numbers, numbers, numbers

In a world consumed with quantitative evaluation, don’t forget the power of words and stories to demonstrate impact.

In his book, The Power of Social Innovation, Stephen Goldsmith (@powerofsocinnov) has many good messages for social entrepreneurs and social innovators, but one message that sticks is that it is important to ensure that “excellent doesn’t become the enemy of the good”.  By this he advocates that evaluation should not constrain innovation.  Evaluation is important but systems of social innovation need to look beyond simple numbers to see quality.

York’s KMb Unit has lots of numbers (counting since 2006) to demonstrate its activity, but these fall short of demonstrating impact.

211:     # faculty involved in York’s KMb activities.  This represents about 14% of York’s total full time, tenure/tenure track faculty complement

149:     # graduate students involved in York’s KMb activities.  This represents students involved as interns and in research projects with faculty and community partners

139:     # information sessions for faculty and students.

162:     # information sessions for community/government agencies.

195:     # agencies involved in KMb partnerships.  This represents agencies participating in projects, KM in the AM and other KMb Unit events.

369K   ($) Funding community agencies raised in collaboration with York’s KMb Unit activities.

771K   ($) Research contract funding from partners for collaborative York U research projects via the KMb Unit.

15M     ($) External grant funding raised by research teams that engaged York’s KMb Unit to assist with KMb plans.

3.2M    number of web hits.  Web hits is a measure of traffic but not of engagement; however, it tripled after starting on twitter.

124:     number of ResearchSnapshots posted at http://www.researchimpact.ca/researchsearch/.

1642:   number of tweets.  For the week starting November 15 @researchimpact received 15 retweets or twitter mentions from

657:     twitter followers.

162:     delicious bookmarks (http://www.delicious.com/ResearchImpact) using

239:     tags (http://researchimpact.ca/resources/bookmarks/).

199:     blog posts on Mobilize This! (http://researchimpact.wordpress.com/) with

167:     comments from readers who read an average of

3,658: views every month from May-Sept 2010.

These numbers may or may not be impressive but they only tell part of the story… and not the most compelling part.

We recently held a meeting of researchers, graduate students and front line service providers from the York Region Children’s Aid Society (CAS) to get feedback on a CIHR funded project exploring the use of social media to mediate knowledge mobilization.

Words tell the story that numbers cannot:

“social media offers the opportunity to step away form my day to day and into the larger picture” (CAS employee)

“this project gave me the ability to connect to other practitioners and to researchers” (CAS employee)

“any tool we have to get information out in useable ways that fits with our staff is good” (CAS manager)

“this experience informed my choices about future research directions” (York U graduate student)

“it was validating to receive feedback from a researcher” (CAS employee)

“it is important to know that my research has a benefit” (York U graduate student)

“social media facilitates knowledge exchange with community partners” (York U researcher)

The York U and York Region CAS participants have deepened their collaboration by receiving funding from the Ontario Ministry of Children and Youth Services.

These stories and their continued collaboration illustrate the benefits of social media and knowledge mobilization for researchers, students and front line practitioners.  Numbers can’t do that.

A Comparison Of Knowledge Broker Websites

ResearchImpact is pleased to welcome a guest blogger, Gary Myers. You can follow Gary on his blog and on twitter (@kmbeing). Gary has written about three relatively new online resources for knowledge brokers. It is great to see new entrants into the KMb global family (from UK, US and Australia). Gary’s comparison shows that all provide value for knowledge brokers and that Research into Action (from @KTExchange) has some resources similar to those we offer at ResearchImpact (where we are also “turning research into action”).
I’d like to thank ResearchImpact for asking me to be a guest blogger for MobilizeThis! Most readers of this blog (and for readers of my own blog KMbeing) will know that Knowledge Mobilization (KMb) is being more frequently used to describe how researchers and individuals within community organizations are using research to inform decisions in public policy and professional practice. KMb consists of a variety of methods in which research and knowledge is transferred, translated, exchanged and co-produced to enhance the practical application of knowledge between researchers and research-users.
Important to the KMb process is the role of the Knowledge Broker in linking researchers and community (for more information on the role of the Knowledge Broker see Jonathan Lomas The in-between world of knowledge brokering).
As part of a current digital research project for ResearchImpact, I did a comparative analysis of three new (or newly re-designed) broker websites with varying degrees of interactivity and collaboration. I was curious to see what some other organizations are offering brokers, social innovators and other knowledge mobilizers. After a web search using the keyword knowledge broker the following top websites were listed:

