Transversality and play as modes of co-creativity and care across and beyond the university

This paper examines transversality and play from philosophical, theoretical, and conceptual perspectives, highlighting their significance in fostering collaborations within and beyond the university. The intersection of these concepts—transversal play—is presented as a dynamic mode of collective being and becoming, characterised by collaborative care and co-creative communality. The paper exemplifies transversal play in collaborations and knowledge creation through examples from recent and present research and development projects. The paper contributes the concept of transversal play as a mode of co-creativity and care in collaborations within, across, and beyond academic institutions, and explores potential broader applications and implications of transversal play for universities.
Transversality and play offer compelling pathways to reimagine the university as a dynamic space for transformative collaboration. Rooted in the works of Braidotti (2019a, 2019b, 2021), Guattari (1984), and Deleuze (2000), and Deleuze and Guattari together (1994), transversality signifies a movement beyond disciplinary boundaries to foster holistic, plural, creative engagements. As Palmer and Panayotov (2016) note, its non-categorical, non-judgmental nature challenges traditional hierarchies, guiding academia towards eco-sophical, post-anthropocentric, and techno-mediated realities and encouraging post-disciplinary futures (Braidotti, 2019a; Cole & Bradley, 2018). From a design philosophical standpoint, Hsu (2021) further emphasises its capacity to spark radical creativity and transformative relationships. By integrating transversal approaches, universities can cultivate spaces for intellectual rewilding—where education unfolds as an evolving, pluriversal practice of collective world-building (Beighton, 2018; Escobar, 2017; Macgilchrist, 2021).
Play is a fundamental activity transcending structured settings to foster exploration, disruption, and transformation. As play philosopher Miguel Sicart (2014) describes, play is an ambiguous, expressive and immersive mode that shapes our interactions, while philosopher Eugen Fink (2016) locates it in the liminal space between the real and the imagined. In higher education, playfulness fuels curiosity, creativity, and community (James & Nerantzi, 2019; Nørgård, 2021; Nørgård & Whitton, 2024), enabling new ways of knowing, relating, reconfiguration, and collaborative exploration (Huizinga, 1949; Nippert-Eng, 2005; Nachmanovitch, 2024; Holflod, 2024).
Transversal play emerges as a mode of collective being and becoming, emphasising collaborative care and co-creative communality. It facilitates dynamic engagements that foreground relationality, participation, and interdependence by intersecting the fluid, boundary-defying ethos of transversality with play's disruptive and transformative potential. This notion extends beyond the university to cultural and social spheres, framing knowledge creation as an entangled, playful, and co-creative endeavour. Transversal play can be regarded as boundary play (Nippert-Eng, 2005), where distinctions between disciplines, identities, and ontologies are continuously re-examined, negotiated, and redefined. However, ss a relational and affirmative form of knowledge-making and reflection (Raffnsøe et al., 2022), transversal play offers an alternative vision for universities and its futures that fosters interconnected thriving, embraces complexity, and repositions the university as a space for experimental, communal, and transversal modes of collaboration that extend beyond academic disciplines, sectoral silos, and the university itself (Nørgård & Holflod, 2024).
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