Table 4.

Challenges associated with developing large interdisciplinary projects and potential solutions to address these challenges, arising from lessons learnt during Future Seas

Challenge	Solution	Outcome
Team building and awareness
Tensions among disciplines and stakeholders—differences in: → Perspective → Language → Approach	Provide time for trust building through facilitated and free discussion Facilitate regular group discussions around challenges and learning	Gave opportunity to find common ground Helped to develop awareness of other’s perspectives and approaches Made participants’ assumptions explicit
Supporting diversity of voices
Domination of conversation by a few voices	Social activities and discussion to give space for all to engage Workshopping methods to ensure all on same page and level of knowledge	Opened up space for ECRs and PhD students to be active part of collaborations Ensured that marine scientists did not dominate conversation but had time and space to listen to and learn from other disciplines
Addressing discomfort with a new approach
Concern among participants around the legitimacy of using narrative methods	Provide time to develop familiarity with and workshop methods Regularly explore potential misconceptions around the methods (Table 6)	Provided participants with a greater degree of comfort around the methods Helped participants understand where the approach chosen sits within the broader suite of scenario methods (both qualitative and quantitative)
Developing leadership skills
ECR team leaders faced with negotiating and integrating conflicting perspectives of senior participants	Provide open communication and mentoring to support ECRs in their leadership role Detail a clear set of expectations of all participants Introduce a ‘culture of learning’ to participants from the start of the process	Created a safe space for exchange of ideas and for ECR leaders to coordinate with their team and lead team contributions