How many ways are there to measure a tree? – An experiment in cross-disciplinarity

Abstract

This article takes a transdisciplinary approach to a relatively simple-sounding task – tree measuring. It asks the question, ‘How many ways are there to measure a tree?’, in order to provoke a discussion of our different ways of knowing. It attempts to engage a reader in thinking about disciplines and what they do. It does so by sharing insights from a project in which diverse scholars, practitioners and children came together for the common purpose of producing engaged knowledge. The experience of reading the article should prompt questions about whose knowledge counts and why, and the value of university research that is engaged and grounded. We conclude with a question of what kinds of measurements matter and why. The article takes the reader through different disciplinary perspectives, from science to social science to poetry, and, in that process, engages with the ‘how’ of disciplines in terms of real-world problems.