Effective and creative solutions to complex global problems often need teams with diverse knowledge and experience. Yet, rising polarisation and confrontational attitudes can make meaningful dialogue across differences feel daunting. This book explores how to make collaborations possible, through focusing on what people really mean rather than just the words they say, using a case study of the deceptively simple word “harvest”.

In each chapter, contributors share how they understand “harvest” within their respective fields, including topics of organ transplantation, energy politics, data governance, sustainable agriculture, remote sensing, subsistence hunting, biotechnological cultures, and harvest festivals as sites of cultural resilience. They then respond to one another’s perspectives, offering a rich dialogue that reveals both divergence and unexpected common ground.

Written in an interactive style, the text invites readers to engage with chapters and reflections in real time. For students, researchers and practitioners committed to collaboration and interdisciplinarity, this book offers not just a fascinating case study of “harvest” but also a practical framework for understanding, communicating and working effectively across difference.