Transdisciplinary care in practice: reflections from the Council of Care

Environmental decision-making is often still limited in its capacity to fully engage with social sciences and local communities. This results in the reinforcement of top-down approaches that exclude diverse perspectives. This paper proposes an arts-based method rooted in transdisciplinarity and participatory action research: the Council of Care, developed and implemented in Brazil and the Netherlands to foster inclusive dialogue and collective engagement. Drawing from the Council of All Beings and the Theater of the Oppressed, it uses role-playing and empathetic engagement to amplify marginalized voices and shift focus beyond human-centric narratives. The method has been applied across educational, community, and policy settings, promoting deeper awareness of the interconnectedness and interdependence among all beings. Our reflections highlight both the challenges and opportunities in using the Council of Care to support more caring and collaborative decision-making and socio-ecological research practices. By highlighting diverse forms of human and nonhuman agency, this approach encourages a more participatory future, with creative practices that aim to include human and nonhuman actors in decision-making processes.

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s42532-025-00229-w.