The project is a multi-disciplinary exploration of the question "what are needs?"
Needs are foundational drivers of our decisions that get applied in our daily lives. This is true in our homes and organizations, as well as within the communities and societies where we live. Nevertheless, “what is a need?” remains a challenging question to answer. In many disciplines the question is answered with either typology of needs (e.g., Maslow’s hierarchy of needs in psychology), or examples of needs (e.g., water, air, freedom). While these are valuable tools for helping us communicate about needs, they present a fundamental challenge to the study of needs (and thus the study of needs assessment). Without a multi-disciplinary understanding of the conceptual and operational definitions of "needs" being applied, we struggle to make progress in coming up with robust theories, models, and applications of needs in complex contexts.
In response, this project is a multi-disciplinary exploration of "what are needs", which brings it owns challenges and opportunities. The project also have "transdisciplinary" aspirations.
“Interdisciplinary research integrates the data, tools, perspectives, and theories of two or more disciplines to advance understanding or solve problems. Transdisciplinary research aims to deeply integrate and also transcend disciplinary approaches to generate fundamentally new conceptual frameworks, theories, models, and applications. It can be difficult for the members of such teams or larger groups to share and build on each other’s knowledge across the boundaries of their respective disciplines. “
NAS report on Enhancing the Effectiveness of Team Science.
In 2014/2015 the project will attempt to transcend our disciplinary boundaries of "what are needs" in hopes of generating "new conceptual frameworks, theories, models, and applications" that the participants and others can integrate into their work and discipline.
Participants in the project will be engaged in an interactive online dialogue that explores many dimensions of the question "what are needs?" Many of these conversations will be available in the discussion forum, while other elements will take place in collaboration tool (such as Hylighter). We also anticipate complementing the written elements of the project with visual representations of our explorations, which we will share on the How We See Needs page.
Visitors (and observers) are welcome to follow along with the conversations. If you have specific questions or comments that you would like for the facilitators to share with the group, please email us or leave a comment below.