Transdisciplinarity and the 'Living Lab Model' : food waste management as a site for collaborative learning

Transdisciplinary (TD) research is an increasingly recognized theoretical framework for addressing complex, socio-environmental problems involving multiple disciplines and a diversity of societal actors in complex projects. The underlying assumption is that creating effective solutions to complex problems requires exchanging knowledge and experiences among a diversity of disciplines with stakeholders in both public and private spheres (Gibbons et al. 1994; Lang et al. 2012; Neuhauser and Pohl 2014; Westberg and Polk 2015; Robinson 2008; Fam and Crosby 2017). By bringing a variety of different knowledge perspectives to bear, it is assumed that there is a better chance of understanding a problem from the perspectives of those implicated, generating innovation and solutions to complex societal problems (Bammer 2013). In the higher education context, on-campus Living Labs are one way to create an environment that supports TD research. Living Labs bring members of the public, business, government and researchers together to co-create services, systems, technologies and societal solutions. While the Living Lab concept has a range of applications, in this chapter we adopt a model that utilises the built environment of the university campus as a clearly defined educational context for bringing together students, academics, industry experts and campus facilities management in a transdisciplinary form of collaboration. This chapter draws on 2 years of experience by the authors in developing a ‘Transdisciplinary Living Lab’ (TDLL) at the University of Technology Sydney (UTS), where the on-campus food waste management system was used as the context for transdisciplinary learning by third year design students (Fashion and Textiles, Visual Communication, and Product Design).