Tenth annual review

By Gabriele Bammer.

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

What are the major achievements of i2Insights for 2025? What have been the main themes of the contributions made? How do these reflect the aims of i2Insights?

This is the last post for 2025. We’ll be back on January 13, 2026 and already have a number of great contributions to start the new year.

Achievements

We celebrated three major achievements in 2025.

1. Our 10th anniversary

In November i2Insights marked its 10th birthday as a global, comprehensive, living toolkit.

We are particularly delighted that INTEREACH (Interdisciplinary Integration Research Careers Hub) is devoting its 2025-2026 webinar series to spotlighting themes from i2Insights. Recordings of the first three webinars (on, respectively, an introduction to the series, embodied and arts-based practices, and systems and complexity methods) are available, with six webinars to come in 2026 (on leadership, professionalization of interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary careers, participatory methods at an institutional level, building teamwork competencies, integration frameworks, and decolonisation and epistemic justice). More details are available at https://www.intereach.org/upcomingwebinars.

Another celebratory activity was increasing the number of i2Insights Ambassadors. If you champion the i2Insights toolkit by recruiting contributors and users, we’d love to acknowledge your efforts as an i2Insights Ambassador.

2. Attracting the millionth viewer and other milestones

At the end of 2025, i2Insights has had more than 1.16 million visitors, with contributions receiving more than 1.78 million views and almost 5,000 comments. We have also had 600 contributions by more than 750 authors from more than 60 countries.

3. The most popular contribution reaching half a million views, plus other highly viewed contributions

A 2017 contribution by Katie Moon and Deborah Blackman “A guide to ontology, epistemology and philosophical perspectives for interdisciplinary researchers” has been viewed more than 500,000 times.

Indeed the four most popular contributions have been on similar themes; the others are:

• Understanding values: Schwartz theory of basic values by Shalom Schwartz (published in 2022; more than 117,000 views)
• A guide for interdisciplinary researchers: Adding axiology alongside ontology and epistemology by Peter Deane (published in 2018; more than 43,000 views)
• Five questions to understand epistemology and its influence on integrative research processes by Katie Moon, Chris Cvitanovic, Deborah Blackman, Ivan Scales and Nicola Browne (published in 2021; more than 18,000 views).

Other contributions receiving more than 10,000 views have provided core concepts, along with useful methods, frameworks and processes:

• How systems thinking enhances systems leadership by Catherine Hobbs and Gerald Midgley
• Successful implementation demands a great liaison person: Nine tips on making it work by Abby Haynes on behalf of CIPHER (Centre for Informing Policy in Health with Evidence from Research)
• Idea tree: A tool for brainstorming ideas in cross-disciplinary teams by Dan Stokols, Maritza Salazar, Gary Olson, and Judith Olson 
• Theory of Change in a nutshell by Heléne Clark
• Stakeholder engagement in research: The research-modified IAP2 spectrum, now superseded by the i2S Stakeholder Engagement Options Framework by Gabriele Bammer 
• What makes government policy successful? by Jo Luetjens, Michael Mintrom and Paul ’t Hart
• Three types of knowledge by Tobias Buser and Flurina Schneider
• Gradients of agreement for democratic decision making by Hannah Love.

Themes covered in 2025 and how they reflect i2Insights aims

Main topics

In 2025, i2Insights contributions covered all of the eleven topics central to i2Insights, namely:

• systems, context, unknowns, diversity, and integration, which are involved in understanding problems more comprehensively
• decision making, research implementation and change, which are central to supporting policy and practice change to address problems
• communication, teamwork and stakeholder engagement, which are essential for interacting effectively.

Stakeholder engagement (15 contributions) and teamwork (14 contributions) were well covered, with systems (8 contributions), context (6 contributions), diversity (11 contributions), integration (8 contributions), research implementation (7 contributions) and change (8 contributions) moderately well covered. It would be great to have more contributions on unknowns (2 contributions), decision making (2 contributions) and communication (4 contributions). 

Approaches drawn on

i2Insights aims to draw from all formalised approaches that can be useful in tackling complexity (as a whole or specific aspects). While not all tools in the i2Insights toolkit in 2025 were from contributors associated with a formalised approach, many were.

Of those approaches that tackle complex problems as a whole, best represented were the inter- and transdisciplinarity communities (19 contributions) and the systems thinking communities (7 contributions). It would be great to attract more contributions from the action research (1 contribution), convergence research (2 contributions) and design science (1 contribution) communities.

