Meet a Mobilizer – Krista Jensen, York University

Greetings! I’m Krista Jensen, the Knowledge Mobilization Officer at York University. I have been with the KM Unit here at York since April of 2006. Before that I was in the non-profit, special library world. I have a Master of Information Studies with a specialization in Library Studies from the University of Toronto and a BA in Religion and Culture from Wilfrid Laurier University. Moving from the library world into the world of KM has been a great opportunity for me to use my information services skills in new and innovative ways.

Some of my favourite things to do when I’m not mobilizing knowledge are- reading, I especially enjoy mysteries and graphic novels; listening to music, my partner Neil and I have well over 400 CDs from pretty much every musical genre; going to the ballet, opera, live theatre and concerts; and one of my biggest passions in life is traveling. Neil and I just got back from a 2 week stay in Italy, where we visited Venice (you can see us having a very expensive lunch on the Canale dei Greci below), Florence, Lucca, the Cinque Terre and Tuscany, where we stayed on a farm where they grew their own grapes and olives. Not sure where we’ll be going next but I enjoy the planning almost as much as the trip itself so I’ll have lots of fun dreaming of possibilities.

Neil and Krista in Venice

Krista Bowling

MITACS Skills Enhancement Program

MITACS will be hosting the following 3 professional development events in November:

Brush up your technical writing skills! Thursday, November 6, 2008
Event registration and information here

Become an entrepreneur with Sean Wise! Thursday, November 13, 2008
Event registration and information here

IP: Learn what’s in it for you! Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Event registration and information here

All events will be held at:

University of Toronto
89 Chestnut Street
3rd floor – St Patrick’s Room

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For more information contact Cecilia Ronderos Call: 416-650-8441 Email: cronderos@mitacs.ca

ResearchImpact invited to consult on KM strategies

On October 23rd, 2008, the Canadian Partnership Against Cancer’s (CPAC) Knowledge Management Division hosted a one-day forum with experts from across Canada in knowledge management, information management and analytics, and technology and eHealth innovation to obtain advice on: a vision for knowledge management in cancer control; novel and creative approaches to advancing and sustaining knowledge management in the Canadian cancer control community; the essential elements of a focused and innovative, multi-year knowledge management strategy for CPAC; critical success factors for the impact and sustainability of CPAC’s knowledge management strategy. David Phipps (ResearchImpact, York University) was invited to participate in the discussions and provide input into developing a KM strategy for CPAC.

The one day session featured more discussion than presentation and CPAC did more listening than talking. An aside… as a note to all those planning a consultation – this opportunity for 2 way exchange is far more important than creating an opportunity for one way transfer (good KM strategy). Experts in a variety of cancer strategies and KM practices from Canada and the US were present and it is safe to say the invited attendees got as much out of the session as did CPAC. Some of the take home messages included using technology as a tool, keeping people at the centre of KM, understanding your audiences (their needs and wants) and having a robust evaluation strategy. As usual we raised more questions than answers as many of us are struggling with similar issues.

ResearchImpact was pleased to be invited to participate and we look forward to future opportunities to share our experiences.

The Canadian Partnership Against Cancer (CPAC) is an independent organization funded by the federal government to accelerate action on cancer control for all Canadians. CPAC’s mission is to bring together cancer experts, charitable organizations, governments, patients and survivors to bring change to the cancer control domain. CPAC works together with its partners to stimulate generation of new knowledge and accelerate the implementation of existing knowledge about cancer control across Canada. Visit them at www.partnershipagainstcancer.ca.

KM Intern secures $130,000 Trillium Grant for Community Outreach/Education at Peterborough Youth Shelter

Naomi Nichols is a PhD Candidate at the York Faculty of Education who was a KM Summer Intern in 2007. Naomi’s placement was with the Youth Emergency Shelter (YES) in Peterborough.   She began her work at YES as a participant observer: helping in the recreation program; and the Children’s Aid Society day program; attending appointments with shelter residents as an advocate; and helping shelter staff. She conducted preliminary case-file analysis, creating a data-base that points to the various agencies/services YES clients are using. She also conducted interviews with shelter staff, other social service professionals and shelter residents. This fieldwork informed her development of a life-skills/transitioning program for shelter users. The KM Unit’s support of Naomi’s work with YES helped her secure a $130,000 grant for YES to develop a Community Outreach and Education program for their clients. The program includes services like Transitioning Life-Skills, where “[a] coordinator leads a team of one-on-one workers who pair up with and mentor individual young people. Each young person and his or her mentor enact a “transitioning plan” based on an individual’s lived experiences and goals” (Nichols, 15). The plan is meant to help the young person develop greater autonomy and gradually transition to independent housing, employment, and health management (Nichols, 15). Thanks to Naomi’s work, the Trillium grant continues to enhance the delivery of social services by YES to marginalized youth who often face difficulties accessing the available resources.

