There are lots of pan-Canadian scholarly associations at Congress. There are lots of book sellers and publishers at Congress. There are lots of individual scholars talking about their projects at Congress. And there are three pan-Canadian organizations that support them with a presence in the book fair, the agora of Congress: Social Sciences & Humanities Research Council (SSHRC); Canadian Federation of Humanities and Social Sciences (CFHSS) and ResearchImpact-RéseauImpactRecherche (RIR). Our good friends at the Canada Foundation for Innovation are also here but without a booth.
Last night RIR, SSHRC and CFHSS enjoyed dinner with University of Victoria, hosts of Congress 2013. We spoke of the need to bring the country to Victoria and build on the efforts of Congress 2012 that has a theme of social innovation and collaboration. UVic hosted Community University Expo 2008. UVic is home to Office of Community Based Research and a Knowledge Mobilization Unit. We are looking to UVic to create its own big tent not only for all of Canada but for its local communities as well.
We first welcomed Bojan Fürst to the ResearchImpact-RéseauImpactRecherche booth at Congress. In 2011, Bojan joined the Harris Centre at Memorial University of Newfoundland and Labrador as manager of Knowledge Mobilization. You can read more about Bojan in the Harris Centre’s newsletter The Regional. In Bojan’s words, “As a manager of knowledge mobilization my job is to connect the needs of Newfoundland and Labrador communities and regions with the expertise that resides at Memorial. I am essentially a matchmaker and my tool of trade is our opportunity, research and expertise online database yaffle.ca. Yaffle is a true repository of ingenuity in this province. It is an essential component of a network of economic development practitioners, policy makers, experts, students and community champions. Yaffle would not be what it is without its users, so I do encourage all of you to register an account, and make it stronger with your own expertise and innovative ideas added to our collective knowledge.” Yaffle has been featured in a number of stories in Mobilize This! and we are pleased and proud to have a Yaffle banner and a Yaffle expert in the RIR booth.
Welcome Bojan, who fits right in not just as a knowledge broker but as someone who is always laughing and enjoying life.
Congress Day 1 was a Governor General Day. See our blog on this announcing His Excellency’s appearance at Congress. As mentioned in the Governor General’s media advisory, ResearchImpact-RéseauImpactRecherche (RIR) has been working with SSHRC and United Way Centraide Canada to develop the Community-Campus Collaboration’s Initiative. In his Keynote Address to Congress titled “A True Democracy of Knowledge”, his Excellency said the CCC Initiative “is quite simply a superb initiative. It will help us ensure that social innovation is a key component of Canada’s innovation landscape. This initiative also provides us with a catalytic vehicle to apply knowledge and develop experiential learning.” He quoted from Boyer’s book, Scholarship Reconsidered which presents some directions towards a true democracy of knowledge. Two decades ago Boyer wrote about the scholarship of discovery, the scholarship of integration, the scholarship of application and the scholarship of teaching.
These different scholarships map well onto the Community-Campus Collaborations Initiative. Community based research is an important part of engaged discovery. Community service learning and experiential education are important parts of engaged teaching. Knowledge mobilization underpins engaged discovery and all three are critical for the scholarship of integration.
His Excellency also attended a panel offered by the Canada Foundation for Innovation that featured Yves Maufette, Vice-recteur à la recherche et à la creation, RIR-UQAM. The panel examined changing models of service to communities in Canada’s universities. Very engaged. Very knowledge mobilization.
Day 1 of Congress was a very engaged and engaging day.
Canada and UK have made a commitment to social innovation for the first time. David Phipps (RIR-York) had a small part to play.
Le Canada et le Royaume-Uni ont pris un engagement pour l’innovation sociale pour la première fois. David Phipps (RIR-York) avait un petit rôle à jouer.
In September 2011 David Cameron , Prime Minister of Great Britain met with Stephen Harper, Prime Minister of Canada. They discussed many matters including international diplomacy, national security, the economy and innovation. Speaking to the House of Commons on September 22, 2012 David Cameron said of Canada, “yours is a home of innovation and technology”. During their meeting they decided to build on these mutual interests of science and innovation by committing to the drafting a Joint Innovation Statement.
