Sustained Collaboration Research Articles

From coexistence to co-creation: Blurring boundaries in the age of AI

While the self-learning nature of AI systems that use machine learning calls for sustained co-creation between developers and users during development, implementation and use, information systems and management scholars still largely build on a long-established tradition of separating technology development from use. Instead, the self-learning nature of AI calls for letting go of this tradition to separate between development and use, which is starting to happen in practice but has not yet found appropriate theoretical and methodological tools among researchers. In this paper we show some real-life attempts to develop sustained collaboration among developers and users, based on empirical cases of five organizations. In particular, we propose how blurring boundaries makes data production, explainable AI and AI deployment fields of practice where development and use intertwine. We suggest embracing the blurred boundaries of AI implementation in our theorizing, understanding the different parts of AI as fields of practice where development and use come together in the co-creation of AI and work.

"Is It My Turn?"

Immersive analytics has the potential to promote collaboration in machine learning (ML). This is desired due to the specific characteristics of ML modeling in practice, namely the complexity of ML, the interdisciplinary approach in industry, and the need for ML interpretability. In this work, we introduce an augmented reality-based system for collaborative immersive analytics that is designed to support ML modeling in interdisciplinary teams. We conduct a user study to examine how collaboration unfolds when users with different professional backgrounds and levels of ML knowledge interact in solving different ML tasks. Specifically, we use the pair analytics methodology and performance assessments to assess collaboration and explore their interactions with each other and the system. Based on this, we provide qualitative and quantitative results on both teamwork and taskwork during collaboration. Our results show how our system elicits sustained collaboration as measured along six distinct dimensions. We finally make recommendations how immersive systems should be designed to elicit sustained collaboration in ML modeling.

Shared Accountability: How One School Is Reforming a Writing Curriculum through Sustained Engaged Scholarship

ABSTRACT Many high schools in the United States are contending with modest student writing achievement and looking for ways to enhance teachers’ writing instruction. This is especially the case for schools deemed to be “underperforming” and struggling to reform writing pedagogy against an accumulation of teacher and leadership turnover, limited resources, minimal teacher preparation in writing pedagogy, and a persistent gap in student literacy development. Realizing optimal learning conditions cannot be addressed by a single entity, we conducted an engaged scholarship study focused on writing reform in a high school facing these very issues. Through a school-university partnership carried out across three years’ time, we witnessed the transformation of teachers as they participated in sustained professional development, collaboration, and examination of their practices. In the present study, we turned the lens on ourselves to examine the process of conducting engaged scholarship. We found enacting collective efficacy through shared research and knowledge with a literacy coach and ninth and tenth grade English teachers brought about incremental and sustained writing reform and reframed our views of researcher roles and responsibilities.

Clinical public health: harnessing the best of both worlds in sickness and in health.

Effective, sustained collaboration between clinical and public health professionals can lead to improved individual and population health. The concept of clinical public health promotes collaboration between clinical medicine and public health to address complex, real-world health challenges. In this commentary, we describe the concept of clinical public health, the types of complex problems that require collaboration between individual and population health, and the barriers towards and applications of clinical public health that have become evident during the COVID-19 pandemic. The focus of clinical medicine on the health of individuals and the aims of public health to promote and protect the health of populations are complementary. Interdisciplinary collaborations at both levels of health interventions are needed to address complex health problems. However, there is a need to address the disciplinary, cultural and financial barriers to achieving greater and sustained collaboration. Recent successes, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic, provide a model for such collaboration between clinicians and public health practitioners. A public health approach that fosters ongoing collaboration between clinical and public health professionals in the face of complex health threats will have greater impact than the sum of the parts.

Global Perspectives on Orchestras: Collective Creativity and Social Agency

Global Perspectives on Orchestras: Collective Creativity and Social Agency

Community relationships and sustainable university food procurement: The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the Real Food Challenge

Many universities are working toward more sustainable campus dining food systems. Third-party standards that offer definitions of sustainable food and outline procurement goals are one tool universities can use to drive food system transformations. We seek to understand how campus community stakeholders influence campus sustainability commitments and what effects third-party certifications have on food purchasing and the campus dining community. We explore these questions by examining the circumstances surrounding, and outcomes of The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC)’s 2010 engagement with the Real Food Calculator/Real Food Challenge (RFC), a third-party standard for sustainable campus dining. Our analysis is based on reports from the past 10 years that document UNC’s progress with RFC, along with participant observations, stakeholder interviews, and a student survey. Our findings reveal that new and developing relationships emerge as third-party goals become institutionalized: at UNC, a small, vocal group of student stakeholders pushing campus administrators for third-party certification evolved into a sustained collaboration between students and campus dining administrators centered on maintaining and advancing purchasing toward more sustainable options. Over time, the RFC commitment was formalized into the foodservice contract at UNC. These findings suggest that community relationships at universities are central in sustainable food transitions: the relationships shape, and are shaped by, efforts to move toward more sustainable campus procurement practices.

