The transdisciplinary knowledge journey: a suggested framework for research at the water-health nexus

The water-health nexus represents the intersection at which issues of water, sanitation, and human health collide. This collision is of crisis proportions at present. This paper will briefly outline the crisis, discuss some theoretical lenses through which we might view the crisis with an aim to action, review the importance of the knowledge journey with respect to linking evidence with action, and conclude with some reflections and next steps. In essence, if we do not adopt a contextualized theoretical lens through which to address the transdisciplinary nature of the problems requiring action at the water-health nexus, we will never succeed — from a scientific or moral imperative — of meeting global human needs.

► Problems at the water-health nexus are at crisis proportions.
► These problems require action, but before we can move forward they must be contextualized within a comprehensive theoretical framework.
► A conceptual framework is proposed to guide this transdisciplinary knowledge journey.