Integration and Implementation Sciences (i2S) aims to provide a common identity for anyone who answers ‘yes’ to any of the questions below:
- Are you developing concepts and methods to improve understanding of, and action on, complex societal and environmental problems and want to make them more accessible to others?
- Do you wish it was easier to learn from like-minded colleagues, especially those applying similar tools, but to different types of problems?
- Do you wonder about the similarities among transdisciplinarity, systems thinking, implementation science and other approaches to complex problems?
- Do you wish that work on complex societal and environmental problems was better supported by those making research and higher education policy decisions, as well as by funders?
i2S is particularly focused on researchers developing tools for tackling any type of complex societal and environmental problems, who fall into two categories:
- Those in communities identifying with specific approaches, such as interdisciplinary or as action researchers or post-normal scientists.
- Those who are not aligned with an existing approach, but may be committed to improving methods for tackling problems in the environment or public health or security or other areas. They may think of themselves as T-shaped, ie., with two sets of skills, namely depth in a discipline or field (the vertical bar of the T) and expertise in collaborating across disciplines and with stakeholders (the horizontal bar of the T).
By taking a global focus, i2S draws on different traditions of tackling complex societal and environmental problems, and provides a space for productive interactions and learning. Because i2S is relatively new, there is an opportunity for it to develop as a global initiative, rather than being primarily developed in one country or region and ‘exported’ to others. This plurality of understanding and practice is the substrate for continual evolution and improvement.
Information about why establishing a global community is important and how you can be involved, alongside some historical details, can be accessed to follow:
1. Why establish a global i2S community?
There are two main reasons for forming a global community.
One is to improve the quality of our work, in order to:
- employ the most suitable concepts and methods when tackling complex societal and environmental problems
- constantly improve those concepts and methods
- develop effective education strategies for teaching about those concepts and methods.
The second reason is to improve our political clout, especially to ensure that:
- a fair share of research funding goes to research tackling complex societal and environmental issues, including research focused on developing better concepts and methods
- mechanisms are in place to enable such research to be adequately recognised and assessed, including through review by peers experienced in the same kinds of research
- universities and related organisations adequately support research and education on complex real-world problems
- researchers tackling complex societal and environmental problems are not disadvantaged in job application, tenure and promotion processes.
2. How to get involved and stay informed
The primary way to get involved is by contributing to Integration and Implementation Insights (i2Insights) as an author, commenter, reader and disseminator. As an active and growing toolkit, i2Insights provides a forum for researchers to share the concepts, methods and other tools that they use for tackling complex societal and environmental problems, as well as giving researchers easy access to the work of others, especially those doing relevant work that they may not normally have contact with. Discussion is encouraged through the commenting function.
You can stay informed through:
- i2S News
- the LinkedIn group Global Network for Research Integration and Implementation (see also #i2Sresources). The LinkedIn group is mainly used to expand the reach of i2Insights contributions. From time to time group members also post information about activities ro other topics.
You might also consider joining the Global Alliance for Inter- and Transdisciplinarity (ITD Alliance). i2S is not a traditional membership organisation. We have therefore supported the formation of the ITD-Alliance, including:
- transferring resources compiled between 2002 and 2021 on (i) journals, (ii) professional associations and networks and (iii) conferences to the ITD Alliance website
- Gabriele Bammer serves as inaugural President of the ITD Alliance (two terms: 2023-2025 and 2025-2027) and was also involved in establishing the ITD Alliance from 2017-2019
- Gabriele Bammer participated in working groups on toolkits and methods (2019-2024) and on integration experts and expertise (2022-2024).
In addition, i2Insights has published a range of contributions associated with the International Transdisciplinarity Conference, which (i) built the community for establishing the ITD Alliance, (ii) provided the opportunity to gather to discuss and progress forming the ITD Alliance and (iii) from 2021 onwards was co-organised by the ITD Alliance. The relevant i2Insights contributions are:
- What is the role of theory in transdisciplinary research?
- What can action research and transdisciplinarity learn from each other?
- A tool for transdisciplinary research planning and evaluation
- Overcoming a paradox? Preparing students for transdisciplinary environments
- A collaborative vision and pathways for transforming academia
- Why we should not ignore interdisciplinarity’s critics
- Non-certified experts, stakeholders, practitioners… What participants are called defines transdisciplinarity
- Is it legitimate for transdisciplinary research to set out to change society?
- Lessons from “real-world laboratories” about transdisciplinary projects, transformative research and participation
- Language matters in transdisciplinarity
- Learning from interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary research ‘failures’
- Connecting and building capacity in the transdisciplinary research community
- How can social network analysis benefit transdisciplinary research?
- Theory of change in inter- and transdisciplinary research
In 2026, the ITD Alliance formally became an i2Insights partner, with two previous contributions (by members of ITD Alliance working groups) tagged as partner contributions retrospectively. Partner contributions are:
From 2013 to 2024 i2S had an active presence on Twitter (which rebranded as X in mid-2023), mainly to expand the reach of i2Insights contributions. It built up an active following of more than 3,000 people. Although no longer active, access is still available through @GabrieleBammer and #I2Sresources.
Gabriele Bammer was also active in establishing two networks of leaders of interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary research organisations:
- a global network, that was active in 2018
- NITRO-Oceania, the Network of Leaders of Interdisciplinary and Transdisciplinary Research Organisations in the Oceania region, that was active from 2019 to 2024. “Left-over” funding has been used to support administrative assistance for the ITD Alliance Oceania Regional Network.
- Page updated: October 28, 2026