An unexpected collaboration
What happens when students of agronomy and English teacher education work on the same project?
During the summer term of 2026, master’s students from the University of Vienna and the University of Pisa came together for an online, interdisciplinary Circle U. collaboration with one shared goal: to explore how specialist scientific knowledge can reach audiences beyond academia.
The project was built on a simple premise: scientific data does not automatically become public understanding or action. It needs people who can interpret and mediate it for different audiences - knowledge brokers who can bridge the gap
between abstract science and daily life. The collaboration brought together two very different areas of expertise. Students from the University of Pisa’s Department of Agriculture, Food and Environment contributed their knowledge of agricultural sciences and agronomy research. Master’s students from the University of Vienna’s Department of English and American Studies brought expertise in language, education and science mediation, transforming complex academic content into accessible formats to educate non-specialist audiences.
In doing so, the collaboration also put the University of Vienna’s Third Mission into practice. Knowledge transfer here means carefully preparing and sharing scientific knowledge with audiences outside the university – in this case, young students, - and bringing research into wider public conversations. And it also reflects the broader Third Mission aim of using academic knowledge to help address societal challenges.
From idea to impact
The project grew out of the Circle U. Academic Matchmaking Event Co-Creating Joint Courses for Circle U., held in Vienna in February 2026. There, Gabrielle Smith (Department of English and American Studies, University of Vienna) and Silvia Pampana (Department of Agriculture, Food and Environment, University of Pisa) developed the idea and subsequently coordinated its implementation.
The University of Vienna International Office and Circle U. supported the project by sponsoring a student assistant to help facilitate the international project. By April, the one-semester online collaboration was underway in a Circle U. Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) format. By July, the students had already completed their collaboration and created the children’s educational book.
In just a few months, one meeting became an international, interdisciplinary learning experience connecting research, education and society.
From research to story: knowledge transfer in action
At the centre of the project was a scientific article on soil and nutrient losses in an agricultural area of central Italy. In an initial online meeting, the students from Pisa introduced the research and provided the specialist knowledge needed to understand its scientific context. The Vienna students then took on a different challenge: How can complex agronomy
research be communicated without simply reproducing the language of an academic journal?
Through science mediation, scientific concepts were discussed, clarified and transformed into more accessible language, narratives and visuals. The English Education students used characters, storylines, “Science Stops” and illustrations to bring complex and abstract environmental issues to life for a young audience. The outcome is From Muddy Water to Clear Choices: A Children’s Book about Pollution, Lake Massaciuccoli, and How Communities Can Protect Water - an educational resource that puts knowledge transfer into practice for young readers.
The book does more than simplify scientific vocabulary. Through a story set around Lake Massaciuccoli, young readers encounter questions about water pollution, soil erosion, nutrient loss and protective farming while following characters as they investigate why the lake is changing. In this way, the book aims to foster intergenerational environmental stewardship by helping younger readers understand how soil, water, agriculture and pollution are interconnected.
Learning across disciplines
The educational resource was an important project outcome, but the collaboration also became a learning experience in its own right for the students involved. Working with people from another discipline meant learning how to ask questions, explain concepts that might normally be taken for granted, and navigate differences in academic language, disciplinary perspectives and ways of thinking. Students also practised intercultural and cross-linguistic communication while working across institutions. For all participating students, this was their first international academic collaboration. Surveys conducted throughout the collaboration as part of the project evaluation highlighted gains in science communication and knowledge transfer, interdisciplinary understanding, and confidence in working internationally. All students who participated in the post-project survey strongly agreed with the statement that international, cross-disciplinary projects like this should be a standard part of university curricula.
As Julie, a Master’s student from Vienna, said: “Understanding different fields is possible with the right approach.” For Francesco, a Master’s student from Pisa, one of the main outcomes was learning how to communicate specialist knowledge beyond his own field: “I learned how to explain complex agricultural concepts to non-experts.”
The project therefore created learning opportunities that were both discipline-specific and interdisciplinary. Students valued the creative nature of the collaboration, the exchange across universities and the opportunity to produce something meaningful together.
Science reaches further when it is shared
Research can contribute to addressing societal challenges only when knowledge can travel beyond the contexts in which it was produced. This collaboration offered a concrete example of how knowledge transfer and science communication can create that bridge.
By bringing together agronomy, language and education, the collaboration connected research, teaching and public communication. Pisa students contributed specialist scientific knowledge, while Vienna students explored how that knowledge could be mediated for a different audience. In this sense, the students themselves became knowledge brokers, helping move scientific knowledge from specialist contexts into everyday understanding.
The result was more than a children’s book: it was a concrete knowledge-transfer resource and a demonstration of what international university collaboration can make possible - different disciplines, different universities and one shared challenge.
For Circle U., this kind of exchange reflects a wider ambition: to build a truly integrated European University by 2030. The initiative aims to create a unified virtual and physical campus connecting nine major universities across Europe, fostering cross-border research and teaching on global challenges such as climate change, democracy, and
global health.
Science reaches further when it is shared. In this project, that sharing continues beyond the collaboration itself: we are working to publish the book to be used as an educational resource with young readers, extending knowledge transfer beyond the universities and across generations - and supporting intergenerational environmental stewardship.