David Phipps (RIR-York) was in the UK for 2 weeks of meetings on knowledge mobilization and social innovation starting November 26, 2011. At that time I wrote in Mobilize This! about my meetings with Centre for Research in Families & Relationships (University of Edinburgh) and with Community University Partnership Program (University of Brighton). What I didn’t write about at the time was about my meetings with agencies interested in social innovation. I met with the Young Foundation, a global leader in social innovation, and with NESTA, “the UK’s innovation foundation”. Caroline Martin, Trade Commissioner for science & technology of the Canadian High Commission in London, was immensely helpful in setting up and accompanying me to those meetings. We discussed the importance of social innovation to Canada and the UK, a conversation we have since continued with Nicole Arbour, Team Lead for the Science & Innovation Network of the British High Commission in Ottawa. Together we explored opportunities for collaboration on social innovation with Canadian organizations such as Social Innovation Generation and the McConnell Family Foundation whose leadership of social innovation in Canada parallels that of NESTA and the Young Foundation in the UK.
At the same time Caroline and Nicole were helping their colleagues draft the Joint Innovation Statement called for by Prime Ministers Harper and Cameron. Recognizing the mutual interests of Canada and the UK in social innovation, our conversations helped inform the decision to include social innovation in the text of the Joint Innovation Statement.
As reported by the British High Commission on May 9, 2012 the Joint Innovation statement was signed by the Honourable Ed Fast, Canada’s Minister of International Trade and Minister for the Asia-Pacific Gateway, and Lord Green, the United Kingdom’s Minister of State for Trade and Investment. The text of the Joint Innovation Statement includes a commitment to support social innovation:
“The Participants will consider to take joint initiatives in the following priority areas (including) Social innovation: Working with academic, government, and civil society partners to leverage research and innovation activities for greater societal benefits.”
“Social Innovation is one outcome of knowledge mobilization for which York has developed an international reputation,” said Robert Haché, York’s vice-president research & innovation. “New discoveries are being made to address persistent social challenges through social innovation. Our conversations with the British and Canadian High Commissions helped inform the decision to include social innovation in the text of the Joint Innovation statement. The outcome reflects the growing international appreciation of the work of York’s Knowledge Mobilization Unit and its leadership role in ResearchImpact, Canada’s knowledge mobilization network, in working to turn research into action.”
This joint, diplomatic commitment to social innovation between Canada and the UK finds another home in David Johnston, Governor General of Canada. On February 17, 2012 he wrote of knowledge diplomacy in the Globe & Mail asking, “So how do we bring about a smart and caring world that is at once prosperous, sustainable and resilient? Our ability to work together – to practise the diplomacy of knowledge – will be the key to our success.” As announced on May 3, 2012 by the Canadian Federation of Humanities and Social Sciences (CFHSS, organizers of Congress 2012), His Excellency will lead a “discussion of cross-sector collaboration and social innovation at Congress 2012 (that) will encourage students, researchers, employees and citizens alike, as we strive for greater prosperity and quality of life for all.” In their May 3 announcement CFHSS also recognized the work of York University, on behalf of RIR in the Community-Campus Collaboration Initiative.
Collaborating for social innovation is now recognized as a priority for Canada and for the UK. RIR-York was there and will be there working with colleagues from Canada and the UK to support knowledge mobilization as a process that enables enhanced social innovation.
Janice Chu (United Way of York Region), Jeremy Laurin (ventureLAB), David Phipps (RIR-York)
York University, United Way of York Region and ventureLAB are collaborating to support social innovation and social enterprises in York Region. On May 15 they will speak about the assets they bring to bear to help address persistent social challenges.
Picture this: Metro Toronto Convention Centre. May 15. Over 2,600 attendees listening to a multi-sectoral panel on social innovation.
That’s what we’re doing at Discovery 2012, Ontario’s premier technology and innovation showcase. Hosted by the Ontario Centres of Excellence, Discovery is Ontario’s annual conference bringing together university, college and industry based researchers, students, entrepreneurs and innovators. Traditionally focused on technology sectors such as green tech, health tech and ICTs, this year Discovery is going social and exploring the role of social innovation and social enterprises in Ontario’s innovation landscape. Mobilize This! has previously written about efforts to introduce social innovation into the federal innovation agenda and on May 15, in the Metro Toronto Convention Centre, over 2,600 delegates (well, those that attend the panel at least) will hear this message. York Region’s innovation sector will speak about how we are sowing the seeds of social innovation in York Region and how we are starting to build relationships to support innovators and entrepreneurs seeking to address persistent social, environmental and cultural challenges.
