Abstract
PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to introduce engaged scholarship as a method for addressing the “wicked problem” of High Street change through successful collaboration and co-production of knowledge between academics, practitioners, citizens and other place stakeholders.Design/methodology/approachThe first part of this paper introduces engaged scholarship as a participatory form of research and situates it within the context of the High Street. The second part presents the case of High Street UK 2020 (HSUK2020) via Van de Ven’s diamond model of engaged scholarship as a guide.FindingsEngaged scholarship’s focus on knowledge production and on collaboration between the research team and the community enabled us to improve the understanding of factors affecting High Streets amongst a diverse group of stakeholders and focus on what works for the towns. The ongoing impact of HSUK2020 on the project towns’ action plans and on this current research is testament to how engaged scholarship research can drive the agendas for both academics and communities.Originality/valueThe paper presents engaged scholarship as an alternative collaborative method of conducting research on the High Street, one that is more in line with the current trends in retailing and works as a motivating factor for community engagement.
Highlights
The first part of this paper introduces engaged scholarship as a participatory form of research and situates it within the context of the High Street
“Wicked problems” call for participatory approaches to research that can “enable the mutually beneficial reciprocal-exchange of resources and knowledge” between the relevant parties (Phillips et al, 2013, p. 235). We present such an approach, which was influenced by the tenets of engaged scholarship (Van de Ven, 2007) and guided the ESRC-funded High Street UK 2020 project
As we demonstrated throughout this paper, the joint knowledge production between the research team and the community enabled us to improve our understanding of the factors affecting High Streets amongst a diverse group of stakeholders rather than remotely drawing our own conclusions regarding
Summary
The High Street is widely established as a dynamic construct with a multitude of stakeholders and a plethora of factors that contribute to an “endless litany of change” (Morganosky, 1997, p. 269). The complexities of dealing with the High Street have been well documented in the literature (Clarke et al, 1997; Hernandez et al, 1998; Peel, 2010; Pioch and Byrom, 2004; Wrigley and Dolega, 2011; Wrigley and Lambiri, 2014), and these complexities can constrain the attempts of local authorities, retailers, citizens and other key stakeholders to plan and adapt effectively. The full terms of this licence may be seen at http://creativecommons.org/licences/by/4.0/legalcode
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