Foreword

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In this article we offer a discussion around our academic-practitioner involvements with one another and with a targeted community, in relation to a particular project. In the title of the article, we have hyphenated the term <italic>academic-practitioner</italic> to render fuzzy the distinction between “academic” roles (associated with institutions of higher learning and with professional research) and the roles of “practitioners” operating and learning in the field in engagement with communities. In the article we detail our collaborations with one another and with a farming community in all undertaking (co)inquiries around options for social and ecological development. We explain how this fits the epistemological views as offered by Indigenous authors propounding an Indigenous research paradigm (with transformative intent) to generate visions of realities in-the-making, towards enhanced wellbeing in communities and towards a sustainable future. We provide a detailed example in the course of our deliberations.
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Department of Adult Education and Youth Development

Academic-practitioner collaboration with communities towards social and ecological transformation

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The project review as outlined in this article explores the questions: What is transformative research and what is transformation as far as the community stakeholders are concerned? To what extent has the transformative research achieved its intended outcomes? The Bokamoso project (founded by Lesego Serolong as facilitator and investor) is an integrated development project designed to create employment and to enable the community to learn while they make a living through a diverse range of farming activities. The participatory research as discussed here is part of the University of South Africa’s research and community engagement programme, and is set in a remote, arid zone. This research coupled with community engagement aims to transform lives and create opportunities by enhancing their participation in education, training and employment creation. The project (which has been running since 2015) supports indigenous ways of being, knowing and doing and has succeeded in enabling the farmers trained through Bokamoso to be less dependent on social benefits (government grants).
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Efforts to inspire transformative research with farmers in a small town in the North West Province of South Africa

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Climate adaptation research often ignores the broader socio-cultural human sphere within which climate change takes place. Dominant viewpoints on climate adaptation derive from the biophysical world that often excludes social, economic, and political contexts that also connect to biophysical changes. Hybrid methodological mixed methods approaches to climate adaptation provide paradigmatically different questions. This perspective is useful for identifying socio-cultural aspects of climatic adaptation. To demonstrate the power of a hybrid approach for interconnecting human and non-human factors implicated in climate adaptation, we deploy an in-depth case study of N. Benin, West African farmers who increasingly must configure their farming methods to tackle erratic changes in weather. The case study examines the role gender dynamics play in climate adaptation that found few gender differences in the ways male and female farmers perceive the biophysical aspects of climate adaptation on their subsistence farming lifestyle from their initial village climate survey. However, the qualitative components of their study uncovered significant gender differences in socio-cultural adaptation challenges, vulnerabilities, and future lifestyle opportunities. We discuss the transformative policy implications about ignoring gender difference and the importance of taking an intersectional approach to variation in climate adaptation policy making.
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The Role of Hybrid Methodologies in Understanding Complex Environmental Issues and Promoting Social Justice

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The transformative research lens incorporates ideas such as consciously addressing power differences with strategies that allow for the inclusion of the voices of the full range of stakeholders, including those who are most marginalized. The goal of transformative research is to support the development of culturally responsive interventions that foster increased respect for human rights and achievement of social, economic, and environmental justice. In this article, we use a case study from Universitas Padjadjaran in Indonesia to illustrate the application of a transformative approach to research in a complex setting in which the rights of those living in poverty are not respected and economic development occurs at the expense of environmental degradation. We discuss a transformative framing for research associated with the development of interventions designed to support West Java, Indonesia in moving forward toward achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the goals established by the United Nations to address inequities. The road to transformation is not simple or smooth, but the combination of a transformative approach to research with the development of transformative interventions provides a hopeful pathway.
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Transformative research and the sustainable development goals: challenges and a vision from Bandung, West Java

AHEAD OF PRINT

Volume 11 (2024): Issue 1 (January 2024)

Volume 10 (2023): Issue 1 (January 2023)

Volume 9 (2022): Issue 1 (December 2022)

Volume 8 (2021): Issue 1 (December 2021)

Volume 7 (2020): Issue 1 (December 2020)

Volume 6 (2019): Issue 1 (December 2019)

Volume 5 (2018): Issue 1 (December 2018)

Volume 4 (2017): Issue 1 (December 2017)

Volume 3 (2016): Issue 2 (December 2016)

Volume 3 (2016): Issue 1 (July 2016)

Volume 2 (2015): Issue 2 (December 2015)

Volume 2 (2015): Issue 1 (July 2015)

Volume 1 (2014): Issue 1 (September 2014)

International Journal for Transformative Research

 Why subscribe and readThe creation of the International Journal for Transformative Research (IJTR) emerged out of a belief that professionals in any work setting can research their own practice with transformative outcomes for themselves and others.　   We welcome contributions to the journal from professionals across the world with an interest in transformative research.     Why submitThe aim of transformative research is to challenge existing ways of seeing and doing things, and to generate a radical shift in our perception of social, political or educational theories, ideas and actions, creating different kinds of understandings that lead to new practices. A transformed understanding is deeper, more nuanced, more ethical and more action oriented than we had before. Research is not just about acquiring knowledge of a topic, it also involves questioning what is taken for granted and addressing life’s problems. Through transformative research we become better able to construct our own interpretations of events and set our own goals of future action. Transformative researchers engage with values and beliefs and are committed to listening to the voices of participants, and stakeholders in general, and working towards solutions that involve everyone.　　   Archiving   Sciendo archives the contents of this journal in Portico - digital long-term preservation service of scholarly books, journals and collections.   Plagiarism Policy   The editorial board is participating in a growing community of Similarity Check System's users in order to ensure that the content published is original and trustworthy. Similarity Check is a medium that allows for comprehensive manuscripts screening, aimed to eliminate plagiarism and provide a high standard and quality peer-review process. 