Detecting and managing systemic risk is a major growing challenge for the 21st century. Due to the increasing complexity and interconnectedness of social-technological-biophysical systems, stakeholders will fail to promptly identify key early warning signals of systemic risk if relying on individual disciplines, or a combination of disciplines that are not well coordinated. Our paper argues that transdisciplinary approaches are required to make comprehensive and integrative assessments of complex systems. To support stakeholders in undertaking such assessments, we propose a framework that will assist them in: 1) better understanding their system and the risks to which it is exposed; 2) selecting complementary disciplines, theories and methods that are relevant to the system in question; and 3) integrating knowledge from these different disciplines to detect a wide range of early warning signals of risk. The framework can be used as a foundation to build transdisciplinary approaches to systemic risk detection.

Researchers often lack critical information to decide what type of integrated research approach - multi-, inter- or transdisciplinary - is needed at the start of a project. In the present paper, we aim to contribute insights regarding these difficulties by discussing the case study of the ongoing development of shared information management systems (SIMSs). SIMSs form the backbone of state-of-the-art transparency schemes called 'hypertransparency' schemes. Such schemes offer small businesses the opportunity to establish more direct relationships with consumers and citizens. Developing a SIMS is complex, requiring collaboration between many different disciplines and practitioners. We discuss how our approach has evolved during the development process from a multidisciplinary towards a transdisciplinary approach. We outline the challenges that arise at the start of a project when the chosen approach does not match well with the research problem at hand. We discuss how we are planning to overcome these challenges. The case study presented here is relatively novel in the literature and thus should act as a valuable resource as the importance of integrated research grows.

Systemic risks are potentially harmful events, that could severely disrupt an entire industry or economy. Examples include the bankruptcy of keystone companies and biosecurity incursions. According to the United Nations, detecting and managing systemic risk represents one of the main challenges of the 21st century. Due to increasing complexity and interconnectedness of today's social-technological-biophysical systems, stakeholders relying on individual disciplines to systemic risk detection, or a combination of disciplines that are not well coordinated, will fail to promptly identify key early warning signals of threats. Our paper argues that transdisciplinary approaches are required to make comprehensive and integrative assessments of complex systems. To support stakeholders undertaking such assessments, we propose a framework that will assist them in: (1) better understanding their system and the risks to which it is exposed; (2) selecting complementary disciplines, theories and methods that are relevant to the system and risks in question; and (3) integrating knowledge from these different disciplines to detect a wide range of early warning signals of systemic risk. The framework can be used as a foundation to build transdisciplinary approaches to risk detection.