

Fostering transdisciplinary research in the Global South: Lessons for funders

February 7, 2025December 3, 2024

By Flurina Schneider, Zarina Patel, Katsia Paulavets, Tobias Buser, Jacqueline Kado and Stefanie Burkhart.

authors_schneider_patel_paulavets_buser_kado_burkhart — 1. Flurina Schneider; 2. Zarina Patel; 3. Katsia Paulavets; 4. Tobias Buser; 5. Jacqueline Kado; 6. Stefanie Burkhart (biographies)

How can research funding programmes address existing inequalities in global science systems? How can they foster science-society-policy interactions and transdisciplinary research in the Global South?

Inequalities in science disadvantage the Global South in terms of classical science metrics such as the number of researchers and publications, but also in terms of access to research, funding and infrastructure. Early career researchers are particularly affected.

To address these inequalities, financial investment in research capacity is needed from both national governments and international donors. However, dependence on international funding reinforces the influence of the Global North in setting research agendas in the Global South. We argue that international research funders can mitigate this challenge by supporting transdisciplinary research, because transdisciplinary research integrates different perspectives to resonate with local realities and problems.