Knowledge Co-creation Research Articles

Sowing the Seeds of Commons in Education: Three Case Studies from the Horizon Project 2020 SMOOTH

This paper explores how educational commons, in which education and learning are shaped by the members of the educational community in terms of equality, freedom, and creative participation, contribute to addressing inequalities, empowering democracy, and enhancing inclusion. The discussion focuses on the crucial debate around public formal education and the potential for radical democratisation it offers through three case studies carried out in formal and non-formal educational settings in Thessaloniki, Greece. The research was conducted in three different types of education centres: a public kindergarten, a self-organised autonomous libertarian educational community, and an after-school programme of a primary school where Workshops for Nurturing and Developing Environmental Resilience (WONDER) were implemented by the environmental organisation Mamagea. Through patterns of commoning practices, like peer governance, co-creation of knowledge, and peer learning, the case studies aimed to establish the prerequisites for the co-creation of a community that offers pupils and students, teachers, and educators the chance for self-formation and equal participation. The article makes the case that educational hierarchies and governance models can be reconfigured in order to incorporate the democratic values of solidarity, equality, self-organisation, and self-formation even in structures that are still tailored to formal schooling. The article argues that educational commons can make a decisive contribution to tackling inequalities, and the commons logic can grow effectively in school education under specific conditions. The pedagogical practice is shifted in educational commons in ways that balance out contemporary enclosures based on several inequalities.

Impact of social media technologies on new product development performance: theory and empirical evidence

ABSTRACT In current unpredictable environments, it is essential to understand customers’ needs as quickly as possible. Social media platforms are important sources of knowledge and developing a social media capability is critical in quickly sensing customers’ requirements. Social media capability can enable firms to co-create internal knowledge between employees, functional departments, and business units and external knowledge with customers. Despite the potential of social media for innovation, prior research has not studied the internal processes that should be developed to manage and leverage the information obtained through social media. Drawing upon the IT-enabled organisational capabilities perspective and the social media affordances theory, this study proposes a research model on the impact of social media capability, social knowledge co-creation, and NPD dynamic capabilities on NPD performance. The research model was tested on a sample of large European firms using survey and secondary data. Results show that social media capability enhances NPD performance by enabling firms to co-create knowledge and developing NPD dynamic capabilities. This study contributes by: (1) operationalising and measuring social media capability and social knowledge co-creation; and (2) demonstrating how social media capability improves NPD performance by co-creating knowledge and developing NPD dynamic capabilities to develop new products.

Innovation in Bereavement Care: Research Circles as a Framework for Translation of Research-Based Knowledge.

This article aims to contribute to the research-practice gap in bereavement care by exploring Research Circles as a collaborative approach to implementation of research-based knowledge into bereavement care. Particularly the article discusses key dimensions for translating research concerning bereaved after drug-related deaths into practice-relevant knowledge, as a first step of implementation. This co-created knowledge translation took place in the first phase of a Research Circle including bereaved mothers, practitioners and researchers. Data were collected via semi-structured interviews with Research Circle participants and field notes. Data were analyzed using reflexive thematic analysis. Results showed two key dimensions with the Research Circle approach influencing the translation process: (1) multiple and long-lasting arenas for translation: (2) multiple stakeholders and perspectives. Research Circles appear to be a promising framework for translating research-based knowledge in bereavement care, but there are some barriers to fully realizing the democratic ideal that underlines the Research Circle framework.

The impact of communication and proximity on citizens’ sustainable disposal of e-waste

