Wider use

Although transdisciplinarity is also used to define a unit of knowledge beyond the disciplines,[6] Gómez-Pineda states that "to say transdisciplinarity is problematic because it is placing knowledge between the disciplines (like the fraction of the nail that is observed between two bricks joined by it), it is going through them (like the nail inside each of the bricks) and it is putting itself beyond them (like the tip of the nail that appears beyond one of the bricks)».[7]​.

Jean Piaget introduced this use of the term in 1970, and in 1987, the International Center for Transdisciplinary Research (CIRET) adopted the Charter of Transdisciplinarity.[8]​ The 1st World Congress of Transdisciplinarity was held in Portugal, in November 1994.

In the CIRET approach, transdisciplinarity is radically different from interdisciplinarity. Interdisciplinarity, like pluridisciplinarity, refers to the transfer of methods from one discipline to another, allowing research to extend beyond disciplinary boundaries, but remain within the framework of disciplinary research.

As the prefix "trans" indicates, transdisciplinarity concerns what lies simultaneously between disciplines, across different disciplines, and beyond each individual discipline. Its objective is the understanding of the present world, of which one of the imperatives is the general unity of knowledge.

Another key defining characteristic of transdisciplinary research is the inclusion of stakeholders in defining research objectives and strategies to better incorporate the dissemination of learning produced by research. Collaboration between stakeholders is considered essential. - not only at the level of academic or disciplinary collaboration, but through active collaboration with people affected by research and community-based stakeholders. In such a way, transdisciplinary collaboration becomes uniquely capable of engaging with different ways of knowing the world, generating new knowledge, and helping stakeholders understand and incorporate the results or lessons learned from the research.[9]​.

Basarab Nicolescu defines transdisciplinarity through three methodological postulates: the existence of levels of reality, the logic of the included third[10]​ and complexity.[11]​ In the presence of several levels of Reality, the space between disciplines and beyond disciplines is full of information. Disciplinary research concerns, at most, the same level of reality; furthermore, in most cases, it only refers to fragments of one level of Reality. On the contrary, transdisciplinarity concerns the dynamics engendered by the action of several levels of Reality at the same time. The discovery of these dynamics necessarily involves disciplinary knowledge. Although it is not a new discipline or a new superdiscipline, transdisciplinarity is nourished by disciplinary research; In turn, disciplinary research is clarified by transdisciplinary knowledge in a new and fertile way. In this sense, disciplinary and transdisciplinary research is not antagonistic but complementary. As in the case of discipline, transdisciplinary research is not antagonistic, but complementary to multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary research.[12]​ One of the exponents of the first generation of Argentine transdisciplinary professionals, Pablo Tigani, defines transdisciplinarity as:

Currently, transdisciplinarity is a consolidated academic field that is giving rise to new applied research, especially in Latin America and the Caribbean. In this sense, the transdisciplinary and biomimetic research of Javier Collado[13]​ in Gran Historia represents an ecology of knowledge between scientific knowledge and the ancestral wisdom of native peoples, such as indigenous peoples in Ecuador"). According to Collado,[14]​ the transdisciplinary methodology applied in the field of Big History seeks to understand the interconnections of the human race with the different levels of reality that coexist in nature and the cosmos, and this includes mystical and spiritual experiences, very present in the rituals of shamanism with ayahuasca and other sacred plants. In abstract, the teaching of Big History in the universities of Brazil, Ecuador, Colombia and Argentina implies a transdisciplinary vision that integrates and unifies various epistemes that are in, between and beyond the scientific disciplines, that is, they include ancestral wisdom, spirituality, art, emotions, mystical experiences and other dimensions forgotten in the history of science, especially by the positivist approach.

Art and humanities

As in any other branch of study, transdisciplinarity can be found in the arts and humanities. This is because the study of this vast field is supported by other branches of knowledge. An example of this could be seen in the study of the evolution of artistic works. It has to be supported by history, archaeological evidence, theology, and many more. The arts themselves do not focus on their field but on what they can express beyond its limitations, in the ideas/versions of what "being" is.[15]​ The arts become necessary tools for the transformation and evolution of learning. They embody the meaning of transdisciplinarity.

