Title: Thinking, talking, doing: integrated research and the professionalisation of sciencesociety connecti
1Research Topics in Sustainable Development
Seminar Center for International
Development Kennedy School of Government, Harvard
University October 27, 2003
- Thinking, talking, doing integrated research
and the professionalisation of science-society
connections - Lorrae van Kerkhoff
- National Centre for Epidemiology and Population
Health
2Summary
- Background snapshots
- Overview of case studies
- Overview of findings
- Professionalisation speculations on where were
heading
3Integrated research is??
- Agenda 21 (UNCED, 1992)We need to be
Supporting new scientific research programmes
to complement and encourage synergies between
traditional and conventional scientific knowledge
and practices and strengthening interdisciplinary
research related to environmental degradation and
rehabilitation - UNESCO (1999) the relationship between
scientific research and practical benefits is
much more diverse and complex today than in the
past, and frequently involves many players other
than researchers. The progress of science must
be defended through its relevance and
effectiveness in addressing the needs and
expectations of our societies.
4Integrated research is??
- Kinzig et al. (2001)
- Interdisciplinary research will represent one of
the frontiers of scientific inquiry in the 21st
century, as scientists elucidate the dynamics of
complex interdependent social and natural
systems. A fundamentally new level of
integration in research across disparate fields
is required. - Board on Sustainable Development, NRC
(2000)Sustainability science will therefore have
to be above all else integrative sciencescience
committed to bridging barriers that separate
traditional modes of inquiry. It will need to
integrate across styles of knowledge creation,
bridging the gulf that separates the detached
practice of scholarship from the engaged practice
of engineering and management.
5Integrated research is??
- Land and Water Australia, 2001
- A perennial challenge for most agencies in
natural resource management is that of
integration across issues and programs across
different scales of activity across different
jurisdictions across ecological, economic and
social factors and across the spectrum from
knowledge generation to its transformation and
utilisation. - Chief Scientists Report, 2000
- Integrating the innovation system across all
points can increase the chance of generating more
products and processes that enhance our
lifestyle. The innovation system is dependent on
strong links between all players, government,
industry and research performers.
6Integrated research is??
- Within and beyond science
- Interdisciplinary, inter-organizational
- Cross-institutional
- Supply- and demand-driven
- Science that is relevant and useful
- (and well funded)
- Policy and action well informed by science
7Beyond inspiration
- How do practitioners think / talk about
integration? - Theoretical perspectives tend to focus on
barriers and boundaries - How do they conceptualise the detail?
- How do the concepts compare to actual practice?
- Where are they useful? Not useful?
- What else is going on?
- What can we learn?
8The case studies
- Two cases Cooperative Research Centres
- CRC for Coastal Zone, Estuary and Waterway
Management - CRC for Greenhouse Accounting
- Mandate to integrate
- Among researchers
- With stakeholders
- Different policy contexts
- Local regional
- National international
Participants should form collaborative
relationships within an integrated research
program. Participants should not divide the
research program into discrete projects that are
carried out solely by individual participants,
pursuing their own separate objectives. (CRC
Program, 1999).
The degree to which key user groups, including
industry, have been integrated into the CRC as
core participants (CRC Program, 2001)
9Talk of integrated research
- Talk of concepts technical
- Interdisciplinarity
- Models
- Processes
- Talk of practice social
- Negotiation
- Teamwork
- Identity
10Reconciliation in practice
- Commitment to action
- On the ground
- Political engagement
- Academic change
- Orientation to the future
- Strategic thinking
- Opportunities
- Processes
11(Conceptual) tools of the trade
- Action contexts
- Different ways of influencing action / effecting
change - Trajectories
- Distinguished by basic orientations (Whats
certain? important?) - Multi-layered
- Permeable, allows for interweaving
12(Conceptual) tools of the trade
- Action and trajectories zones of change
Zone of change 1
Trajectory 1
Shared zone of change
Trajectory 2
Zone of change 2
Time
13(Conceptual) tools of the trade
- 4 dimensions of science
- Individual creativity
- Collegial peer review
- Role in society
- Role in social change
14 Science and action
- Four steps
- Mapping the terrain scientific skills
policy arenas - Assessing context negotiable? not
negotiable? - Positioning research negotiated strategic
- Research design and conduct
15Designing and doing research
- Ethos
- Greenhouse CRC to provide research outputs for
greenhouse emissions accounting at the national
and project level. - Coastal CRC to bridge the gaps between science,
the community and policy making organisations.
16A process
Identify scientific skills
Identify relatedaction arenas
Can scientific and action interests be negotiated?
Strategic positioning Account for policy
circumstances
Negotiated positioning Negotiate complementary
research
no
yes
Design and conduct relevant research programs and
projects conventional, participatory,
interdisciplinary, etc.
17Professionalisation
- An analogous case strategic planning
- Shift from intuitive to formalised approaches
- Coordination, control, rationality in dealing
with turbulent conditions - Orientation towards external environment and
partners - Engaging with the future
18Risks of codifying
- Mintzberg (1990)
- Commitment
- (In-) flexibility
- Conservatism
- Defines and reinforces categories,
- Incremental change
- Mechanistic, linear
- Self-reflection ? self-justification?
19The rain or the dance?
- Quinn (1980) cited in Mintzberg (1990)
- A good deal of the corporate planning I have
observed is like a ritual rain dance it has no
effect on the weather that follows, but those who
engage in it think it does. Moreover, it seems to
me that much of the advice and instruction
related to corporate planning is directed at
improving the dancing, not the weather. -
20What kind of change is this?
- Shift in emphasis
- Incremental
- Compatible with prevailing scientific practice
- Focus on skill-building
- Shift in values
- Profound
- Significant break from tradition
- Focus on challenging the system
- Which strategy should we adopt?
21The process
Identify scientific skills
Identify relatedaction arenas
Can scientific and action interests be negotiated?
Strategic positioning Account for policy
circumstances
Negotiated positioning Negotiate complementary
research
no
yes
Values?
Design and conduct relevant research programs and
projects conventional, participatory,
interdisciplinary, etc.
Incremental?