Developing a programme theory for a transdisciplinary research collaboration: Complex Urban Systems for Sustainability and Health

Wellcome Open Research

article

Gemma Moore¹  Susan Michie²  Jamie Anderson³  Kristine Belesova⁴  Melanie Crane⁵  Clément Deloly⁶  Sani Dimitroulopoulou⁷  Hellen Gitau⁸  Joanna Hale⁹  Simon J. Lloyd^1,10  Blessing Mberu⁸  Kanyiva Muindi⁸  Yanlin Niu^1,11  Helen Pineo¹  Irene Pluchinotta¹  Aarathi Prasad^1,12  Anne Roue-Le Gall⁶  Clive Shrubsole¹  Catalina Turcu^1,13  Ioanna Tsoulou¹  Paul Wilkinson⁴  Ke Zhou¹  Nici Zimmermann¹  Michael Davies¹  David Osrin^1,12 

[1] Institute of Environmental Design and Engineering, Bartlett School of Environment, Energy and Resources, University College London;Clinical, Educational and Health Psychology, Division of Psychology and Language Sciences, University College London;Buro Happold;Centre on Climate Change and Planetary Health and Department of Public Health, Environments and Society, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine;Sydney School of Public Health, University of Sydney;Department of Environmental and occupational Health;Air Quality and Public Health, Environmental Hazards and Emergencies Dept, Centre for Radiation, Chemical and Environmental Hazards, Public Health England;African Population and Health Research Center;Centre for Behaviour Change, University College London;Climate and Health Programme ,(CLIMA), Barcelona Institute for Global Health;State Key Laboratory of Infectious Disease Prevention and Control, Collaborative Innovation Center for Diagnosis and Treatment of Infectious Diseases, National Institute for Communicable Disease Control and Prevention, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention;Institute for Global Health, University College London;Bartlett School of Planning, University College London

关键词: Programme theory;    programme evaluation;    urban health;    planning techniques;    intersectoral collaboration;   

DOI  :  10.12688/wellcomeopenres.16542.2

学科分类：内科医学

来源: Wellcome

【 摘 要 】

Background: Environmental improvement is a priority for urban sustainability and health and achieving it requires transformative change in cities. An approach to achieving such change is to bring together researchers, decision-makers, and public groups in the creation of research and use of scientific evidence.Methods: This article describes the development of a programme theory for Complex Urban Systems for Sustainability and Health (CUSSH), a four-year Wellcome-funded research collaboration which aims to improve capacity to guide transformational health and environmental changes in cities.Results: Drawing on ideas about complex systems, programme evaluation, and transdisciplinary learning, we describe how the programme is understood to “work” in terms of its anticipated processes and resulting changes. The programme theory describes a chain of outputs that ultimately leads to improvement in city sustainability and health (described in an ‘action model’), and the kinds of changes that we expect CUSSH should lead to in people, processes, policies, practices, and research (described in a ‘change model’).Conclusions: Our paper adds to a growing body of research on the process of developing a comprehensive understanding of a transdisciplinary, multiagency, multi-context programme. The programme theory was developed collaboratively over two years. It involved a participatory process to ensure that a broad range of perspectives were included, to contribute to shared understanding across a multidisciplinary team. Examining our approach allowed an appreciation of the benefits and challenges of developing a programme theory for a complex, transdisciplinary research collaboration. Benefits included the development of teamworking and shared understanding and the use of programme theory in guiding evaluation. Challenges included changing membership within a large group, reaching agreement on what the theory would be ‘about’, and the inherent unpredictability of complex initiatives.

【 授权许可】

CC BY