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to demonstrate how decision-makers can enhance citizens’ sustainable disposal of e-waste through bin proximity and ad hoc communication. Specifically, the authors discuss a two-year research project that took place in Northern Italy, where the authors documented the number of products disposed of sustainably in four towns.Design/methodology/approachThe project involved five main groups of stakeholders: i) four municipalities, ii) one social purpose organisation employing people with disabilities, (i.e. Andromeda), iii) one provider of bins (i.e. PubliCittà), iv) another social purpose organisation entity (i.e. Fondazione CRT) and v) the University of Portsmouth. After conducting three online pilot tests to confirm expectations of this study regarding how to enhance citizens’ sustainable disposal of e-waste, the authors have implemented the field pilot programme in a small municipality and successively in other three towns. Finally, the authors measured the impact of the programme on the actual recycling rate of citizens in the three target municipalities.FindingsThe authors found that the positioning of drop-off bins in such a way as to reduce the distance from as many households as possible, along with the use of communication that facilitates the understanding of information related to sustainable disposal schemes, can improve the sustainable behaviour of citizens. The sustainable disposal of exhausted batteries after the intervention improved by 135% on average in the three municipalities that adopted the disposal scheme (Saluggia, San Benigno Canavese and Santhiá). The disposal rate of toners and electronics increased by 204.0% and 318.75% (San Benigno Canavese) and 138.7% and 85.4% (Santhiá), respectively.Research limitations/implicationsThe authors believe it would be cautious to consider potential differences in terms of recycling cultures and facilities before implementing the programme in other countries.Practical implicationsThe authors’ contribution shows decision-makers how to effectively design disposal schemes to enhance citizens' sustainable behaviour. The authors demonstrate how the thoughtful and responsible use of marketing levers can affect environmental sustainability and impact social development.Social implicationsThis paper has an actual impact on society by changing citizens’ behaviour, reducing harm to the environment and human well-being and supporting the inclusion of disadvantaged people in sustainability-oriented programmes.Originality/valueThe structured and equitable engagement of scholars with multiple stakeholders can lead to the co-creation of societal value and knowledge and improve the well-being of multiple stakeholders. The collaboration between academics and practitioners enables the definition of effective strategies by observing the actual behaviour of individuals (i.e. citizens) and offers a direct and measurable impact on society. The involvement of social purpose organisations reinforces the shared primary aim of achieving measurable social and environmental impact.

Black Liberatory Educational Policy: A Systematic and Unapologetic Literature Review on the Advancement of Black Teachers’ Pedagogies and Practices

ABSTRACT Our systematic, unapologetic, and Black education-focused literature review sought to examine how educational researchers, Black teachers, and Black students describe and co-imagine educational policies that advance Black liberatory pedagogies and practices. Our work addresses a need in educational policy studies to shift paradigms and invites scholars to leverage their power and privilege. The review team searched for policy-specific and Black liberation-focused articles. Our search criteria and review process yielded 51 articles that showed clear evidence of connections to educational policy advancing Black liberatory pedagogies and practices. Rooted in Black educational policy scholars, teachers, and students’ co-created knowledge, we found nine Black liberatory educational policies (BLEPs) we organized within three levels— – Classroom, District/School, and Federal/State. Our findings implicate how Black teachers, BLEP scholars, and Black students have engaged in negotiations that build power, so our work is bolstered, and not halted, by educational policy studies and its laws. Finally, we offer the Reality-Imaginary Spectrum (RIS) conversational tool to center power analysis in Black-led, educational justice movements.

Citizen way: Co-created citizen science meets convivial food design

This research approaches co-created citizen science from an interdisciplinary design perspective and is aligned with ideals of democratic and participatory co-creation of knowledge, its dissemination and implementation. We propose a new theoretical and practical design framework to be added to citizen science: convivial food system design. Convivial food system design is a new relational and tactical way to approach the development of a regenerative food system. Citizen science approaches can also benefit convivial food system design through activating communities of practice to share their insights and actively participate in co-food systems design processes. The integration of convivial food systems design and citizen science offers a deep, holistic and radical relation between amateur, civic and academic (scientific) knowledge in the production of alternatives to industrial food systems. This article shows the possibilities and potentials of this new conceptual integration through a theoretical framework and case study ‘experiment’ – the Huon Valley Food Hub project, Tasmania, Australia.

Decolonizing Technologies through Emergent Translanguaging Literature from the Margin: An English as a Foreign Language Writing Teacher’s Poetic Autoethnography

Many scholars have portrayed technological advances as conducive to English language teaching and learning, without questioning their possible colonial assumptions about languages and literacies. Drawing on critical pedagogy and Global South epistemologies, I reconceptualize decolonization as a humanizing project in the contact zones between English and non-English languages. This poetic autoethnography, informed by my memories of my own experience as an English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learner in China, alongside a wide range of artifacts from a senior seminar course in an international college in a Thai private university, illustrates how educational technologies can be decolonized by producing (and publishing) emergent translanguaging literature that repositions teachers and students from marginalized backgrounds as co-creators of new knowledge about languages and literacies in the global context.

