As interdisciplinary collaborations become central to addressing complex challenges in climate, energy, and sustainability, the role of the social sciences and humanities (SSH) is more crucial—and more contested—than ever. This participatory workshop, hosted as part of the SHASS Sustainability Lunch series, invites SSH and STEM researchers to co-develop practical strategies for more effective engagement with scientists and engineers.

Building on the insights from SHASS Sustainability's February 2025 workshop, this workshop will validate and deepen the collective articulation of the challenges SSH scholars face in interdisciplinary work. Participants will engage hands-on with selected tools from the SHAPE-ID Toolkit, which was designed for the integration of social sciences and humanities in interdisciplinary research. We will explore actionable approaches to knowledge integration and collaboration design.

Through collaborative activities and focused dialogue, we will begin drafting a tailored guidance document that reflects the lived experiences of SSH researchers at MIT. The goal is to identify a set of practices, and strategic tools to strengthen SSH leadership in sustainability research. A follow-up session will consolidate these contributions into a practical toolkit to support future SSH-led interdisciplinary research.

Who Should Attend: Researchers interested in shaping the future of interdisciplinary collaboration at MIT and beyond.

Visiting Scholar & Convener: Bianca Vienni-Baptista, holds a PhD in Cultural Studies and a Habilitation (Venia Legendi) on the anthropology of science and technology from ETH Zurich (Switzerland). She is Group leader of Cultural Studies of Science and Technology and lecturer at the Transdisciplinarity Lab (ETH Zurich). Her research focuses on the study of inter- and transdisciplinary knowledge production processes. As a result, she is interested in methods and tools as well as concepts and theories as means of achieving transformative and developmental change. Her research focuses on the specific conditions for inter- and transdisciplinary research and teaching and on the production and societal use of knowledge in different countries, including the role of universities and funding organisations. Together with her team, she also implements transdisciplinary research processes for sustainable development, fostering the integration of the humanities and social sciences. Some of her books include "Institutionalizing lnterdisciplinarity and Transdisciplinarity Collaboration across Cultures and Communities" co-edited with Julie Thompson Klein (2022, Routledge); "Foundations of Interdisciplinary and Transdisciplinary Research: a Reader" (2023, Bristol University Press); and “Interdisciplinary Practices in Higher Education: Teaching, Learning and Collaborating across borders” (2024, Routledge).