• Research into Action (RIA)

• Knowledge Brokers’ Forum (KBF)

• Australian Social Innovation eXchange (ASIX)

Overall Rating (RIA):

• Excellent Presentation & Content
• Great Use of Social Media & Networking Tools
• Canadian Content – A Podcast interview with Dr. Melanie Barwick (Sick Kid’s Hospital, Toronto) & Headlining Quote From Dr. Barwick on Home Page/ CIHR defined in website Glossary page
• Well Staffed With Two Specific Communications Specialists
• Collaboration Possibilities with other Research Brokers

Overall Rating (KBF):

• Most Similar to ResearchImpact Website
• Good Content of Blogs
• Use of Delicious Bookmarks
• Resources (articles) for intermediaries and knowledge brokers
• Canadian Content – Canadian Knowledge Broker Core Competency Framework Link
• Recommend Adding ResearchImpact Mobilize This! Blog To This Website

Overall Rating (ASIX):

• More Social Innovation Than KMb or Knowledge Brokering (Collaborative Style Think Tank)
• Good Social Media (Twitter, Facebook, YouTube) & OK Use of Blog Links (But Not KMb Specific)
• Website Not KMb Focused or Broker Focused, but still informative
• Mostly A Forum for Australian Social Innovation Camp (New: 1st Camp 2010)
• No North American Content (Only Found One Profile Beyond Australia from London UK)

Funding & Affiliation:

Research into Action is university funded by The University of Texas (School of Public Health), and from the The Institute for Health Policy. What is interesting is that they also request donation funding right on their website for anyone wishing to make a private donation. RIF was founded in 2007.

The Knowledge Brokers’ Forum receives funding from international agencies such as the International Development Research Centre (IDRC), the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), and the UK Department for International Development (DFID). The website does not mention when KBF was founded.

The Australian Social Innovation eXchange is more formally known as the Australian Social Innovation Exchange Limited incorporated and is an independent non-profit company, founded in 2008.

Conclusion:
All three websites can be used as credible links and sources of information for knowledge brokers; however, I highly recommend Research into Action for anyone looking for a practical website that can be used as a tool in learning more about current knowledge brokering taking place, and as a collaborative website for researchers and research users to post their own information.
Although Research into Action appears to be a closer fit to ResearchImpact, The Knowledge Brokers’ Forum or The Australian Social Innovation eXchange are also great sites for gaining information and mobilizing knowlege.

Playing in the KMb Climate Change Sandbox

Here are some fresh updates about the ‘KMb for Climate Change’ project. We have discovered that, when you build a sandbox for researchers and policymakers to work together, chances are, they will come and play!

November has been an exciting month for the SSHRC sponsored ‘KMb for Climate Change’ project, as we are now half a year old!  We are very excited about the level of enthusiasm and engagement from all project participants. The past two weeks demonstrate just how much the project has started to pick up momentum.

Last week, we held a project update meeting with our policy partners. The meeting included Karen Kraft Sloan, who is the Principal Investigator for the research project, along with David Phipps, the co Principal Investigator. We were also happy to be joined by Stewart Dutfield, our climate change colleague who is the Communications Manager for the Climate Consortium for Research Action and Integration (CCRAI). The meeting gave us a chance to profile some of the work already done on the project. Three of the highlights include:

• Running a successful competition to hire a recent York Masters graduate for a Researcher position with the Region of Peel to study the economic opportunities and threats posed by climate change.
• The completion of 15 ResearchSnapshots based on climate change related publications by York faculty members.
• Organizing a KM in the AM in partnership with The Gateway Project and the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority (TRCA).

We were also able to speak in more detail about developments on the horizon for the project. Some great ideas were exchanged, including the plan to develop policy relevant case studies and organizing panel discussions on climate related topics most relevant to a given policy partner.