On the field with social science and humanities participatory research

Citizen science is a well-established domain in many scientific disciplines. Far less is known about the practices of citizen science in the social sciences and humanities. The COESO project is fostering and highlighting citizen science practices in the social sciences and humanities. Ten European-based case studies – ”pilots” – reporting on specific challenges have fed the COESO project: five of them began at the beginning of the project in January 2021, while the other five were chosen through an Open Call process in early 2022. Each pilot presents a distinct type and model of collaboration between different kinds of stakeholders, addressing specific societal issues. This diversity has contributed to generating knowledge on challenges and innovative knowledge sharing practices found within participatory practices in the social sciences and humanities research fields. The project promotes developing synergies between practices found within various social sciences and humanities disciplines, including sociology, anthropology, political science, and the arts, with practices employed by non-academic professionals working on societal issues. The 10 pilots provide a platform for collaboration between researchers, practitioners, and citizens, allowing for the co-creation of new knowledge and innovative solutions to pressing societal challenges. The aim of this poster is to show the different engagement strategies co-developed with researchers and community members to involve active citizen participation in the research, as well as the actions and creative outputs carried out to raise awareness of the projects and maintain the interest of participants. From initial stakeholder mapping, information management, data collection and storage to communication and dissemination of results, each pilot has deployed a unique engagement strategy, making COESO an excellent repository of information on the different ways of fostering community engagement with citizen science through social science and humanities initiatives. By showcasing the diversity and potential of these pilots, this poster invites further exploration and collaboration in the exciting and evolving domain of citizen science in the SSH.

Fostering Fashion Ecosystems: A Quadruple Helix-Based Model for European Sustainable Innovation

Industrial sectors’ innovative and sustainable development relies not only on solid government, society, academia, and industry but also on how they interact to set and implement strategic goals. In the fashion industry context, the new sociocultural scenario is increasingly driven by pressures from stakeholders to limit the impacts of industrial practices and to move toward new open ecosystems to create and maintain sustainable innovation. This article explores how such innovation can be enabled by design-driven actions in the context of the quadruple helix. Such a model aims to revitalize the areas of technological innovation and gradually advance the construction of the infrastructure needed for sustainable fashion growth, combining and integrating different knowledge. An initial literature review, complemented by case studies analysis, identifies the European fashion industry dynamics of innovation and the roles of industry, government, university, and society. In particular, the government is transforming from a mere controller to a facilitator of innovation synergies. Society relies on citizens revising their consumption habits by shifting toward a performative economy. Industry understands the need for collaboration and adopts new closed-loop supply chains to create and maintain its sustainable development. Universities enable new open system flows to make innovations concerning knowledge, technologies, and systems thrive, from technology transfer to knowledge co-creation. Based on the analysis, we propose a conceptual framework to understand the micro- and macro-dynamics of open innovation with a quadruple helix model to implement sustainability practices in the fashion sector through design-driven actions—reuse, repair, recycle, and refashion—that aim to eliminate the concept of waste to support local ecosystems toward establishing a closed-loop chain.

Freshwater supply as sociotechnical tinkering: the co-creation of water knowledge and assemblages in New Caledonia

This article aims to show that in-depth ethnography of processes and acts of sociotechnical tinkering provide a useful starting point for understanding how water knowledge co-creation works. This is even more relevant in countries with a strong legacy of settler colonization and continued power asymmetries between holders of different water-related knowledges and ontologies. Analyzing infrastructural and sociotechnical forms of tinkering helps understand how various water assemblages interact with official norms, strategies and laws. Drawing on the study of this tinkering practice, this article looks at how the people of Touho, in New Caledonia, assemble different forms of knowledge to understand, access and drink water.

