Inter- and transdisciplinary (ITD) research is increasingly valued for its contribution to solving complex problems (Leitao 2023), by crossing the boundaries not only of different scientific disciplines, but also of science, policy and practice (Nowotny et al. 2001). Integration across such boundaries is widely seen as the core challenge of ITD research (Bergmann et al. 2005, Klein 2008, Pohl et al. 2008). Integration here refers to a multidimensional interactive process that involves cognitive, social, and emotional dimensions, in which worldviews come together to address the complexities and uncertainties of real-world problems (Pohl et al. 2021). It also refers to the integrated output that results from such a process (O'Rourke et al. 2016).

Yet, integration is also a core challenge in ITD higher education (Vienni-Baptista and Hoffmann forthcoming). In the last few years, a plethora of initiatives have been developed to cope with the increasing demand to embed ITD in higher education. These have mostly flourished out of individual or collective efforts, with a bunch of well-planned and institutionalized programs across different regions (Vienni-Baptista and Klein 2022). Given the importance of integration for ITD research, lecturers, administrators and students are confronted with the challenges of how to integrate integration in ITD higher education programs to train students in leading or engaging in integration across multiple boundaries, i.e. how to design, implement, explore and assesss integration in such programs. Puzzling questions such as what do we teach and learn? why? and how? are then deemed relevant.

We address these questions through a poster exhibition of innovative teaching and learning formats on integration designed and implemented at different higher education institutions across different regions. The exhibition will consist of posters from invited and selected experiences according to a template designed by the convenors. We have already confirmed posters from the Netherlands, Switzerland, Germany, Ireland, Spain, Armenia, Georgia, Mexico, Canada and the USA. The exhibition aims at providing state-of-the-art insights into current formats, specifying key competencies, learning objectives and learning activities as well as first lessons learned from designing and implementing such formats. Providing such insights in a standardized way will facilitate cross-comparison and integration of key insights from different formats, and enable final synthesis (preparing the ground for a potential publication on innovative teaching and learning formats on integration across different regions). If possible, the poster exhibition will be accompanied by an interactive session (30-60 min) in which interested trainers, researchers, practitioners and students will have the opportunity to exchange with lecturers about their particular teaching and learning format.

We are part of the Working Group on Integration Experts and Expertise of the Global ITD Alliance, gathered on the topic of integrative teaching and learning on integration in ITD higher education. As an output of the joint work done in the Working Group, we have identified a set of innovative teaching and learning formats on integration. This selection is not exhaustive and we welcome other contributions from different geographical regions.

Poster Template

• Overview: Our course in facts and figures…

• Key competencies in integration: Our course fosters…

• Learning objectives for integration related to key competencies: At the end of our course students will be able to…

• Learning activities: How do our students explore integration in theory and practice?

• Lessons learned: What are our lessons learned so far?

In an era marked by pandemics, escalating sea levels, and growing wealth disparity, innovative solutions are needed now more than ever, which requires a new and radical approach to understanding and addressing complex societal problems. Since it is unlikely that these problems can be tackled by experts alone, it is worthwhile to seek a radical new approach that puts integration expertise at center stage. To accelerate collaborative learning across different forms of expertise, the Resilient Delta initiative is experimenting with the gluon researcher,, a new and complementary role in the knowledge ecosystem. The mission of the ‘gluon approach’ is to help build shared understandings across diverse perspectives and mobilize transformative learning through integrative leadership, diversification of academic projects, collective validation, and conscious integration of knowledge in a collaborative learning setting. To do so, the gluon researcher tailor-makes an integrative approach for different types of knowledge consortia based on the combination of ITD literature with engineering and design-thinking. This exhibition presents how the gluon approach has been operationalized so far (in consortia such as ReDesigning Deltas, Red & Blue, SPRING, Resilience on the Labour Market and JUST GREEN) and what the gluon does through a diverse range of mediums such as posters, digital animation, and various publication formats. This is also an opportunity to launch the limited booklet series's first issue on the gluon researcher to the ITD community and the diverse integration experts in it.