This panel at Discovery represents early conversations with York Region’s vibrant entrepreneurial sector (represented by Lahav Gil of the Kangaroo Group), a regional hospital network (represented by Pat Clifford of Southlake Regional Health Centre) and the three primary supports for innovation in York Region: ventureLAB (York Region’s Regional Innovation Centre represented by CEO, Jeremy Laurin), York University (represented by Vice-President Research & Innovation, Robert Haché) and the United Way of York Region (represented by Janice Chu, Director Community Investments). For the first time in the history of Discovery the community sector will be represented. We will also be joined by Allyson Hewitt, Advisor, Social Innovation and Director, Social Entrepreneurship MaRS, who will reflect on York Region’s assets and efforts and place them in a provincial context.
ventureLAB, York U and UWYR are actively discussing how best to support an emerging cohort of social entrepreneurs. UWYR has a Strength Investments program (itself a social innovation) that has already invested $300,000 in 11 community based innovations to address local opportunities. ventureLAB has an established Build program and Entrepreneurs in Residence that can be made available to social entrepreneurs. York University’s Knowledge Mobilization Unit will actively broker collaborations between social entrepreneurs and researchers/students so that social innovations are grounded in the latest research. The Innovation York accelerator space at the Markham Convergence Centre, co-located with ventureLAB and other York Region innovation acceleration services such as the York Technology Alliance, will be available to social entrepreneurs seeking a space to grow their businesses.
Stay tuned for details on how we will weave these assets into a coherent value proposition but we have progressed beyond recognizing the need and moved into the “how to” stages. This energy will build on the primary message of the recent Public Policy Forum reportthat spoke of the value of collaboration as a key component of innovation and singled out York Region as a region that was making strides to supporting multi-sectoral collaboration.
Discovery 2013. That’s when we will share the emerging York Region story – still separate silos beginning the dialogue on and action to support social innovation and social entrepreneurship so we can make a difference in the lives of York Region’s diverse citizens. Come with us as we discover social innovation.
I used to think the ResearchImpact-RéseauImpactRecherche (RIR) partner institutions were diverse in our knowledge mobilization practices: St. John’s to Victoria, institution and research unit based, French and English… and then I spent three days in Hamilton at the K* (Kstar) conference.
J’avais l’habitude de penser que les partenaires du RéseauImpactRecherche – ResearchImpact (RIR) étaient variés dans leurs pratiques de mobilisation des connaissances : de St. John’s à Victoria, des institutions et des services de recherche, en français et en anglais…. et puis j’ai passé trois jours à Hamilton la « K* (Kstar) conference »
About sixty knowledge brokers (or innovation brokers, a new name to describe the fact many of us broker beyond just knowledge and work in broader systems of innovation) came to Hamilton, Ontario from 6 continents. I met people from Ghana. Canada. England. Mauritius. Netherlands. Argentina. Scotland. Germany. Australia. United States. France. Nigeria. Vanuatu. Kenya. And there were more. Old. Young. In between. We practice K* in disciplines: communications, health policy, mental health, education, water, climate change, agriculture, health systems, international development, geography, nuclear disposal.Some of us research K*. Some, like me, work in a system of K* serving diverse institutional and community stakeholders. Some of us work in universities. Some work in NGOs. Policy shops. Funding agencies. Think Tanks. Multilateral bodies. Some of us work in linkage and exchange, some in knowledge transfer, some in knowledge mobilization. Our audiences include civil society, government, industry and practitioners as well as the public. We use social media, traditional media and community broadcast systems.
Check some of the talking head videos from the Kstar2012 conference.
What makes a group diverse is, by definition, the unique nature of the participants. Many participants were associated with universities. Some were faculty members or students in research projects. Some were part of university based engaged research projects. Some represented networks of individual researchers from many universities. But as far as I could tell I was the only representative of the University as an Institution supporting a pan-University investment in K* services and RIR was the only national system of Institutions who have made an investment in pan-university K*.
