Abstract
Literatures on social innovation, collective agency and multi-actor collaboration stress the importance of action research and joint problematization to research ongoing processes of collaboration and transformation to advance both theory and practice in these fields. In this paper we analyze our experience building a transdisciplinary action research (TAR) trajectory between 2020 and 2021 to investigate socially innovative multi-actor collaborations (IMACs) and urban governance innovation trajectories in the city of Leuven (Belgium). We specifically focus on (1) how we involved a wide array of researchers, stakeholders and practitioners in the TAR trajectory; (2) how we enacted joint problematization and action, ensuring that all facilitative leadership roles were taken care of; (3) the challenges that the specific COVID context posed on TAR and the innovative tools and approaches we took to adapt under such circumstances; and (4) how our TAR contributed to the ongoing IMACs in Leuven. Discussing our experience in relation to issues raised in action research literature, we summarize key dimensions, roles and tasks necessary in TAR to enable facilitative leadership and multi-actor collaboration and successfully drive joint problematization and transformative change. We conclude that our TAR trajectory in Leuven became a case study of IMAC in itself, and so learnings from our TAR directly dialogue with and inform our empirical analysis of the performance of IMACs too. Through this realization and the analysis of our experience, we get to broader question the role of action research and researchers in urban governance innovation.
Highlights
In the first months of 2020 we initiated a research aiming to analyze socially innovative multi-actor collaborations (IMACs) (Medina-García et al, 2021) and urban governance innovation trajectories in the city of Leuven (Belgium)
We focus on (1) how we involved a wide array of researchers, stakeholders and practitioners in the transdisciplinary action research (TAR) trajectory; (2) how we enacted joint problematization and action, ensuring that all facilitative leadership roles are taken care of; (3) the challenges that the specific COVID context posed on TAR and the innovative tools and approaches we took to adapt under such circumstances
Democratizing Our Findings and Inviting Stakeholders in Our Joint Problematization: The LeuvenGymkhana Treasure Hunt The LeuvenGymkhana treasure hunt consisted of 30 posters displayed at 13 strategic locations in Leuven that represented and visualized some of the relevant local actors and issues related to the food system and Food Strategy (Figure 4)
Summary
In the first months of 2020 we initiated a research aiming to analyze socially innovative multi-actor collaborations (IMACs) (Medina-García et al, 2021) and urban governance innovation trajectories in the city of Leuven (Belgium). In our research we followed recommendations and experiences in the fields related to our research, i.e., social innovation (Andersen and Bilfeldt, 2013; Arthur, 2013; Konstantatos et al, 2013; Kunnen et al, 2013; Moulaert and MacCallum, 2019), governance and urban planning (Healey, 2012; Albrechts, 2013; Novy et al, 2013; Gray and Purdy, 2018; De Blust et al, 2019), and sustainable transformation of food systems (Tornaghi and Van Dyck, 2014; Moragues-Faus et al, 2015; Bradbury et al, 2019; Hammelman et al, 2020) These stress the importance of “praxis oriented,” transdisciplinary research and joint problematization among researchers, practitioners and stakeholders to investigate and address current complex urban challenges to advance both theory and practice. We embraced these recommendations by taking a Transdisciplinary Action Research (TAR) epistemological and methodological approach
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