Scaling up the training of teachers through digitalization: the case of the aeioTU network

The use of digital platforms opens up the possibilities to scale up and strengthen interventions in the field of early childhood development, but also entails challenges regarding engagement, connectivity, or digital literacy. In this paper, we describe and critically assess the use of Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning (MEL) to guide the process of digitalization undergone by aeioTU, a well-established Colombian organization working in the early childhood development ecosystem, to improve and scale up their educational practices. We reflect from the organization’s perspective on two phases of this process: the creation of a digital learning community to share aeioTU’s educational knowledge and experience, and the expansion of this learning community to become a network aimed toward the development of collaborative relationships and the co-creation of knowledge. From a policy viewpoint, three main learnings are obtained from this process: start with the needs from the local communities; use digital tools already available, and embrace technology without compromising the organization’s core values.

Engagement of Actors in Expert Communities

Recent scientific approaches and practical work-life developments aim to increase actor engagement to form expert communities. Solving common issues motivates stakeholders to collaborate and build trust to enable the co-creation of knowledge. This research is based on reading materials to understand how the engagement of actors in expert communities becomes viewed. The purpose of research-based development is to include actors in co-creation contexts. Gap analysis can be used to aid the planning of training implementation. Development processes are continuous and cyclical in nature. An open mind for change and a desire to learn are key to building competence. A plan for implementing development measures can help select learning methods that promote knowledge sharing and searching for new information. Measuring and evaluating learning can provide valuable feedback, which is needed to identify critical competencies and competence risks, and to promote the creation of a culture of learning.

Examining students’ perceived reasoning skills in wiki-based PBL internship courses

This study aimed to investigate whether web-based problem-based learning (PBL) implemented using wiki applications (wikis) would result in differences in undergraduate students’ relationship commitment, interpersonal trust, knowledge-sharing behaviour (KSB) and reasoning skills in healthcare courses. Wikis have some features (e.g., extensive editing, version preservation and multi-user content editors) that are useful for enhancing collaborative learning, knowledge co-creation and authentic problem-solving in the PBL context. A quasi-experimental design was adopted to execute this survey. A total of 185 students were separated into either an experimental group (EG) with wikis or a control group (CG) without wikis, according to their PBL activities. Independent t tests showed a significant difference in four variables between the EG and the CG. The EG students exhibited a statistically significantly higher degree of relationship commitment, interpersonal trust, KSB and reasoning skills than the CG students. The conclusion of the results can provide beneficial information on students’ PBL experiences for instructors who aim to redesign their course materials and improve their higher education teaching methods. The research findings thus enrich the literature on healthcare education by addressing the influence of wikis on students’ PBL effectiveness, which is an under-researched area. Implications for practice or policy: Wikis’ collaborative authoring function can encourage collaboration. Using a wiki-based PBL approach can enhance students’ trust and commitment. Using a wiki-based PBL approach can facilitate students’ KSB. Using a wiki-based PBL approach can enhance students’ reasoning skills. Using a collaborative learning method can complement wiki-based PBL approach.

Dancing with decolonial praxis: LBQ women and non-binary people’s subcultures in Lusaka, Zambia

ABSTRACT This article explores the subcultures and experiences of LBQ (lesbian, bisexual, and queer) women and non-binary individuals in Lusaka, Zambia, against the backdrop of draconian anti-LGBTQ+ legislation and rising homophobia in Africa. Drawing upon decolonial feminist methodology, the study investigates how these marginalised communities navigate hostile environments where their sexual orientation is criminalised and stigmatised by both the state and society. It begins by discussing the intersection of colonialism, religious influence, and cultural contexts in perpetuating discriminatory trends. It delves into the clandestine world of queer parties and activism in Lusaka, examining the everyday practices of decoloniality undertaken. The research methodology employed intellectual decolonisation to engage participants in the co-creation of knowledge and alternative narratives of Zambian citizenship and womanhood. By showcasing the resilience and resistance of LBQ women and non-binary individuals who form supportive networks, the article challenges the dominant construction of Zambia as a nation built on cisgender heteronormative and conservative religious values. It illuminates the vibrant subcultures and community formations that emerge despite legal barriers and patriarchal interpretations of traditional culture. The article contributes to a living archive of queer African experiences and expands the understanding of Zambian identities beyond conventional norms. It underscores the transformative potential of decolonial methodologies in challenging exclusionary notions of nationhood and fostering a more inclusive and diverse society.