This week on Nov 9th, we held our first KM in the AM for the project. The event focused on the topic of: Climate Change Risks to Storm Water Management. It proved to be an exciting and well-attended event. Held in the Archetype Sustainable House at the Kortright Centre, this KM in the AM was co-led by the Gateway Project, York’s Knowledge Mobilization Unit, and TRCA. The KM in the AM featured presentations by the Dr. Quentin Chiotti (Gateway), Ryan Ness (TRCA), and Dr. Kaz Higuchi (York University/Environment Canada). The event was attended by municipal stormwater engineers as well as staff from our project’s partner municipalities.

“It is important for those of us in the physical sciences to understand the scientific needs of the stakeholders, particularly in such a socio-economically important field as climate change” said Dr. Kaz Higuchi, who did a presentation on climate modelling at the event. Dr. Higuchi is an Environment Canada Scientist and an Adjunct Professor at York (see his faculty profile here). You may see slides from Dr. Higuchi’s presentation here: Kortright Centre Presentation (Nov 2010).

Our goal has been to develop a space where ideas may be exchanged and research collaboration may happen between York researchers and municipal policymakers in the area of climate change. We informally call this space the ‘Climate Change KMb sandbox’. We are really excited that our partners are starting to come and play in this sandbox and want to continue its growth and development.

Knowledge Translation and Transfer at U Guelph and OMAFRA

ResearchImpact is pleased to welcome this contribution from our KMb colleagues at OMAFRA and University of Guelph. UGeulph and OMAFRA are collaborating on a program of knowledge translation and transfer (KTT). This work complements the work of the Institute for Community Engaged Scholarship who are part of the ResearchImpact network. This piece first appeared in the OMAFRA-University of Guelph Research Yearbook. Thanks to Guelph for permission to re-post this piece authored by Alycia Moore. To all our friends in Guelph – welcome to Mobilize this!

The University of Guelph has a long history of working with the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs at the forefront of research and agricultural knowledge extension.

“It’s essential to get this research out to where it’s most useful,” says Bronwynne Wilton, who along with Evelyn Allen, joined the OMAFRA-U of G Partnership management group this year as knowledge mobilization program managers, popularly called “knowledge brokers.” In these roles, they manage Agri-Food and Rural Link, a hub for knowledge translation and transfer at the university.

One of their key responsibilities is matching the appropriate researchers with stakeholders who can use research results. That service is just one example of a wide range of knowledge translation and transfer (KTT) activities that accelerate the transfer of knowledge into use.

KTT, an important component of the partnership, also emphasizes the importance of demand-driven research, in what OMAFRA research analyst Elin Gwyn describes as a “push-pull knowledge exchange.” Stakeholders’ needs determine the research that needs to be done, while researchers disseminate the information using a variety of unique communication channels.

OMAFRA research analyst Duff MacKinnon says stakeholder engagement is essential for effective KTT program formation. “That includes setting research priorities and incorporating user involvement throughout the entire research process,” he says.

One of Agri-Food and Rural Link’s main programs is a call for project proposals for new KTT initiatives. This program is expected to lead to increased collaboration and communication between researchers, industry and the wider community, as they use KTT principles to reach out to audiences through established knowledge transfer methods as well as in innovative and unexpected ways.

The call is open to all OMAFRA and University of Guelph staff and faculty members, although collaboration with other universities, industry groups and businesses is encouraged. There will be calls for proposals three times this year.

“The Agri-Food and Rural Link program will improve the accessibility of research knowledge outside the traditional academic community,” says Wilton.

Mobilizing Minds Community Partnership Forum

What happens when community groups learn about young adult engagement and about research and knowledge mobilization? Mobilizing Minds: pathways to young adult mental health engaged community partners to bring community agencies and advocates into the Mobilizing Minds project and inform them about engaging youth in their own organizations. Young adults need a voice in mental health agencies. Community partners need a voice in research.

Mobilizing Minds is a $1.5M CIHR/MHCC funded knowledge mobilization grant that pairs young adults with adult researchers and seeks to develop knowledge tools and products that are derived from academic research but presented in the right format, at the right time, to the right people to inform decisions about mental health. Tara Syed (young adult leader) and Jenn McPhee (project coordinator) along with their community partner Mind Your Mind hosted 21 people from 16 community agencies in a conversation about youth engagement and getting involved in KMb for mental health. The half day event was held at York University on October 27, 2010.

