ABSTRACT
The inherent complexity of coupled natural and human systems creates problems that cut right across disciplinary boundaries. While there is widespread agreement that interdisciplinary collaborations are critical to approaching these challenges, there is no explicit consensus on what modes of interdisciplinarity will be useful or lead to actionable outcomes. We argue that the dominant implicit mode of interdisciplinary collaboration is theory driven: it seeks to create some form of generalizable theory that will bridge disciplines. While this is a powerful mode of interdisciplinary practice effective for problems arising in simple and complicated systems, we argue that there is little hope for finding generalizable theory when it comes to problems arising from complexity. Instead, we argue that complexity demands a problem-driven interdisciplinary approach that integrates knowledge - with an explicit recognition of the nature, capacity, and constraints inherent to the chosen problem - for actionable, measurable, and trackable outcomes. In lieu of seeking a theory to bridge disparate disciplines, we argue that teams need to seek shared frameworks that facilitate agreement on the nature of the problem context (e.g., simple, complicated, or complex) as well as provide a common language for describing and diagnosing problems (e.g., the Water Diplomacy Framework). We see such frameworks as an effective means of catalyzing interdisciplinary research and practice on complex water issues.
