Interdisciplinary teamwork on sustainable development—the top ten strategies based on experience of student initiated projects

Interdisciplinary teamwork has been identified to be a key factor for sustainable development (SD) at higher education institutions. However, there are several difficulties with the practical implementation. Existing student initiated projects (SIPs) may hold the key to possible solutions. This paper presents the top ten strategies for successful interdisciplinary teamwork on SD. It is based on qualitative analysis of expert interviews describing experiences in SIPs. Using the method of grounded theory, the data was collected, interviews were coded and central categories were identified. Besides finding common ground, it is crucial to invest time and patience, adapt professional languages, share information and educate oneself, built a friendship, differentiate between person and discipline and deploy a professional moderator. Additionally to elaborating the main strategies, this paper will discuss related literature. This paper will be useful to anyone interested in working in interdisciplinary teams on SD or wanting to enable others to do so.