With a passion for sustainability and interdisciplinarity

The Interdisciplinary Academy (IDA) at SLU was launched in November 2022 and has drawn inspiration from initiatives such as the Pufendorf Institute in Lund and the Futures Lab at SLU. Over an eight-month period, participating SLU researchers set aside 20 per cent of their time to jointly develop their capacity for interdisciplinary work. Participants apply as a group, centred on a thematic topic related to the green transition.

Marie Stenseke, who leads IDA, emphasises that the programme is strongly based on interaction between participants:

– Participants go on a journey during their eight months in IDA, and my role is to guide them along the way. My hope is that they leave with lessons learned about the process, as well as practical skills for working across disciplines. Ideally, they will take these experiences into new contexts and pass on the knowledge. As a researcher, you often enter new collaborations, and inter- and cross-disciplinary projects and programmes are becoming increasingly common. In these settings, you interact with people from other scientific traditions. To get off to the best possible start, it is a great advantage to understand how to work across different ‘disciplinary truths’.

She adds:

– Not everyone needs to work interdisciplinarily, but we do need more people who do. That is essential if we are to generate better knowledge and address the major societal and environmental challenges of our time. I am a sustainability researcher at heart, and my motivation comes from the need to tackle complex societal challenges in an interdisciplinary way in order to achieve a sustainable future.

Contact Marie Stenseke for questions about IDA

Are you considering applying to IDA? Marie is happy to answer questions and discuss ideas. You are welcome to contact her by email at marie.stenseke@slu.se

More about Interdisciplinary Academy (IDA) 

About Marie Stenseke

Marie Stenseke is Professor of Human Geography at the University of Gothenburg and currently also a Visiting Professor at SLU. The visiting professorship is funded by SLU Future Food and is associated with the Department of Urban and Rural Development.

Marie Stenseke received her PhD from Lund University in 1997 with a thesis focusing on farmers and the landscape. Her research has primarily addressed biodiversity, nature conservation and landscape management from a social science perspective. Her list of achievements is extensive. For several years, she was part of the scientific leadership of IPBES (the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services). She is also a member of the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency’s Scientific Council for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services, as well as a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Agriculture and Forestry (KSLA).

Marie is currently involved in two ongoing Mistra programmes: Mistra Sport and Outdoors, which aims to create a movement for sustainable sport and outdoor recreation, and Mistra BIOPATH, which aims to integrate biodiversity as a natural part of all decisions in the financial system. At SLU, she has participated in the research programmes HagmarksMistra and Naturvårdskedjan.