ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book discusses different epistemic resources shape the formulation of problems and research questions on demand articulation and on transdisciplinarity. It demonstrates how knowledge integration can simultaneously contribute to more effective and equitable development and innovation processes. The book argues that criticism of narrow Eurocentric approaches to gender mainstreaming in development requires a transdisciplinary approach that brings together different sites of knowledge production about gender. It focuses on contested understandings of ‘development' and their entanglements with underlying philosophies and practices. The book identifies design principles for diversity sensitive learning based on a study of three university courses: Intercultural Communication, African Philosophy, and Visual Research Methods. It discusses such questions in connection with the ex-ante and/or ex-post assessment of development interventions, with emphasis on relevant sources and methods for constructing evidence.
