Involving the target population in research has become commonplace for sociological and other research. Evidence-based research is needed to develop policies that take into account people’s real needs. These forms of research usually use people’s knowledge. The extraction approach involves taking knowledge out of its immediate context and presenting it to “specialized” outsiders. Non-extractive research engages all participants and allows them to use research methods and findings in ways that are meaningful to them. At that point, “Knowledge Alliances” emerges.
Knowledge Alliances consist of equal partnerships between researchers and practitioners from different directions, with different interests and varying combinations of knowledge. The challenge is now to organize such multi-stakeholder alliances so that these differences can thrive and benefit each other in a reciprocal process of knowledge production (Novy, Habersack, and Schaller 2013)[1].
Knowledge Alliances is a way of working. This Policy Brief provides an overview of the lessons that Involve (the name of the project says it all) has learned from its daily operations and from various discussions with scientists, politicians, NGOs, and volunteers.
[1] Novy, Andreas, Sarah Habersack, and Barbara Schaller. 2013. “Innovative Forms of Knowledge Production: Transdisciplinarity and Knowledge Alliances.” In The International Handbook on Social Innovation: Collective Action, Social Learning and Transdisciplinary Research, 442–452. Cheltenham: Edgar Elgar