The elusive sustainability paradox: a critical review of transdisciplinary research integration

Abstract While transdisciplinary sustainability research increasingly emphasizes epistemological hybridization and participatory methodologies, the coherence between integrative discourse and actual research practices in sustainability-traditional knowledge intersections requires critical examination. A systematic review of 52 articles (1999–2023) from 35 countries was conducted, examining the intersections between the sustainability of indigenous/traditional/local knowledge and territorial management. Using PRISMA 2020 protocols with epistemological analysis, a novel framework characterizing methodological gradients and integration levels was developed. Five systematic patterns contradict integrative discourse: (1) Epistemological fragmentation – local, indigenous and traditional knowledge form distinct conceptual clusters without connections; (2) Extractive methodological dominance—31.4% employ purely extractive approaches versus 7–8% genuinely collaborative, despite 73.1% using participatory rhetoric; (3) Deficient integration-only 19.6% explicitly evaluate sustainability-appears in 100% of articles but receives direct evaluation in 0%, functioning as a justificatory “umbrella concept”. The field exhibits fundamental incoherence between programmatic discourses and practices, maintaining extractive structures while superficially adopting decolonial rhetoric. This cover epistemological coloniality perpetuates the elusive sustainability, omnipresent in discourses yet conceptually absent in evaluation. Transformation requires rigorous operationalization of sustainability with Indigenous, Traditional and Local Knowledge-defined criteria, genuine methodological democratization, and authentic post-dualist frameworks. The rare exemplary cases demonstrate that epistemologically coherent research is achievable when tensions are explicitly confronted.