Our Vision

PEARL’s vision is to create a better world for a future in which people and the environment can thrive together in a mutually beneficial, safe, equitable and healthy way. We aim to improve the quality of life, health and wellbeing of all within the context of a more sustainable environment. We see this as a world in which people and environment come together.

Our Objective

PEARL challenges all frontiers and our endeavour is driven by the exploration of new ideas which contribute to the creation of a better world. We bring to the challenge whatever qualities it needs, whether multidisciplinary, multinational, multicultural or multifunctional. We believe in looking at the issue first, before determining what particular combination of scientific, artistic, engineering, humanitarian, or philosophical approaches might be needed to understand it.

Our Approach

At PEARL, 4 core values inform the way in which we approach our work:

1. Problem-based

At PEARL, everything that is pertinent to a problem we are trying to solve or improve is involved in the investigation of how to resolve it, whether this be knowledge, experience, skills, techniques, setups, equipment and administration actions. This usually means that multiple disciplines are involved…

​2. Transdisciplinarity

We do not consider the world in terms of ‘academic disciplines’, although we appreciate what they each have to offer. However, we realise that most real-world problems require multiple disciplines simultaneously and appreciate the benefits they each lend to each other. At PEARL, we consider ‘transdisciplinarity’ as a process whereby the learning and thinking developed in one discipline is brought to bear on others in such a way that none of the disciplines involved remains the same after this interchange. Transdisciplinarity thus describes the evolution of one discipline, through its interactions with others, in relation to a specific challenge.

3. Transformation

Through the process of transdiciplinarity, we expect ‘disciplines’ to evolve. While this does not remove the need for high levels of knowledge and skills, expertise, experience and talent, it does mean that all our staff need to be willing to transform their particular strengths in multisensorial, multidisciplinary, and multifunctional ways so that they can be best applied to the specific challenge of the moment.

​4. Integration

The ultimate aim of our problem-based, transdisciplinary, transformational approach is to understand the environment – including people - in a more holistic manner. To help with this process, PEARL’s building, facilities, systems and approaches are designed to encourage people to work together and meld their ideas towards new ways of understanding the world as a whole. Our long-term objective is thus greater integration people and the environment.

​The following diagram describes the holistic and integrative nature of PEARL.