Measuring agroecology and its performance: An overview and critical discussion of existing tools and approaches

Agricultural and food systems (AFSs) are inherently multifunctional, representing a major driver for global crises but at the same time representing a huge potential for addressing multiple challenges simultaneously and contributing systemically to the achievement of sustainable development goals. Current performance metrics for AFS often fail to take this multifunctionality into account, focusing disproportionately on productivity and profitability, thereby excluding “externalities,” that is, key environmental and social values created by AFS. Agroecology is increasingly being recognized as a promising approach for AFS sustainability, due to its holistic and transformative nature. This growing interest in and commitment to agroecology by diverse actors implies a need for harmonized approaches to determine when a practice, project, investment, or policy can be considered agroecological, as well as approaches that ensure the multiple economic, environmental, and social values created by AFS are appropriately captured, hence creating a level playing field for comparing agroecology to alternatives. In this contribution to the special issue on agroecology, we present an overview of existing tools and frameworks for defining and measuring agroecology and its performance and critically discuss their limitations. We identify several deficiencies, including a shortage of approaches that allow for measuring agroecology and its performance on landscape and food system scale, and the use of standardized indicators for measuring agroecology integration, despite its context-specificity. These insights highlight the need for assessments focused on these overlooked scales and research on how best to reconcile the need for globally comparable approaches with assessing agroecology in a locally relevant manner. Lastly, we outline ongoing initiatives on behalf of the Agroecology Transformative Partnership that aim to overcome these shortcomings and offer a promising avenue for working toward harmonization of approaches. All readers are invited to contribute to these collaborative efforts in line with the agroecology principle of participation and co-creation of knowledge.

Rethinking African-European Scientific Cooperation: The Case of the Platform for African-European Studies

African universities rely on teaching traditions and scientific theories based on Western epistemologies and ontologies. Interactions between European and African scholars too tend to focus on the deficits in African experiences, knowledge, research and teaching methodologies and the poor economic environments in which they operate that are characterized by inadequate infrastructure and budgets. This essay discusses an emerging opportunity in science diplomacy within African-European Union (EU) interactions in higher education and argues that a fundamental revision of the imbalances in African-European scholarly relationships is possible. The essay uses the case of the emerging Platform for African–European Studies, which involves 22 universities (including 14 in Africa and eight in Europe) and underscores the importance of science diplomacy, knowledge co-creation and co-production to correct hegemonic knowledge about Africa. It explores the origins of the programme, its attempt to follow a critical global and decolonized approach in addressing the revision of curricula both in Europe and in Africa and the co-design of research. It concludes by highlighting some of the obstacles to disrupting the status-quo.

Co-creating knowledge on bicycling: a decolonial feminist participatory action research approach to arts-based methods

ABSTRACT The colonising tendencies of Western research — in which Indigenous and racialised bodies are deliberately misrepresented — has justified the exploitation and violence towards these communities. Within the field of qualitative sport research, there is a need for research methodologies that relinquish power from the researcher, into the hands of the research communities . This paper aims to demonstrate the utility of a decolonial feminist participatory action research (PAR) approach to arts-based methods for sport research through an exploration of fieldwork with a Toronto-based bicycle organisation. A combination of data collection methods were used, including: 1) arts-based methods; 2) semi-structured interviews; and 3) reflexive journal notes. The results of this project demonstrated that a decolonial feminist PAR approach to arts-based methods can: 1) illuminate the non-human actors within art and bicycling; 2) help research colleagues critique systems of oppression; and 3) facilitate research colleague agency. Taken together, these findings demonstrate the importance of co-creating knowledge within sport scholarship to illuminate the diverse knowledges of those vulnerable to systemic oppression and erasure. This is a novel direction for challenging power relations within sport research and within sociological research more broadly.