In vitro and in silico approaches to engineering three-dimensional biological tissues and organoids

<i>In vitro</i> and <i>in silico</i> approaches to engineering three-dimensional biological tissues and organoids

Common Grounding: How to Nurture Cross-Sector Collaborations for Social Innovation

In this paper, we identify the role of common grounding, a continuous and interactional alignment of understandings and emotional engagement, in initiating and sustaining cross-sector collaborations for social innovation. Through a 32-month inductive qualitative study, we explore how Green City Force (GCF), a NYC not-for-profit organization, successfully initiated and sustained collaborations with public, not-for-profit, and for-profit partners to produce new solutions to longstanding social and environmental issues. We found that GCF engaged partners through common grounding, which involved two types of interactions: conversations that created mutual understanding and trust; and rituals which provided evidence of the value of the collaboration and generated emotional attachment to it. Common grounding was enacted within a flexible scheme delineated along four dimensions – two objectives and two modes of engagement. By allowing multiple interpretations, the scheme was key in fostering the interests of diverse partners. Our paper contributes to the literatures on cross-sector collaboration and social innovation. It highlights collaboration as a continuous social accomplishment requiring both cognitive and emotional engagement. It also shows the value of ambiguity, defined as the quality of being open to more than one interpretation, to trigger and sustain collaborations when their purpose is the production of innovative solutions

Addressing Challenges of Undergraduate Medical Education in India Through Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs)

Context: Massive open online courses (MOOCs) have much potential in higher education, including medical education. This paper explores the challenges and potential solutions through planning, developing, and integrating MOOCs into the medical curriculum. Evidence Acquisition: A non-systematic review study was conducted in March and April 2021. A comprehensive literature search was done on Pubmed, Scopus, Web of Science, Google Scholar, and websites to retrieve articles on MOOCs and medical education using relevant search terms. Results: With their wide availability, open access, and affordability, MOOCs have attracted the attention of several educationalists and learners. Indian medical undergraduates face several problems, such as introducing the new competency-based curriculum, information overload, the COVID-19 pandemic, and increased health care demand. The advantages of MOOCs can be leveraged to solve some of the problems in medical education. They can be effectively used to educate and empower the general public and provide patient education and continuous professional development. Conclusions: With embedded advanced interactive tools, MOOCs have the potential to reshape medical education. Sustained commitment, promotion competition, and collaboration can help overcome the common barriers to MOOC development and integration into the undergraduate medical curriculum.

Building a practice-based research network for healthcare integration: a protocol paper for a mixed-method project

IntroductionPractice-based research networks (PBRNs) are sustained collaborations between healthcare professionals, researchers and members of the community that develop, conduct and report on research relevant to local needs. While PBRNs have...

The Development of Global Cancer Research at the United States National Cancer Institute.

International research and collaboration has been a part of the National Cancer Institute's (NCI) mission since its creation in 1937. Early on, efforts were limited to international exchange of information to ensure that US cancer patients could benefit from advances in other countries. As NCI's research grant portfolio grew in the 1950s, it included a modest number of grants to foreign institutions, primarily in the United Kingdom and Europe. In the 1960s, the development of geographic pathology, which aimed to study cancer etiology through variations in cancer incidence and risk factors, led to an increase in NCI-funded international research, including research in low- and middle-income countries. In this paper, we review key international research programs, focusing particularly on the first 50 years of NCI history. The first NCI-led overseas research programs, established in the 1960s in Ghana and Uganda, generated influential research but also struggled with logistical challenges and political instability. The 1971 National Cancer Act was followed by the creation of a number of bilateral agreements with foreign governments, including China, Japan, and Russia, to support cooperation in technology and medicine. Although these agreements were broad without specific scientific goals, they provided an important mechanism for sustained collaborations in specific areas. With the creation of the NCI Center for Global Health in 2011, NCI's global cancer research efforts gained sustained focus. Because the global cancer burden has evolved over time, increasingly impacting low- and middle-income countries, NCI's role in global cancer research remains more important than ever.

