Lost in a haze or playing to partners’ strengths? Learning to collaborate in three transdisciplinary European Living Labs

The ability to learn from each other plays a central role in successful transdisciplinary (TD) collaboration. This article systematically investigates how learning to collaborate allows researchers and practitioners to navigate the challenges of collaborative TD work. Drawing on social learning theory, we emphasise the processual nature of social learning in TD research as learning to collaborate. We examine collaborative learning processes in three Living Labs located in different socio-cultural and institutional contexts in Europe. The Living Labs explored the conditions for mutually beneficial rural-urban relations. We use data from a systematic monitoring of a 4-year Horizon 2020 research project. Our analysis illustrates how learning in and through collaboration can enhance individual and collective capacities to deal with different perspectives, priorities, and approaches, enabling the achievement of transformative objectives. We also show how particular factors and conditions lead to differing learning histories and a lack of attention to learning processes may result in challenges to collaboration. This provides a more encompassing understanding of the complex learning dynamics underpinning TD research. We argue that an intentional focus on collaborative learning processes is essential to fulfil the aspiration of TD research to contribute to creating knowledge and capacities for the co-production of sustainable futures.