Abstract
Our study aimed at understanding the utilization of research knowledge generated in sustainable development research. Drawing on a sample of 54 recent research projects, we investigated how and by whom the knowledge was used, what changes were achieved, and how non-academic actors were involved. As a conceptual framework we combined a concept of “stages of knowledge utilization” with a spiral model that co-creates three forms of knowledge – systems knowledge, target knowledge, and transformation knowledge, and which spans from joint problem definition to concrete sustainability transformations. We analysed questionnaires from 94 academic and non-academic actors using cross-tabulation, chi-squared tests, and qualitative content analysis. The early involvement of non-academic actors from key groups such as local enterprises was positively related to the utilization of research knowledge, as was their involvement in diverse roles. However, only little of the research knowledge generated has so far resulted in changes in policy and practice, partly because sustainability transformations are larger societal processes. Utilization of research knowledge for sustainability transformations cannot be achieved without employing a transdisciplinary approach that brings together academic and non-academic actors in a setting that enables discussions on an even footing and the empowering of actors who are often not heard. In such settings, researchers are also part of the change rather than mere observers, an additional factor that came up in our participatory results validation activities and that requires further research. For more influence on policies and practice, research for development requires active participation of non-academic actors from the outset, when the project contents are defined.
Highlights
Scientific research across disciplines is important in creating the necessary knowledge, innovations, practices, and technologies that build foundations of sustainable development (Lang et al, 2012; Clark et al, 2016; van der Hel, 2016; Brennan and Rondon-Sulbaran, 2019)
The workshop participants emphasized that involvement towards the end of a project, or only in the validation of project results, should not be considered trans disciplinarity. They stressed the role of researchers in knowledge utilization – “we share results, but we share process” – and that a rather artificial separation is often made between doing transdisciplinary sci ence and sustainability transformations
Our study has some limitations: we provided definitions of the stages of the utilization of research knowledge and how we under stood “sustainability transformation”, we saw during the analysis of the data that the understanding of “transdisciplinary research” was incon sistent among the respondents, many of whom described it as a collab oration of different scientific disciplines
Summary
Scientific research across disciplines is important in creating the necessary knowledge, innovations, practices, and technologies that build foundations of sustainable development (Lang et al, 2012; Clark et al, 2016; van der Hel, 2016; Brennan and Rondon-Sulbaran, 2019). Utilization of knowledge already happens while it is being generated, and even to a greater degree if it is co-created among academic and non-academic actors (Hoffmann et al, 2019; Jacobi et al, 2020). Such transdisciplinary ways of doing science have become important in the co-creation of knowledge to address complex societal challenges (Lang et al, 2012; McGregor, 2015; Polk, 2015; van der Hel, 2016; Brennan and Rondon-Sulbaran, 2019). Transdisciplinarity involves systematic integration and co-creation of knowledge that transcends identity boundaries of, for instance, gender, race, ethnicity, and class, and fo cuses on holistic problem-solving frameworks (Alvargonzalez, 2011; Nicolescu, 2014; Frodeman, 2017)
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