Discovering transdisciplinary knowledge creation through communities of practice: a case study of “municipal meister” institutions

This study explores transdisciplinary knowledge creation through communities of practice (CoPs) to enhance boundary crossings. Research on CoPs is yet to focus on people with no concern or interest in CoPs, who are ignored as “outsiders.” However, these individuals could be candidates for the future and involving them and using their knowledge would be effective for solving complex social problems. We review transdisciplinary research and argue for the usefulness of building transdisciplinary communities of practice (TDCoPs) to enhance boundary crossings and involve disinterested people. Furthermore, transformative boundary objects (TBOs) are effective in promoting learning that alters stereotypes and prejudices (transformative learning). We conducted case studies focusing on “municipal meister” institutions in Japan. We searched for 22 municipalities in which such institutions existed and selected four successful municipalities to build case studies. All the cases built CoPs to improve knowledge transfer and attempted to involve local residents and craftspeople in their events. We also discuss the identification of successful points in building TDCoPs, how to develop CoPs for TDCoPs, and how to use TBOs. This study contributes to the theory of CoPs and boundary objects, and suggests practical implications for learning and other purposes, such as the grand challenge.