New registered nurse and registered psychiatric nurse graduates' transition-to-practice amid the pandemic: An art-based grounded theory study

BackgroundAccording to the Transition Shock theory, new Registered Nurses face formidable obstacles within their first year of practice. However, little is known about the experience of new Registered Psychiatric Nurses entering the workforce. ObjectivesThe aim was to explore how new graduates from nursing and psychiatric nursing experience their transition into the workplace that included identifying mediating factors that assist or challenge these entry-level professionals within their transition. DesignConstructivist grounded theory methodology developed by Charmaz was utilized to explore the first-year transition period using art-based methods. Participants and settingA total of 13 new graduates practicing as Registered Nurses and Registered Psychiatric Nurse in a western Canadian province were recruited to participate in the study. Three art-based workshops occurred at four, eight, and 12-months starting in the fall of 2020 through the Spring of 2021 during the novel coronavirus pandemic with subsequent member checks in the Spring of 2022. MethodsA total of 38 interview and focus group data were collected. Art-based activities included sand tray and figurine object exercises, collaging, reflective and thematic writing, as well as group concept mapping. Through co-creation of knowledge using Charmaz's methodology, participants selected the major themes throughout their first year of transition with guided researcher facilitation. Data were analyzed using the constant comparative method of analysis for each workshop drawing on the art creations, discussion, and narrative reflective writing pieces generated by participants. ResultsParticipants were in a basic psychosocial process of growing personal and professional self. Through co-construction of knowledge with the participants, three substantive interconnected categories were identified: (1) Being thrown into the fire; (2) Adjusting and adapting to the team environment; and (3) Nurturing self and others. ConclusionsThe findings revealed many recommendations for employers hiring new graduates and nursing education programs preparing graduates for the practice arena.

Knowledge creation capability under different innovation-investment motives abroad: The knowledge-based view of international innovation management

This paper focuses on knowledge creation capability and motives for international investment by emerging-market multinational enterprises (EMNEs) innovating in emerging markets. It analyses the motives for the relatively underresearched innovation-intensive investment by non-Chinese EMNEs in Central and Eastern Europe and offers new insights to the knowledge-based view of international innovation management. Building on interviews with senior managers from 11 EMNEs from India, Brazil, Russia, South Africa, Malaysia, and South Korea, this qualitative study develops, through a hybrid thematic analysis approach, a knowledge-based capability perspective on managing knowledge creation under different innovation-investment motives abroad, including knowledge seeking, market seeking, and dual motives. Knowledge creation capability includes knowledge integration, knowledge sharing, and knowledge cocreation. Both internal and external dimensions of knowledge creation capability are conceptualised, along with elements linking internal and external dimensions, namely managerial orchestration and innovation projects. The paper contributes to the knowledge-based view of firm innovation and global strategy by stressing the roles of international innovation-investment motives and organisational capabilities for creating and managing knowledge in EMNEs. It offers implications for managing subsidiaries of multinational enterprises involved in innovation in emerging markets, particularly regarding enhancing and linking the internal and external dimensions of subsidiaries’ knowledge creation capability via ambidexterity.

Social sustainability for whom? Developing an analytical approach through a tripartite collaboration

PurposeSocial sustainability is a concept frequently referred to in public debates concerning how to construct the governance of future societies. The interpretations of its meaning, however, are ambiguous, and practices often dubious. Confronting top-down technocratic governance structures, this paper aims to argue for for tripartite collaborations between residents, higher education institutions (HEIs) and local government, as an approach toward social sustainability that involves residents’ interests in local governance.Design/methodology/approachThis study argues that a specific time-spatial method of analysis can benefit the co-creation of knowledge as it passes through the spectrum of resident–HEI–local government. It provides a way for resident perceptions to become structured knowledge that originates from the residents, effectively engendering a bottom-up governance structure.FindingsThis study shows how to include residents in policymaking and implementation processes as co-creators of knowledge, and thereby displays the possibility of examining knowledge and competence within municipal projects for social sustainability.Originality/valueThe model developed in this study can be used as a methodological instrument to analyze and expand resident participation in local social sustainability work. It thereby provides a toolbox for inclusive policymaking and strategies.