Bridging the gap for sustainable development…

…between policy, science and society
…between different academic disciplines
…between experts and lay-persons

in the fields of water, environment and climate change.

Consulting and research towards sustainable natural resources management and adaptation to climate change requires inherently inter- and transdisciplinary approaches that integrate policy, science and society in problem solving. Interdisciplinarity can be regarded as cooperation across different academic disciplines. Transdisciplinary implies incorporating knowledge from different actors - professionals as well as lay persons - to develop practical solutions to real-life problems. It addresses environmental and societal issues and aims for concrete, practical and fair solutions. The concept is based on the understanding that complex environmental problems cannot be solved by one group of actors only; solutions require a trialogue between policy, science and society.

EDCM reflects this integrated perspective in its consulting and research activities, convinced that this is the appropriate approach to address complexity towards practical solutions in a developing world.