Trails have many different shapes and meanings, all over the world, and can be studied from many different disciplines. The Trailology Collective aims to bring that knowledge together and set up Trailology as an academic field to study trails with a transdisciplinary lens. To support the Collective, our group aimed to discover how diverse perspectives could be integrated to generate new knowledge about trails and how to advance Trailology as a field of study. 

We used a literature study to map the methods used to study trails across 18 disciplines from the social sciences, natural sciences and humanities. Afterwards, we formulated a list of several knowledge gaps Trailology could fill. In addition, we conducted a local case study in the Bovenpolder of the Rijnvallei (Wageningen, the Netherlands) to explore how trails can facilitate transdisciplinary knowledge exchange. Finally, we sketched out a strategic roadmap with milestones to provide inspiration for ways that the Collective could support Trailology as a field of study. As an answer to our research question, we see positive indications that it is possible to integrate diverse academic and non-academic perspectives, and that this indeed is likely to yield new insights. That said, doing so is challenging. 

Through our study, we identify the need to reflect on how terminology shapes (and biases) collaboration in trail research, and how formalising Trailology could influence its ability to work with experience-based knowledge. We identify the value of Trailology in connecting existing ones through shared practice, language, and collaboration, rather than establishing a new distinct field. Further, we advise the Collective to communicate the "niche" of Trailology to draw in interest, consider a less human-centred name for the field, and identify the limitations of including more-than-science knowledge when working within a scientific institution.

Some highlights from the study (screenshots)