This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies. Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: In the transformation toward sustainability, the interests of societal, economic and political actors often clash, making conflict inevitable. Understanding these dynamics and learning how to engage with them constructively is therefore crucial.
In a new study published in the journal Sustainability Science, RIFS researchers explore this challenge. They identify four interrelated characteristics that foster successful transdisciplinary processes. When the stakes are high, time is short and responsibilities are contested, collaboration often becomes difficult.
Discussions become polarized, with actors blaming one another. Some feel powerless, while others step up and assume responsibility for finding solutions. In their study, "Beyond the Sustainability Drama: Transformative Response-Ability and Relational Dynamics in Transdisciplinary Processes," Thomas Bruhn and Man Fang analyze these recurring patterns.
Drawing on the psychological model of the "Drama Triangle," they examine how the roles of victim, persecutor and rescuer emerge and reinforce one another within sustainability and climate contexts. "These dynamics are not simply the result of difficult personalities," explains Thomas Bruhn. "They often emerge relationally—through the interactions between people—and are amplified by structural conditions, power asymmetries, emotional intensity and the moral urgency characteristic of sustainability transformations." But how can collaboration remain constructive when these dynamics cannot be overcome?
The authors introduce the concept of "Transformative Response-Ability" (TRA) as a relational perspective on this challenge. TRA is an evolving quality of a relationship: the ability of a group to remain connected and act constructively, even in the face of conflict, frustration, unequal power dynamics or feelings of helplessness. • Relational presence: Participants remain consistently aware of their connection to others and act accordingly. This manifests in subtle interaction patterns, such as acknowledging others as vital voices in the conversation, actively eliciting absent perspectives and recognizing how one's own contributions affect the group. • Managing the fragility of interaction: Complex cooperation processes are often marked by frustration, blame, moral judgments and feelings of helplessness.
The goal is not to avoid these dynamics but to strengthen the group's capacity to navigate them without descending into defensiveness, escalation or rigid roles. • Relational understanding of responsibility and agency: Responsibility is viewed as a situated and relational capacity to act. Rather than relying on individual "heroes," agency emerges from the interplay of different contributions. Responsibility is negotiated collectively, and power is understood as "power with" rather than "power over." • Addressing power asymmetries: Relational fields shaped by TRA do not ignore power imbalances and asymmetries; instead, they integrate them into the collaborative process.
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