You can see a mash up of all the Mobilizing Minds Community partner logos and photos from the event are posted here.

Before you do anything check out the overview video produced by a few of Mobilizing Minds young adult leaders…and make sure you stick around to see Mark Leonhart’s bloopers (after his expert use of the word “mobilize”). The video provides a great overview of the project from the perspective of young adults.

After Jenn and Tara described the project and the community members got a brief overview of KMb by David Phipps. The group also heard a keynote by David Kelly, Executive Director, Ontario Federation of Community Mental Health and Addiction Programs and Member of the Minister’s Advisory Group for Mental Health and Addictions. The group then got down to work. They discussed how the goals of the project intersect with a number of other projects and initiatives underway.

The group got a lot of information and were charged with staying in touch on Mobilizing Minds O3 site about two things:

1. how each organization might be able to be involved as channels for dissemination of the knowledge products to be developed by Mobilizing Minds and
2. how each organization can include young adults in their programming and planning.

Tara Syed (Young Adult Leader, Mobilizing Minds) echoed these goals. “I am glad we’re getting our project out there and that we’re one step closer to disseminating our resources in the right way to the right people. I am excited to meet the young adults who will join our team from the community partners and engaging more youth!”

York University’s KMb Unit and ResearchImpact were pleased to be there at the beginning. Mobilizing Minds can trace it’s history back to the very first KM in AM in November 2006 when Henny Westra (York University, Department of Psychology) met Mary Lynne Porto (Canadian Mental Health Association, York Region). It was through those discussions that the desire to find a pathway to young adults mental health was formed. We have blogged about Mobilizing Minds previously on February 5 and 24, 2010 and June 8, 2009 and we are pleased to see Mobilizing Minds grow into a project that is now engaging community organizations to get information to young adults.

Madalyn Marcus (PhD student, Clinical Psychology, York University) said, “This community partnership forum is directly related to my research. It is vital in moving forward with dissemination of these findings to get feedback from those in attendance today”.

Commmunity partners have tons of knowledge and experience; their value to university research and KMb projects is huge. Christine Garinger (Mind Your Mind) summed up this contribution and the energy of the group. “What wisdom we bring! What energy we bring! We don’t want to duplicate or waste time. We want to move forward in action. Awesome!

Congratualtions to Jenn, Tara and Mind Your Mind for a great partnership event.

ResearchImpact as Agents for Change!

Capping off a busy week (October 18-22) for York University’s KMb Unit, Michael Johnny was an exhibitor and presenter at the Ontario Literacy Coalition’s (OLC) recent Spotlight on Learning Conference. With its theme being ‘Agents for Change’, it was fitting that ResearchImpact had a visible presence. The OLC’s prepares Ontario for change by making adult learning opportunities possible. York KMb is brokering opportunities with OLC around governance, workplace literacy and building local research capacity. According to the OLC, “This emerging relationship speaks to the importance of partnership development in knowledge mobilization. The vision of OLC and York University’s KMb Unit align well as we work to gather data and intelligence on literacy issues and put that information into action in our workplaces, institutions and communities”.

The conference drew over 400 participants from all across Canada and included practitioners, bureaucrats, academics and other literacy stakeholders. With almost 40% of Canadians lacking the literacy skills to effectively participate in Canadian society and the knowledge economy, this was an important gathering and demonstrated OLC’s leadership around these issues.

The ResearchImpact booth spoke directly to almost 25% of the participants over the two days exhibiting; almost 100 people! The presentation on university knowledge mobilization brokering community building activity drew an additional 25 people.

Time well spent? Indeed. And like our work to date, the real indicators of the success of this participation are to come through the collaborative opportunities that many participants shared!

Special acknowledgment goes to Joseph Michael Photography (another man with two first names!) for sharing these images from the conference.

Michael Johnny at the ResearchImpact booth

 

Michael presenting on knowledge mobilization

 

 

Lesley Brown, Executive Director of the OLC