We worked over three days and filtered tons of energy down to three main themes for further development and thinking:
-a global K* network
-assessing impact of K*
-K* in developing countries and the democratizing of different knowledge(s)
Apart from assessing impact, I would not have predicted these foci of K* going into the K* meeting. That’s what diversity can do. It allows the unexpected to happen.
As I reflect on the “diversity” of Canada’s RIR system of knowledge mobilization universities I can put it in perspective and realize that we have a lot in common as a Canadian network. My work on the K* conference allows me to focus on what we share as well as what makes each RIR unit unique. RIR is about to launch plans for expanding Canada’s knowledge mobilization network. As much as possible we will seek to maximize the diversity within our own network so that the unexpected can also happen in Canada.
In the previous two installments of my aha moments from K* you will have seen all the countries that are home to some of the brokers at this conference. What is also impressive is the diversity of disciplines in which we work: communications, health policy, mental health, education, water, climate change, agriculture, health systems, international development, geography, nuclear disposal (yes…really!)
My aha came today in my panel with Glowen and Leandro. We developed a list of common lessons derived from our very different practices. The lessons learned are:
Build trust between partners
Develop capacity for K* in all partners
Use a mix of methodologies
Use web 2.0 tools
Involve traditional media
Peer supports
Knowledge is not static and is co-constructed
Understand the political, social and economic situations of the partners
Build a culture of K* for all participants
Moderator Derek Brien (Executive Director & Co-founder, Pacific Institute of Public Policy, Vanuatu) helped the panelists and the audience dig into this seemingly dichotomous relationship between convergence and divergence. There was general agreement on these common “guidelines” across different contexts but this doesn’t mean that I could hop on a plane and start my own knowledge intermediary practice in Ghana. These guidelines merely serve as a starting point. Knowing them before going into a new setting gives the broker a head start but it doesn’t replace local context and local knowledge. Aha!
But there is also something else starting to crystalize for me. Not so much an aha! as a hmmmmm….
This conference is the closest thing to a K* love-in that I can imagine. We are converging on many issues and many common themes and diverging on some such as the role of K* in advocacy. I am hearing lots of common challenges/opportunities but we’re not moving to solutions/actions. Today someone suggested we need a K* Code of Ethics. That’s a solution to an identified need around differential power in some knowledge relationships. I am hoping through the K* process – which is ongoing beyond these three days – we can identify common challenges/opportunities and move to addressing some common solutions/actions.
The following article appeared in York University’s YFile on April 24, 2012 and is reposted with permission.
York University is playing an important role in the first conference of its kind that is dedicated to better mobilizing and brokering knowledge.
The K*2012 conference, which starts today and continues until April 27, provides a forum for an international cohort of delegates to share their ideas and practices in knowledge mobilization. York’s Knowledge Mobilization Unit and Research Impact are two of the sponsoring organizations involved in the conference.
“York University is a recognized leader in Knowledge Mobilization in Canada and internationally,” said Robert Haché, York’s vice-president Research & Innovation. “We are pleased to participate in this event. The K*2012 conference provides an opportunity for global experts to share their perspectives on knowledge-brokering practices and its impact on the creation of public policies.”
How to better mobilize knowledge and maximize its usefulness will be the focus of some 60 experts from 20 countries. David Phipps, director of Research Services & Knowledge Exchange at York University, serves on the conference steering committee and is a participant in a panel discussion featuring experts in knowledge mobilization.
“This conference is the first of its kind,” said Phipps. “I will be sharing York’s knowledge mobilization practices with knowledge brokers from knowledge intermediary organizations around the world. I am particularly excited about presenting a panel with a knowledge broker from Argentina and one from Ghana. Despite the very different national contexts we have identified eight shared outcomes from our very different practices.”
As part of the conference proceedings, delegates will lay the foundation for future work, including establishment of a global community of interested parties and mechanisms to sustain it. The conference chair, Alex Bielak, senior Fellow and knowledge broker of the United Nations University’s Hamilton-based Institute for Water, Environment and Health (UNU-INWEH), will create a legacy document to capture ideas on reducing the gulf between knowledge and action.