Of the approaches that address specific aspects of complex problems, best represented were the science of team science community (8 contributions), with the policy science communities (2 contributions) being less well represented. It would be great to have contributions from the change management, decision sciences, and implementation sciences communities, which were not represented in 2025.

Types of tools

i2Insights aims to provide a wide range of tools and in 2025 most contributions were about one or more of processes (36 contributions), concepts (18 contributions) and frameworks (12 contributions). Most frameworks were of processes or concepts or both. A smaller number of contributions were about competencies (5 contributions), methods (3 contributions), theories (1 contribution) and toolkits (2 contributions).

Country coverage

There is still a lot to do for i2Insights to become truly global, especially attracting authors from the Global South. Well represented were the USA (16 contributions) and Australia (12 contributions). One contribution had authors from 3 countries (Belgium, France, Uganda); for the others all authors were from the same country. Those countries, which provided between 1 and 3 contributions each, were: Botswana, China, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Spain, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.

Specific topics covered in 2025

Generative artificial intelligence

The first contributions addressing generative artificial intelligence (AI) were published this year. Two specifically looked at transdisciplinary research, with Florian Keil, Melina Stein and Flurina Schneider considering where the use of generative artificial intelligence is particularly relevant and advocating for a critical mindset and Faye Miller highlighting five capabilities necessary to leverage artificial intelligence effectively while maintaining an integrative approach. A third by Kerstin Nothnagel looked at how to use artificial intelligence to reduce inequities.

Eleven of the 50 contributions published in 2025 used generative artificial intelligence in some way in their development:

• three used it in the original source that the contribution was drawn from; two very extensively
• four used it to develop an outline or first draft of the contribution
• four used it to improve grammar and spelling.

Expanding ways of knowing

Six contributions were based on, or included, ways of knowing that move beyond those that are dominant in i2Insights and the published literature more generally:

• Two provided African experiences and reflections on tackling complex problems. Dintle Molosiwa distilled existing system thinking frameworks into a four-step cycle to improve health systems and Basirat Oyalowo explored how to achieve higher education’s third mission of making a contribution to society.
• Two focused on expanding the knowledge included in addressing complex societal problems. Adriana Moreno Cely, Kewan Mertens and Viola Nilah Nyakato described collective reflexive dialogues to challenge the reproduction of problematic power dynamics in North-South academic collaborations and Roxana Roos provided cautions about focusing on integration when including indigenous, local, artisanal, craft, tacit, counter, gendered and experiential knowledge.
• Two focused on ways for Indigenous and non-Indigenous researchers and practitioners to work together effectively, highlighting key conditions and principles, as captured in their titles: Four conditions for co-designing for First Nations leadership by Jessica Wegener, Barry Williams, Jacqueline Gothe and Sarah Jane Jones in Australia and Principles for place-based community participation by James Turner in New Zealand.

Five most viewed contributions for 2025

The five most viewed contributions for 2025 were:

1. What roles do you play in inter- and transdisciplinary projects? by Hanna Salomon, Benjamin Hofmann and Sabine Hoffmann (1013 views at 12 December)
2. How individual members can contribute to effective team functioning (Editor’s addition; 992 views)
3. The SPIRAL of systems leadership by Josep Coll (837 views)
4. Designing for role clarity: An essential leadership skill by Gemma Jiang and Joan Lurie (807 views)
5. Why interdisciplinarity and transdisciplinarity are not enough for addressing complex problems by Gabriele Bammer (733 views)

Concluding questions

Which aspects of i2Insights stood out for you in 2025? Which topics, approaches and types of tools would you like to see more of? Can you help write or recruit for underdeveloped areas such as:

• tools about unknowns, decision making, and communication
• tools from the action research, convergence research and design science communities?

Can you help recruit contributions from under-represented countries, especially from the Global South?

Use of Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) Statement: Generative artificial intelligence was not used in the development of this i2Insights contribution. (For i2Insights policy on generative artificial intelligence please see https://i2insights.org/contributing-to-i2insights/guidelines-for-authors/#artificial-intelligence.)

Biography: Gabriele Bammer PhD is Professor of Integration and Implementation Sciences (i2S) at the National Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health at The Australian National University in Canberra. i2S provides theory and methods for tackling complex societal and environmental problems, especially for developing a more comprehensive understanding in order to generate fresh insights and ideas for action, supporting improved policy and practice responses by government, business and civil society, and effective interactions between disciplinary and stakeholder experts. She is the inaugural President of the Global Alliance for Inter- and Transdisciplinarity.