‘And time for reflection with colleagues is for me a lifesaver; it is not just a nice thing to do if you have the time. It is the only way you can survive.’ (Margaret J. Wheatley, 2012)

Throughout my academic journey, I have participated in numerous group projects, each varying in scale and scope. These collaborations, however, were typically conducted within the same academic discipline, where shared foundational knowledge allowed for diverse interpretations and perspectives. The Interdisciplinary Futures course marked a significant departure from this norm. For the first time, I worked alongside team members with varying academic backgrounds, research focuses, languages, and nationalities. This diversity created a dynamic exchange of ideas, fostering creativity and challenging conventional thought processes.

In this blog, I will reflect on my experiences with group work in this course and explore how it has deepened my understanding of interdisciplinarity and its role in addressing complex global challenges.

In the group work, we need to apply interdisciplinarity to co-design a solution to address a wicked problem. Our early discussions focused on learning about each other and the intersections of our practices. This knowledge sharing practice became the cornerstone of our work as our individual interests resulted in a combined interest topic: food justice.

‘If reflection is purely a solitary activity we can become immersed in our own point of view, seeing things only from our perspective, which inevitably is narrow, limited and even biased. Reflecting with others enables us to gain insights from them and to question our thoughts and actions in the light of these.’ (Bassot, B. 2015)

The team members came from Urban Planning, Future Infrastructure, Circular Economy, Data, Inequality and Society, and Creative Industries. It was evident that everyone approached problems from very different starting points, which made me realize that the generation of an idea and the implementation of a project require extensive coordination and comprehensive consideration. It also needs collaboration across multiple sectors, making it a truly challenging process.

When we discussed solutions from each other’s perspectives, the member from Urban Planning inspired me. She emphasized the critical impact of land use on food justice, and it is clear that infrastructure construction to address climate change is also closely tied to land use. Given this, I wondered if we could find a way to address food justice while also considering sustainability, aesthetics, efficient land use, and high economic returns—though it sounded like an impractical dream.

From several scattered ideas to a complete concept, although the process of mutual inspiration and exchange was not entirely smooth, I truly experienced the power of interdisciplinarity.

2024.11.6

REFERENCES

1. Bassot, B. (2015). The Reflective Practice Guide: An interdisciplinary approach to critical reflection (1st ed.). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315768298

Reflections on Group Work and Interdisciplinarity / Yunyi Yang / Future Infrastructure, Climate Change and Sustainability: KIPP & Futures Project (2024-25) by is licensed under a