Interdisciplinary Pathways for Sustainable Management of Geological Resources: A Case Study in Flanders

The subsurface is often overlooked in the field sustainable natural resources management, even though it provides us with supporting, provisioning, regulating and cultural geosystem services. Additionally, the subsurface can contribute to the transition towards a more sustainable society by, for examples, storing energy and extracting geothermal energy. Currently exploitation of the subsurface occurs on a first-come-first-served basis, which might lead to inefficiencies and inequities.

The need for sustainable development policies becomes progressively more essential, as subsurface exploitation is expected to increase. Six challenges are defined for sustainable use of geological resources: value pluralism, overexploitation, geological interferences, inequalities, multi-actor economies and uncertainties. To formulate scientifically sound advice for policymakers, it follows that expertise to tackle these challenges comes together.

Addressing the diverse knowledge requirements to solve complex problems evidently necessitates interdisciplinary collaboration. This collaboration has its own opportunities, including enhanced creativity and the ability to address complex issues. However, challenges frequently arise. For instance, difficulties emerge in finding consensus due to a wide array of viewpoints, accepted assumptions which are not shared in other disciplines, and a need to learn about each other’s fields. Such issues can cause friction when working on problems collectively. This paper proposes a novel framework for effective interdisciplinary collaboration, based on ongoing research within the DIAMONDS project. We present  interdisciplinary methods and approaches  for sustainable development of the subsurface.

We aspire to grapple with challenges related to geological resource use by building an interdisciplinary team, developing an integrative framework and studying a stakeholder-validated case. The identified challenges form a guideline to establish which expertise is necessary to study sustainable subsurface management. Once adequate expertise is found, the integrative framework, as detailed below, supports the team in integrating their knowledge and research outcomes. Firstly, we highlight the need for repeated interaction. This requires sustained consortium meetings, which address previously outlined interdisciplinary challenges. Additionally, we aim to increase the validity of our research by performing a stakeholder mapping and engaging key stakeholders to ensure adequate representation. Secondly, our management practices aim to support collaboration, both within the project (e.g. consortium, researcher and one-on-one meetings) and with external stakeholders. Interactions with stakeholders are tailored to their expertise, ranging from interviews with a technical focus to workshops discussing equitable ownership of segments of the subsurface. Finally, all insights are synthesized and serve as input to flexible methodologies which allow integration across disciplines. For example, causal loop diagrams show causal connections, possibly crossing disciplines, when describing the subsurface system.

This framework on interdisciplinary collaboration is applied to a stakeholder-validated case study. It examines two potentially interacting shallow subsurface activities: aquifer thermal energy storage and groundwater extraction. This paper describes our interdisciplinary approach and the methods we applied to the case.