Managing critical transitions: Career support to young people risking ineligibility for upper secondary education

This paper focuses on the support given by schools to students who are likely to leave Swedish compulsory education without the grades required to enter upper secondary education (USE). The aim is to increase knowledge about career counselors’ and teachers’ strategies and work in lower secondary schools in order to facilitate this critical transition, and to examine factors influencing this support. It takes as its starting point theoretical frameworks stressing the agency of professionals in welfare organizations, and the importance of support during the educational transitions of young people at risk. The paper builds on interviews with 20 teachers and career counselors in six municipalities of varying character. Teachers’ and career counselors’ micro-choices have a major impact on the support provided to students. Their work consists of direct and indirect support, with the former referring to prescribed professional assignments. Indirect support, taking the form of advocacy, relational, and emotional work, is not officially recognized, but appears to be a necessary precondition for the direct support. The transition seems to be at risk of becoming overly fragile unless the support is characterized by sustained collaboration between school actors in compulsory school, and between compulsory and USE levels.

Lessons Learned From the Implementation of an Integrated Prenatal Opioid Use Disorder Program

ObjectiveTo evaluate key lessons learned from efforts at increasing engagement in integrated prenatal and opioid use disorder services. DesignAn interdisciplinary team consisting of a board-certified obstetrician and registered nurse led the implementation of this multipronged approach driven by several plan–do–study–act cycles to develop an integrated prenatal and opioid use disorder program. Setting/Local ProblemAn urban community health center in Chicago, Illinois, where mental health issues, including substance use, are the leading cause of death for pregnant people. ParticipantsConnections were made with local harm reduction agencies, substance use treatment facilities, and community outreach programs to develop partnerships with organizations providing existing addiction and maternal–child services in the community. Intervention/MeasuresPartnership building was achieved through organization needs assessments, dissemination of information about integrated services, and sustained communication. Referral workflow guides and patient education cards were created and distributed to community partners. Incoming referrals were tracked at the clinic site. Use of the referral materials was evaluated via online surveys distributed to community partners. ResultsIn the 18 weeks of enhanced integration, three patients engaged in services and were initiated on medication for opioid use disorder, two of whom had been referred from agencies targeted in the outreach efforts. Surveys showed that community partners believe the referral guides were easy to use and that the harm reduction information on the patient cards was useful. ConclusionAn urban community health center was equipped to provide comprehensive, integrated services to pregnant people with opioid use disorder, but barriers such as community unawareness and stigma impeded engagement. Sustained collaboration with community partners serving pregnant people with opioid use disorder supports program development and linkage to care. Integrated prenatal and opioid use disorder care is feasible, is destigmatizing in nature, and can lead to improved maternal and fetal outcomes.

Can insurance catalyse government planning on climate? Emergent evidence from Sub-Saharan Africa

• Insurers produce information that can support adaptation to climate change in Africa if it is accessible and useable. • Insurers need risk information for underwriting but tend not to consider climate change information. • Perverse incentives and lack of risk ownership can discourage wider use of risk information. • Government capacity building is needed to increase awareness of the benefits and uses of climate risk information. • Insurers must balance competitive advantage with strategic gains and social benefit when it comes to data sharing. This paper explores how climate risk information produced in the context of insurance-related activities can support public climate adaptation planning. The central contribution is to outline how relevant climate risk information can translate into behaviour change, and the drivers and barriers that influence this in Sub-Saharan Africa. The insurance industry has the potential to catalyse greater use of climate information, either through existing insurance transactions or through capacity building and investment in data sharing and collaboration. We investigate the interplay of climate risk information and insurance processes from two angles: the use of climate risk data by those who provide insurance – with information as an input to the underwriting process; and the catalyst role of insurance for governments to move towards anticipatory climate risk management. We apply a multi-method approach, combining insights from a survey of 40 insurance experts with key informant interviews and document analysis from three complementary case studies: indemnity-based insurance of private assets in South Africa; parametric sovereign risk pool in Malawi; and collaboration on risk analytics and risk management advice (no insurance) in Tanzania. The analysis offers a new perspective on the catalyst role of insurance by focusing on the ways in which political economy factors, particularly incentives and relationships, influence this process. Overall, there appears to be clear scope for a dynamic interaction between insurers and governments where symbiotic use and generation of climate risk information can advance mutual goals. However, that ambition faces many challenges that go beyond availability and suitability of data. Limited trust, unclear risk ownership and/or lack of incentives are key barriers, even if there is risk awareness and overall motivation to manage climate risks. The three cases show the importance of sustained cross-sectoral collaboration and capacity building to increase awareness and utilization of insurance-related climate risk information.