 

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Nichols, Naomi. (2008). Walking the line: Doing community-situated institutional ethnography. A paper presented at the Society for Social Problems Annual Meeting, Boston, USA.

 

KM in the AM – Collaborative Planning and Partnership Building

On September 30, 2008, the York University KM Unit held its first KM in the AM for the 2008-2009 academic year. KM in the AM is our flagship event: a thematic breakfast that provides space for community and government agencies to meet and interact with York faculty and graduate students. The KM Unit has been holding these breakfasts regularly since 2006, and our September 30 event was one of our most successful yet.

This month’s theme was Collaborative Planning and Partnership Building, featuring a panel of five experts sharing their own experiences and research findings.

- Prof. Debra Pepler of the LaMarsh Centre for Research on Violence & Conflict Resolution
- Jane Wedlock of the York Region Alliance to End Homelessness
- Prof. Celia Haig-Brown of the York University Faculty of Education
- Susan Taylor Simpson of ProAct Ideas
- Prof. Uzo Anucha of the York University School of Social Work

Each panelist gave a thorough and illuminating presentation, outlining their organizations’ histories, successes, collaborative projects, and challenges.

Prof. Pepler explained the four strategy pillars used by her organization, PREVNet, to build relationships with other organizations. Jane Wedlock discussed the infrastructure challenges facing her organization, and explained how these were overcome via collaboration with another organization. Prof. Haig-Brown’s presentation revolved around on her work in the Aboriginal community, and the importance of working to maintain relationships. Susan Taylor Simpson discussed the importance of leadership to collaboration. Prof. Anucha focused on the need for trust and community dialogue in order to achieve a successful collaboration.

The panelists then took questions from the other attendees on various topics, including the advancing use of technology to facilitate collaborations, the need for catalytic leadership, and the need for someone to “own” any project.

Using our unvalidated but objective measure of engagement, one community partner stayed chatting GIS mapping with a graduate student for 3 hours after the session – that’s A LOT of mobilization!

If you are interested in learning more about any of these panelists’ work, or about future KM in the AM breakfasts, please contact Michael Johnny (mjohnny@yorku.ca) or Krista Jensen (kejensen@yorku.ca), or visit www.researchimpact.ca

Knowledge Mobilization and Technology Transfer– chapter 2

Last time in KM and TT- Chapter 1, I described how KM and technology transfer are frequently compared as analogous services offered to our faculty. I also described how they are similar. This blog entry describes how they are different. To recap, since the passage of the U.S. Bayh Dole Act enacted on December 12, 1980, (P.L. 96-517, Patent and Trademark Act Amendments of 1980) academic institutions have increasingly supported university-industry partnerships through technology transfer (TT). An entire university-based industry with professional associations has grown world wide including the Association of University Technology Managers and the Alliance for the Commercialization of Canadian Technology. TT seeks to commercialize the results of (mainly) science & technology research that can be patented, licensed to a company and brought to the market in the form of new products and services. In turn the successful company pays the university back in the form of royalties (cash) and equity (in the case of a new company). Assuming readers have a base knowledge of KM (or else why read this blog) I am not going to review KM but suggest you watch our KM presentation here.

The table below shows the differences in almost every aspect between KM and TT. This in part reflects the different stages of development of KM and TT as professions but also reflects the fundamental differences in their audiences, processes and objectives. TT is a monetized transaction using a producer push method to find a licensee in a linear process: invention disclosure, due diligence, patenting, technology marketing, license negotiations, license agreement, product development, product marketing, product sales, and royalty payments to university. KM is an iterative process that creates sustained relationships between researchers and research users so that research and evidence can be available to inform decisions. There are no formal tools, formal training nor professional associations for KM (yet).

There is a role for the commercialization of (i.e. making money from) social sciences products such as survey instruments and the commercialization of humanities products such as books and films but this is not knowledge mobilization.

Stay tuned to this blog for the final entry in this series that discusses a better science & technology analogy for KM.

Hidden in Plain Sight Homelessness Photographic Exhibit

The York Region Alliance to End Homelessness, with the help of YorkU KM Summer Intern Jennifer Logan, will be hosting the photographic exhibit Hidden in Plain Sight: Living Homeless in York Region at the Varley Art Gallery in Unionville from October 3-10.