<p>This paper uses collaborative autoethnography to reflect on a one-year pilot of a Collaborative Transdisciplinary PhD Research Model in partnership with a regional government. The findings identify four recurring phases in the collaborative process, which shape how co-leaning, co-design, co-production, and co-creating were enacted in practice. Across these four phases, the paper documents key relational and structural dynamics, including the effects of those dynamics on the researchers, responses to various constraints, and the conditions that supported sustained collaboration. A central finding is the importance of an emergent conceptual model, described as <i>dynamic equilibrium</i>: temporary alignments of shared understanding that enabled progress despite ongoing uncertainty and change. These moments supported both research innovation and continuity within external partnerships and research teams within spaces of higher education. These considerations suggest that time-bounded transdisciplinary projects can generate significant opportunities for learning when collaboration is intentionally designed and relational conditions are nurtured. This paper ultimately contributes to a process-based model for cultivating more innovative and adaptive transdisciplinary practices in higher education.</p>