A Transdisciplinary Approach to Housing: Applying Three Types of Knowledge

Authors: Marja Elsinga ID, Adriana Diaconu ID, Marietta Haffner ID, Carla Sentieri Omarrementeria ID

Transdisciplinarity has become an increasingly prominent concept in addressing today’s complex societal challenges and is often invoked as a buzzword in grant proposals. But how can a transdisciplinary approach to housing be implemented? This contribution presents a systematisation of our experiences in an EU-funded project, which could serve as a starting point for similar processes. Key to the use of such an approach is creating an understanding of societal challenges by bringing together insights from different disciplines and fields of knowledge in academia and practice. Our main conclusion was that preconditions are just as important as the design of the transdisciplinary process, and these preconditions include gaining an understanding of the needs and specificities of the stakeholders. Furthermore, a “three types of knowledge model” for organising knowledge exchange processes, adopted from the Swiss school of transdisciplinarity, enabled the redefinition of challenges and the identification of new perspectives and strategies for change in practice.

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Document Type
article
ISSN
2336-2839
Volume / Issue
13 / 1
Pages
46-57
https://doi.org/10.13060/23362839.2026.13.1.606
Date of publication
12.6.2026
Keywords:
urban policy and planning , comparative housing policy

Cite this article

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Elsinga, M. , A. Diaconu, M. Haffner, C. Sentieri Omarrementeria 2026. ‘A Transdisciplinary Approach to Housing: Applying Three Types of Knowledge.’ Critical Housing Analysis 13 (1): 46-57. https://doi.org/10.13060/23362839.2026.13.1.606