Transcript Document
Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada Conseil de recherches en sciences humaines du Canada Knowledge Exchange & Knowledge Mobilization: How do they increase impact?
Engaging with Scottish Local Authorities June 11, 2010, University of Glasgow Craig McNaughton Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada
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Outline of presentation
Keys to KMb impact SSHRC KMb programming SSHRC’s definition of KMb A ‘two-way’ model for KMb Illustration of the model 2
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Two keys to KMb impact
1. Ensure the knowledge is relevant to the partner or target audience 2. Ensure the knowledge is relevant to the academics 3
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SSHRC programs in KMb
Aid to Scholarly Journals Aid to Research Workshops & Conferences Public Outreach Knowledge Impact in Society Strategic Knowledge Clusters Community-University Research Alliances (CURA) Major Collaborative Research Initiatives (MCRI) Research grants (strategic & standard) 4
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An inclusive definition of KMb
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SSHRC definition of KMb
Knowledge mobilization is about ensuring that all citizens benefit from publicly funded research. It can take many forms, but the essential objective is to allow research knowledge to flow both within the academic world, and between academic researchers and the wider community. By moving research knowledge into society, knowledge mobilization increases the intellectual, economic, social and cultural impact of that knowledge.
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Public Outreach – Summary Table
Year Awarded
2001 (INE) 5
# Grants Selected Topics
Sustainable development, higher education, e-commerce 2004 (INE) 2005 ( INE) 8 42 Privacy, literacy, popularizing academic research Equity, auto industry, community theatre 2007 (INE) 2007 (MBF) 2008 (MBF) 2008 (Environment) 2008 (North) 5 10 15 18 13 Cyber atlas, immigration and settlement Risk management, corporate social responsibility, regional innovation and policy, developing indigenous commercial code Commercialization of a product (resistant concrete), improving medication safety, corporate social responsibility Environmental health atlas, oceans management, global citizen consultation on climate change Pipeline development, arctic policy 7
Strategic Knowledge Clusters – Summary Table
Year Awarded
2004 – 2005 (Development)
# Grants
31
Selected Topics
Child welfare / development / school reform(x3), sustainability, philosophy of time, media governance, immigration, Aboriginal communities and communication technologies 2005-2006 (Development) 2005-2006 (Completion) 23 23 Immigration, bullying, healthy communities, environmental vulnerability Canadian labour market, early child development, Time and universe, Disability policy, Science and technology studies 2006-2013 2007-2014 7 11 Justice system, business ethics, science and technology studies, Aboriginal economic development, Canadian history and environment, population change Refugees, early childhood development, Canada- Europe dialogue, homelessness, childhood and violence prevention, Canadian literature, heritage, international entrepreneurship, sustainable prosperity, history and education, business sustainability, refugee research network 8
Knowledge Impact in Society – Summary table
Year Awarded
2005 2008
# Grants
10 (5 extended)
Topics
Child development and care (x2), Community care / community capacity, Montreal heritage and public history, public policy, rural economy / agriculture, violence against women, sustainable regions, rural community development / tourism 2007 2010 9 Business sustainability, rural economy, Immigration and labour markets, Urban Aboriginal economic development, regional business networks, energy industry and change, responsible investing, public policy and governance, business sustainability, rural economy 9
KMb infrastructure at Canadian universities
•
York U:
university-community/government matching services – interactive Web site, online tools, broadband networks, KM in the AM (university-community/government breakfasts), special events (e.g., Aboriginal Policy Research Forum, Science and Civic Engagement Symposium), etc.
•
U Victoria:
Research Help Desk, interdisciplinary graduate courses in community-based research, student-led research grants from the BC Government, Community Based Summer Internship Program, etc. 4/26/2020 10
•
Memorial U:
sessions, etc.
yaffle.ca (university-community search engine), public policy forums, videos, reports, regional workshops, graduate student-industry knowledge exchange, synergy •
U Saskatchewan:
Illative Blog, Policy Wiki, visioning events, social science research laboratory (web-based & telephone based interviews, economic behavioural lab, data sets, GIS systems, mobile interviews) • …among others – e.g., of the university –
UQAM
mobilisation des connaissances
(recent report on KMb mission
L’UQAM : une mission particulière de
)
KMb & socio-economic impact
Impact University Society
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KMb: socio-economic & academic impact
Socio-economic impact University Society
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Academic impact (quality)
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Value of KMb to scholarship
1.
KMb provides an opportunity to test theory against practice 2.
KMb invites new or supplementary data and knowledge resources 3.
KMb draws in financial, human and material resources in support of research
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Peer review and KMb
• Peer review in the university means that researchers must communicate their findings. Why? So they can be criticised and thereby improve their findings. • The same principle applies in the wider circles of experts created by KMb • Scholarly peer review is still central, but depending on the intellectual project, it may be advisable to bring in a wider range of experts from other disciplines, sectors and knowledge cultures 15
The intellectual value of KMb
KMb has to do with keeping scholarship ‘on its toes’ – challenging received truths, questioning dominant theory, experimenting with new methods, bringing in fresh ideas and perspectives 4/26/2020 16
KMb & the focus on
importing
knowledge
International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD): “Knowledge mobilization addresses how external knowledge (outside of the organization) is sought out and combined with internal knowledge to create new knowledge that meets the needs of target users/clients…. … It recognizes that organizing one's own intellectual capital does not necessarily lead to innovation or change; implicit in the concept is the need for working relationships with others.”
