Negotiating Gender Roles in Academia: A Courageous Exploration

Although the situation of female limnologists has improved in several aspects since the 20th century, gender-specific barriers and biases persist (Catalán et al. 2022). Unless these barriers are spotted and remedied, female scientists will remain as prominent casualties. In an effort to learn and raise awareness of the barriers and biases faced by women across the limnological community, the Gender and Science group (genderlimno.org) of the Iberian Society of Limnology (AIL) organized three activities during the 36th Congress of the International Society of Limnology (https://www.sil2022.org/) in Berlin, Germany (07–10 August 2022): (1) the workshop “Negotiating gender roles in academia—A courageous exploration”; (2) the exhibition “Women in Limnology”; and (3) the special session “Past, present and future of the herstory of limnology”. Here, we summarize the highlights and insights gained in that meeting and share what we see as the way forward.CML participation was funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation)—326210499/GRK2360, Systemlink. NC participation was funded by the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie grant agreement No. 839709. AL participation was funded by the Government of Catalonia and the Horizon 2020 research and innovation program through the Beatriu de Pinós program (BP-2018-00082). We specially thank all the members of the Gender and Science group of AIL and the Iberian Association of Limnology (AIL) for their support.Peer reviewe

Interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary research and practice: Balancing expectations of the 'old' academy with the future model of universities as 'problem solvers'

Academics are increasingly required to balance the expectations of the ‘old’ academy with a future model of universities as interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary ‘problem solvers’. This paper highlights changing expectations of academics in producing alternative research outcomes in collaborative, practice‐based research. Through a series of workshops with 20 researchers, preferred research outcomes and tensions in achieving these outcomes were identified. The tensions identified are presented as three dichotomies comprising the tension between: (a) ‘I versus We’ ‐ individual versus team expectations & outcomes. (b) Disciplinary outcomes versus inter‐/transdisciplinary outcomes. (c) Learning versus research objectives for the students and academics involved. These tensions reflect the authors’ experiences of working in three international sustainability projects, drawing on lessons learned from these projects, with recommendations for universities seeking to implement interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary doctoral and postdoctoral programmes. Recommendations include the need for formal and informal leadership models, strong communication skills, empathy and willingness to learn from each other. A need for more systemic changes within university administration to better reward and value the breadth and depth of collaborative work, while facilitating open learning cultures and practice‐oriented learning opportunities and curricula across faculties was also identified

Transforming knowledge systems for life on Earth : Visions of future systems and how to get there

Formalised knowledge systems, including universities and research institutes, are important for contemporary societies. They are, however, also arguably failing humanity when their impact is measured against the level of progress being made in stimulating the societal changes needed to address challenges like climate change. In this research we used a novel futures-oriented and participatory approach that asked what future envisioned knowledge systems might need to look like and how we might get there. Findings suggest that envisioned future systems will need to be much more collaborative, open, diverse, egalitarian, and able to work with values and systemic issues. They will also need to go beyond producing knowledge about our world to generating wisdom about how to act within it. To get to envisioned systems we will need to rapidly scale methodological innovations, connect innovators, and creatively accelerate learning about working with intractable challenges. We will also need to create new funding schemes, a global knowledge commons, and challenge deeply held assumptions. To genuinely be a creative force in supporting longevity of human and non-human life on our planet, the shift in knowledge systems will probably need to be at the scale of the enlightenment and speed of the scientific and technological revolution accompanying the second World War. This will require bold and strategic action from governments, scientists, civic society and sustained transformational intent.Peer reviewe

Transforming knowledge systems for life on Earth: Visions of future systems and how to get there

Formalised knowledge systems, including universities and research institutes, are important for contemporary societies. They are, however, also arguably failing humanity when their impact is measured against the level of progress being made in stimulating the societal changes needed to address challenges like climate change. In this research we used a novel futures-oriented and participatory approach that asked what future envisioned knowledge systems might need to look like and how we might get there. Findings suggest that envisioned future systems will need to be much more collaborative, open, diverse, egalitarian, and able to work with values and systemic issues. They will also need to go beyond producing knowledge about our world to generating wisdom about how to act within it. To get to envisioned systems we will need to rapidly scale methodological innovations, connect innovators, and creatively accelerate learning about working with intractable challenges. We will also need to create new funding schemes, a global knowledge commons, and challenge deeply held assumptions. To genuinely be a creative force in supporting longevity of human and non-human life on our planet, the shift in knowledge systems will probably need to be at the scale of the enlightenment and speed of the scientific and technological revolution accompanying the second World War. This will require bold and strategic action from governments, scientists, civic society and sustained transformational intent