The York University community can join the conference through social media. There will be a daily conference blog available on GDNet providing updates on plenary and panel discussions and interviews with speakers and participants. The blog offers a forum for University community members to ask questions and share their ideas and research about their experiences navigating the knowledge-policy interface. Twitter updates including photos, live updates, participants comments regarding discussions can accessed by following @Connect2GDNet and #Kstar2012.
University community members can also register here to watch full coverage of the plenary and panel sessions, or they can subscribe to receive GDNet blog email alerts and blog newsfeed offering a daily digest of conference news.
France. Nigeria. Vanuatu. Kenya. Home to more of the knowledge brokers I met today. Truly a global experience.
Lots of work on tap today. Today wasn’t just listening to talking heads – huge THANK YOU for that.
First up – provocative opening by Derek Brien who said we need to focus on the process of K* and not the outcomes those processes enable. This was contextualized but mostly echoed by John Lavis (Program in Policy Decision Making). I don’t disagree with the need to focus on the process. This is the message of my paper with Daniele Zanotti that illustrates that campus-community collaborations are a journey not a destination. We are also on record as saying the knowledge mobilization is a process that enables social innovation. So the process is important. But if we don’t also focus on the outcome how can we measure our processes and improve upon them? I think Derek Brien and John Lavis are saying that (depending on your audience) the outcome is often a political decision that you as a knowledge broker have no control over so focus on the process (over which you do have control) and leave the outcome to those who are making the decision regardless of whether or not you agree with the decision.
Second aha moment came when we were discussing the principles of collaboration and our table got heavily into a discussion about knowledge brokering using on line tools. The principles of on line collaboration were:
Provide leadership
Create incentives
Assign dedicated staff
Know the trajectory of your collaboration (have an end in mind)
Mix formal and informal networking
We reflected that the principles of collaboration are the same on line and in real life. Maybe it’s no surprise that the conditions required for effective on line collaboration are the same as in real life but who knew until you started comparing the two. Likely there are differences. Maybe access and adoption of technology and the fact that trust is earned differently (but is still earned) is different between on line and real life, but these principles are shared.
And after all the rum tasting (yes, we found time to mobilize more than knowledge) one picture summed up the day (thank you Robyn Read from Research Supporting Practice in Education).
Ghana. Canada. England. Mauritius. Netherlands. Argentina. Scotland. Germany. Australia. United States. And many more. The opening reception of the K* conference brought together many friends of ResearchImpact-RéseauImpactRecherche and introduced us to new knowledge intermediary colleagues from around the world.
The start of the K* (“Kstar”) conference saw the 60 or so delegates going through some ice breaking events to get to know each other – which might have been needed in other settings but the energy was high this evening as brokers and policy makers got to chat to researchers and practitioners from around the world.
I am pleased to say that the two delegates with whom I am sharing a panel, Leandro Echt from Centro de Implementación de Políticas Públicas para la Equidad y el Crecimiento (CIPPEC, Center for the Implementation of Public Policies Promoting Equity and Growth), Buenos Ares, Argentia and Glowen Kyei-Mensah from Participatory Development Associates in Accra, Ghana were the finalists in the competition to win a copy of Louise Shaxon’s book.
This book includes a chapter on knowledge intermediaries and how we all, at some point, act as knowledge intermediaries in connecting science and research to policy and practice. The book launch was the first event of the K* program.
I am delighted to be representing York’s Knowledge Mobilization Unit and the ResearchImpact-RéseauImpactRecherche network at this international workshop designed to describe a global knowledge intermediary practice. I shall be blogging and tweeting throughout the week. Stay tuned for stories from the floor of the K* conference.
It’s also the closest any of us will come to knowledge mobilization groupies. “I am a huge fan of your work”. “We are using your publications as the basis of our intermediary work.” “Your blog is amazing” are some of the comments that made me smile this evening.
Absolutely! @KTExchange: If you're going to do CBPR, you have to be willing to learn a different way, not be the one who sets the agenda 44 minutes ago
scholars talking about their projects at Congress. And there are three pan-Canadian organizations that support them with a presence in the book fair, the agora of Congress: Social Sciences & Humanities Research Council (SSHRC); Canadian Federation of Humanities and Social Sciences (CFHSS) and ResearchImpact-RéseauImpactRecherche (RIR). Our good friends at the Canada Foundation for Innovation are also here but without a booth.