Interagency collaboration among community organizations serving children and families in child welfare

AbstractTransformational change to address adversity and nurture resilience requires deep and sustained community collaborations. Interagency collaboration is critically important for child welfare especially during crisis situations. It is clear that when agencies focus on strengths and promote protective factors (individual, familial and community‐level) in time, negative consequences of maltreatment are reduced and well‐being outcomes are enhanced. However, limited research is available to effectively inform community organizations and collective impact initiatives about how they can strengthen interagency collaboration and collaborative practice. Furthermore, the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19) pandemic elevates the urgency to understand how community organizations work together to serve children and families as it threatens access to safety nets. This mixed methods study examined interagency collaboration among community organizations in a collective impact workgroup focussed on children and families involved in the child welfare system. Results revealed key strengths to collaboration (e.g., strong connections, resource sharing, resilience in staff, more vulnerable children accessing resources and more adults engaged in serving this population) as well as barriers to collaboration (e.g., group composition, funding and lack of clarity/focus). Results also revealed specific ways in which this pandemic has impacted efforts to serve children and families in child welfare. Findings highlight an approach that might assist interagency collaboratives. In addition, findings were also translated into concrete action items that might be helpful to interagency collaboratives focussed on child welfare.

A perspective on collaborative partnerships to expand campus buy-in for digital collections

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore, from the perspective of a medium-sized academic library, how libraries can pursue and use collaboration with other units on campus to increase support and buy-in for digital collections.Design/methodology/approachThis paper is approached from the perspective of a medium-sized academic library located in Alabama, USA. This study examines ways to foster collaboration with diverse campus units, the challenges that can be encountered and ways to overcome these barriers to collaboration. Examples of the potential and realized benefits are also enumerated.FindingsThis paper demonstrates that, while there are challenges that must be overcome, regular and sustained collaboration with nonlibrary campus units can result in the creation of unique digital collections that such units are not capable of pursuing without library partnership. These partnerships increase visibility for the library and its services, as well as buy-in and support for digital collections from other campus units and, importantly, university administration.Practical implicationsAcademic libraries, especially those at small- to medium-sized institutions, face continual budget restrictions and calls to justify the resources expended. This impacts all aspects of library services, but especially the creation of digital collections, which are cost- and labor-intensive. By offering examples of collaboration, libraries can explore ways to partner that will foster buy-in and support at their own institutions.Originality/valueThis paper provides examples and details considerations that can make the process of collaboration simpler and more effective for other academic libraries to pursue.

Knowledge Sharing Among Public Health Professionals on Management of Zoonoses in Nigeria

Zoonotic diseases are characterized by significant morbidity and mortality in humans. In Nigeria, tragic effects of zoonotic diseases have been reported. This calls for a sustained collaboration among public health professionals to confront the ever-increasing challenges of managing zoonotic diseases. This study explores the perception of public health professionals about knowledge sharing and the absorptive capacity of health professionals in managing zoonotic diseases. Data were collected through a semi- structured interview. The analysis was done using qualitative content analysis. Findings revealed positive perception of public health professionals about knowledge sharing in managing zoonotic. Also, the study found that Public Health professionals acquire external knowledge for managing zoonotic disease through multidisciplinary networks and professional associations. The One Health initiative is one avenue where public health professionals can leverage on the strength and capacities of each other to respond competently to emerging health threats of zoonotic diseases.

