Beyond the Barriers Between Knowledges: Sensitive Thoughts that Feed into Each Other

In brief, here are some cornerstones of transdisciplinary research presented in the webinar of the dialogues on the 7 September 2021 by the UNESCO Transdisciplinary Chair of the Università degli Studi di Firenze to the Third World Congress of Transdisciplinarity. Going beyond the barriers between knowledge, the new horizon of the relationship between Knowledge and Reality opens up, moving and expanding the transdisciplinary principle of the Levels of Reality (connected with the logic of the Included Third and Complexity according to Basarab Nicolescu and Edgar Morin) to the Levels and fields of Reality and Knowledge (LRC). The recursive and holographic relationship LCR overcomes the R–C dualism and opens the boundless horizon of the problematic Fields of Application or Focus, referring in the specific case to the complex problem of the sustainable development of the terrestrial biosphere. The focuses are six and cross the entire spiral system C-R: Vision, Epistemology, Theory, Strategy, Apparatus, and Methodology. Pursuing the journey of crossing the barriers between knowledge and reality, we arrive at the new axis of the “thinking that feels” of “relational intelligence”: through the methodology of the “Transdisciplinary Participatory Action Research” (T-PAR) different interconnected thoughts feed each other and found the sustainable, inclusive, and equitable civilization of the Earth citizens. The contribution develops an experience of Transdisciplinary Participatory Action Research (T-PAR) for implementing a complex approach in the urban planning of Novoli, a district of Florence. Starting from the investigation of multidimensional levels of reality, the research is trying to understand how the tangible and intangible dimensions can be integrated to achieve the local sustainable development of Novoli. The participatory process goes through five phases (problem identification, analysis, hypothesis, verification, and evaluation) that allow to gradually become aware of the complex implications that revolve around the importance of intangible aspects and knowledges of the community life rooted in that place. During the process, therefore, starting from the perception of the places, the participants collectively reformulated the individual terms, gradually increasing the degree of common awareness. They have transformed the subjective perception into the ability to develop tangible solutions, giving shape to a sensitive thought. The experience of the “Browse of Knowledge” through the research method (R) in a transdisciplinary didactic curriculum in a primary school class in Prato (Tuscany) follows specific phases (for brevity the other Action and Participation components of the T-PAR are not reported). The first phase puts in place the investigative thinking: the attention is focused on a topic and the multidimensional problem to be browsed for its solution. The knowledge of the group meets and intersects enriching itself with the knowledge of the disciplines and the object/topic of study: phase of analysis. The hypothesis follows identification of the actions/solutions necessary to solve the problem. The test examines all the solution strategies implemented by the hypothesis. The final phase evaluates the entire T-PAR process that led to the identification and assumption of sustainable solutions and the achievement of the educational earnings of the participants. The transition from one phase to another takes place through the dialogue between the different knowledge and the comparison of the participants. The media teacher accompanies, feeds, and motivates the group throughout the process through the contributions offered by the disciplines and by the participants’ own knowledge.