An example…
An expert in workplace bullying, Judy MacIntosh at UNB is involved in research projects developed and carried out in partnership with community practitioners, as well as plain language websites and radio call-in shows: o o “Seeing how people respond and hearing their own stories really gives you the sense that you can make a difference in people’s lives. Their stories also help me confirm my own theories. They can point to new avenues of study, and sometimes, if you’re not on the right track, they’ll tell you that too.” “And, of course, I teach. There are so many opportunities to bring my research into classroom discussions.”
Humanities 101
article by Margo Pfeiff in
Reader’s Digest
, August 2003 on UBC initiative & original Clemente initiative of Earl Shorris Involved “25 adults aged 20 to 62…. single mothers, AIDS sufferers, new immigrants, ex convicts, drug addicts, homeless people…. What they shared was an income below the poverty line, the ability to read a newspaper and a passion for learning —the only prerequisites for an eight month course called Humanities 101”
The Economic Role and Influence of the Social Sciences and Humanities
• 2008 study by Ron Freedman at Impact Group compared economic inputs from SSH research & STEM research Some findings: • SSH-based industries account for
76%
of total employment – STEM industries account for
24%
• Industries that rely primarily on SSH inputs account for
$696.7 billion
of annual GDP output • Industries that rely primarily on STEM inputs account for
$431.4 billion
of GDP 4/26/2020 20
Impact
KMb model (all in)
University researchers University researchers Research partners, non academic researchers Governments NGOs Businesses
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Quality
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Making KMb make sense to the community
• SSHRC KIS project at the Queen’s University’s Monieson Centre: brings leading academic research to business, government, and community audiences to create value through knowledge.
• Centre focuses on research themes related to the knowledge economy - how to harness the expertise of individuals, organizations and communities to create knowledge capital....
• The result is
innovation, insight and understanding to grow business, inform policy, and revitalize industries and communities
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KIS Discovery Workshops: Top Research Questions
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
How can our community respond to and capitalize on the emerging creative economy?
What is our region’s niche/competitive edge and how can we capitalize on it?
How can we engage our community in economic development?
How can we create value-added products from our local natural resources (agriculture, forestry)?
How do we develop efficient government that builds cooperation between local, regional, provincial and federal levels?
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6. How can we retain our youth?
7. What is the best way to foster entrepreneurship? Do business incubators work?
8. What demographic information can guide our planning?
9. How can we effectively brand ourselves?
10. How do we compare to other similar communities and what best practices can be learned from them?
11.
What can we do to make an inventory of our region’s assets?
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KIS Knowledge Syntheses
• 4-5 page reports summarizing leading research and resources on key economic development issues • topics are developed through the Discovery Workshops • completed reports: – Entrepreneurship – Youth Retention – Community Branding – Creating a Vibrant Downtown – Economic Development Models 4/26/2020
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Making KMb make sense to academics
We often hear that KMb represents a lot of work that is not counted by the university in tenure and promotion decisions: • some call for validation of non-peer reviewed publications, briefings, newsletters, etc.
• some concede KMb work offers few opportunities to publish top-tier journal articles • some suggest only senior & tenured scholars have the luxury or freedom to work on KMb 26
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Evaluation of 2004 RDI grant “Studying virtual team effectiveness in organizations”
• the analysis highlights and traces the advancement of key scholarly ideas: – Virtual Teams – Multi-communicating – Knowledge Hiding • it shows how scholarship and scholars connect and combine their efforts (who works with whom, in which ways) • it documents the dissemination work within the academy (journals articles, academic meetings)…. 27
4/26/2020 • … and it shows how scholarship and scholars move out naturally into the community to generate intellectual, social, economic and cultural benefits: – graduate student work with NGO on efficiency of its virtual team work + pass along MS Project – company executives trained in best practices from the research – research reports to of results to participating organizations (100 participants) – research on virtual work folded forward into research on use of info technologies to reduce carbon output in organizations 28
4/26/2020 • employment & training benefits to 17 undergraduate students, Master’s student & 5 doctoral students: library + on-line literature searches, qualitative research, surveys, experiments, meta-analyses, statistical analyses • flow of research into teaching (e.g., courses in virtual and cross-cultural team training in the Executive Education and Masters of Global Management programs at Queen’s; instruction of MBA students at HEC Montreal) • media coverage of research: interview with Globe & Mail (to 14,000 Queen’s alumni via Web); La Presse, Washington Post, London Times 29
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Parting thoughts…
• KMb is an ambitious & demanding effort to
expand scholarly inquiry
beyond the traditional boundaries of university-based research • KMb creates
a virtuous circle
of reciprocal engagement that
integrates intellectual & social
impact • KMb relies on, and invigorates, central academic functions such as
peer review & teaching
• KMb is the application of
democratic
generate
ideas & insights
that yield principles to
wealth & well-being
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Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada Conseil de recherches en sciences humaines du Canada