Building a CSMI database: Experiences from the Lake Ontario 2018 CSMI Field Year

The Cooperative Science and Monitoring Initiative (CSMI) instituted under the Science Annex of the 2012 Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement (GLWQA) provides an international framework to coordinate science and monitoring activities in one of the five Great Lakes. On a five-year cycle: (Y1) CSMI priorities are developed under GLWQA Annex 2 Lake Partnerships with input from managers, researchers, and other stakeholders, (Y2) projects are then planned to address those priorities, (Y3) projects are implemented during the field sampling year, (Y4) samples are analyzed, and (Y5) results are shared through reporting. Although CSMI has advanced understanding and management of the Great Lakes, such large-scale studies present unique logistical challenges. Specifically, there is a need to promote and enhance data management, coordination, and sharing efforts. Herein, we describe the process used to develop a database for the 2018 Lake Ontario Field Year and explore the challenges, successes, and lessons learned that could improve collaboration and data compilation in future CSMI cycles. The creation of an accessible and transparent database can encourage collaboration between researchers and scientists, provide insight into the state and health of Lake Ontario, and engage the public as to why monitoring the Great Lakes is so crucial. We suggest the following recommendations to be implemented in future CSMI database iterations: 1) early planning of the database development, 2) house the database in a centralized location with emphasis on metadata, 3) encourage development of summary products for various user groups, and 4) sustained collaboration and commitment on database requirements.

Local community practices to improve healthy aging in the North

The governments of Finland, Denmark, Norway and Russia have developed national programs to address population ageing. There are also successful practices in healthy ageing at the local level in different countries, but they remain unknown among the global professional community and governmental authorities.&#x0D; Healthy ageing has become an important policy issue at all levels of the society. The key international document is the World Health Organization’s (WHO) plan for a Decade of Healthy Ageing 2020–2030 which is the second action plan of the WHO ‘s Global strategy on ageing and health. The Plan consists of 10 years of concerted, catalytic, sustained collaboration to improve the lives of older people, their families, and their communities. Older people themselves are in the core of this plan, and it brings together variety of actors, including governments, civil society, international agencies, professionals, academia, the media, and the private sector. The Plan also notes that healthy ageing is not only a healthcare issue but also needs to engage many other sectors.&#x0D; The aim of research was to search and introduce local community practices according the priority areas of WHO Decade of Healthy Aging action plan for gerontological policy in arctic countries.&#x0D; Examples of good practices for the Priority 1 of the Plan: Change how we think, feel and act towards age and ageing&#x0D; Fostering of Healthy Ageing requires fundamental shifts from existing stereotypes, prejudices, and discrimination towards older people. Older people should not be seen only as an economic burden for the welfare society, but as contributors to the state and communities, and as resourceful carriers of traditional values and wisdom. Governments eliminate age discrimination by variety of actions, such as legislative changes, and policies and programs which engage older people in decision-making.&#x0D; Initiatives for Priority 2 of the Plan: Ensure that communities foster the abilities of older people&#x0D; The environments which are built on decisions made not only by policy makers but involve citizens of all ages are better places to grow, play, live, work and retire. Even those people who have lost their capacity, shall be able to continue to enjoy everyday activities, to continue to develop personally and professionally, to participate and contribute to their communities while retaining their autonomy, dignity, health, and well-being.&#x0D; Practices for Priority 3 of the Plan: Deliver person-centered, integrated care and primary health services to older people&#x0D; Good-quality essential health services include prevention of diseases; promotion of healthy lifestyle; curative, rehabilitative, palliative and end-of-life care; safe, effective, good-quality essential medicines and vaccines; dental care; assistive technologies, while ensuring that the use of services does not cause the user financial hardship.&#x0D; Local northern practices are mirrored against the recently released WHO Decade of Healthy Ageing 2020-2030 Action Plan with paying attention to indigenous elders. Based on these practices the national, regional, and municipal level authorities of the Nordic countries and Russia were suggested to consider the policy recommendations based of the research.

Lessons from a dissolving interorganizational collaboration

The dissolution of nonprofit interorganizational collaborations is an understudied, but relatively common phenomenon. This study uses interviews, field notes, and organizational documents to describe the tensions that emerged during the dissolution of an interorganizational collaboration among service providers, faith-based organizations, and community leaders and stakeholders aimed at addressing homelessness in rural Appalachia. Drawing on tension-centered theories of interorganizational collaboration, the analysis presents three tensions between community and fragmentation, organizational and collective accomplishments, and economic vs. social interests. The analysis demonstrates how the negotiation of tensions sustained collaboration, and how tensions were resolved through organizational dissolution. The conclusions present three lessons for dissolving community organizations that could facilitate future collaboration and research, emphasizing the importance of credit-sharing as a means of sustaining productive tensions in interorganizational collaborations.