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Synthesis Lab

The Synthesis Lab operates as a hub for methodological experiments in synthesis-driven knowledge generation. 

A synthetic research approach

Compared to analysis, which reduces complex movements or objects to configurations of simpler elements, synthesis collects, combines and composes. The mission of the lab is to complement the predominant analytical scientific research approach at SLU with a synthetic approach based on methods drawing from design thinking and mode 2 science (originally defined by Gibbons, Nowotny et al. in the 1990s) and widely recognised as essential for confronting 21st century challenges. The Synthesis Lab explores and documents synthesis methods used in inter- and transdisciplinary collaborative research. It is run by Adjunct Professor Andrea Kahn, formerly strategic facilitator of SLU Landscape.

Strategic Synthesis Project

This inter-institutional and transdisciplinary exchange targets harvesting knowledge on synthesis processes and methods relevant to urban topics considered at the European level. Initiated in 2018, it unfolds in partnership with IQ Samhällsbyggnad, Stockholm, and Joint Programme Initiative JPI Urban Europe.

Living Lab SLU Landscape

This initiative, running since 2015, focuses on inter-disciplinary engagements within a university context, with the aim of developing tools for synthetically bridging geographically isolated, and historically separate academic research domains.

Participants in a workshop during SLU Landscape Days.

Beyond Borders Science-Design exchange

This international forum for sustainable urban landscape knowledge sharing and exchange is undertaken in collaboration with teachers and researchers in landscape, science and design at Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, RI, USA.

Participants during a workshop.

Crossing the line – Tools for urban transformation

This transdisciplinary initiative aims to identify, document and extract generalisable knowledge from everyday practices. It synthesises the SLU Urban Futures Critical Practices project.

Cover of 'Scape Magazine #16.
Published: 01 July 2022 - Page editor: hanna.weiber.post@slu.se
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