Wider use

Although transdisciplinarity is also used to define a unit of knowledge beyond the disciplines,[6] Gómez-Pineda states that "to say transdisciplinarity is problematic because it is placing knowledge between the disciplines (like the fraction of the nail that is observed between two bricks joined by it), it is going through them (like the nail inside each of the bricks) and it is putting itself beyond them (like the tip of the nail that appears beyond one of the bricks)».[7]​.

Jean Piaget introduced this use of the term in 1970, and in 1987, the International Center for Transdisciplinary Research (CIRET) adopted the Charter of Transdisciplinarity.[8]​ The 1st World Congress of Transdisciplinarity was held in Portugal, in November 1994.

In the CIRET approach, transdisciplinarity is radically different from interdisciplinarity. Interdisciplinarity, like pluridisciplinarity, refers to the transfer of methods from one discipline to another, allowing research to extend beyond disciplinary boundaries, but remain within the framework of disciplinary research.

As the prefix "trans" indicates, transdisciplinarity concerns what lies simultaneously between disciplines, across different disciplines, and beyond each individual discipline. Its objective is the understanding of the present world, of which one of the imperatives is the general unity of knowledge.

Another key defining characteristic of transdisciplinary research is the inclusion of stakeholders in defining research objectives and strategies to better incorporate the dissemination of learning produced by research. Collaboration between stakeholders is considered essential. - not only at the level of academic or disciplinary collaboration, but through active collaboration with people affected by research and community-based stakeholders. In such a way, transdisciplinary collaboration becomes uniquely capable of engaging with different ways of knowing the world, generating new knowledge, and helping stakeholders understand and incorporate the results or lessons learned from the research.[9]​.

Basarab Nicolescu defines transdisciplinarity through three methodological postulates: the existence of levels of reality, the logic of the included third[10]​ and complexity.[11]​ In the presence of several levels of Reality, the space between disciplines and beyond disciplines is full of information. Disciplinary research concerns, at most, the same level of reality; furthermore, in most cases, it only refers to fragments of one level of Reality. On the contrary, transdisciplinarity concerns the dynamics engendered by the action of several levels of Reality at the same time. The discovery of these dynamics necessarily involves disciplinary knowledge. Although it is not a new discipline or a new superdiscipline, transdisciplinarity is nourished by disciplinary research; In turn, disciplinary research is clarified by transdisciplinary knowledge in a new and fertile way. In this sense, disciplinary and transdisciplinary research is not antagonistic but complementary. As in the case of discipline, transdisciplinary research is not antagonistic, but complementary to multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary research.[12]​ One of the exponents of the first generation of Argentine transdisciplinary professionals, Pablo Tigani, defines transdisciplinarity as:

Currently, transdisciplinarity is a consolidated academic field that is giving rise to new applied research, especially in Latin America and the Caribbean. In this sense, the transdisciplinary and biomimetic research of Javier Collado[13]​ in Gran Historia represents an ecology of knowledge between scientific knowledge and the ancestral wisdom of native peoples, such as indigenous peoples in Ecuador"). According to Collado,[14]​ the transdisciplinary methodology applied in the field of Big History seeks to understand the interconnections of the human race with the different levels of reality that coexist in nature and the cosmos, and this includes mystical and spiritual experiences, very present in the rituals of shamanism with ayahuasca and other sacred plants. In abstract, the teaching of Big History in the universities of Brazil, Ecuador, Colombia and Argentina implies a transdisciplinary vision that integrates and unifies various epistemes that are in, between and beyond the scientific disciplines, that is, they include ancestral wisdom, spirituality, art, emotions, mystical experiences and other dimensions forgotten in the history of science, especially by the positivist approach.

Art and humanities

As in any other branch of study, transdisciplinarity can be found in the arts and humanities. This is because the study of this vast field is supported by other branches of knowledge. An example of this could be seen in the study of the evolution of artistic works. It has to be supported by history, archaeological evidence, theology, and many more. The arts themselves do not focus on their field but on what they can express beyond its limitations, in the ideas/versions of what "being" is.[15]​ The arts become necessary tools for the transformation and evolution of learning. They embody the meaning of transdisciplinarity.