Bridging the Science-Management Divide: Moving from Unidirectional Knowledge Transfer to Knowledge Interfacing and Sharing
By D. Roux, K. Rogers, H. Biggs, P. Ashton, A. Sergeant. 2006
655 citations recorded by the source corpus.
Sustainable ecosystem management relies on a diverse and multi-faceted knowledge system in which techniques are continuously updated to reflect current understanding and needs. The challenge is to minimize delay as ideas flow from intent through scientific capability, and finally to implementation to achieve desired outcomes. The best way to do this is by setting the stage for the flow of knowledge between researchers, policy makers, and resource managers. The cultural differences between these groups magnify the challenge. This paper highlights the importance of the tacit dimension of knowledge, and how this renders the concept of knowledge transfer much less useful than the concepts of information transfer and technology transfer. Instead of knowledge transfer, we propose that "co-production" of knowledge through collaborative learning between "experts" and "users" is a more suitable approach to building a knowledge system for the sustainable management of ecosystems. This can be achieved through knowledge interfacing and sharing, but requires a shift from a view of knowledge as a "thing" that can be transferred to viewing knowledge as a "process of relating" that involves negotiation of meaning among partners. Lessons from informal communities of practice provide guidance on how to nurture and promote knowledge interfacing between science and management in R&D programs.
Subfields: Management, Monitoring, Policy and Law
View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/3b20360ec9adada79370983d03f4d44a5e218740
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Citations in the corpus
- How wide is the “knowing-doing” gap in invasion biology? (2010, background): “This mode of operation is much like that suggested by Roux et al. (2006) who ‘‘propose that ‘co-production’ of knowledge though collaborative learning between ‘experts’ and ‘users’ is a more suitable approach to building a knowledge system for the sustainable management of ecosystems’’.”
- Why Climate Change Makes Riparian Restoration More Important than Ever: Recommendations for Practice and Research (2009, neutral): “The challenge includes efficiently converting information into knowledge (Roux et al. 2006).”
- Priority Threat Management for biodiversity conservation: A handbook (2018, background): “A successful PTM process requires effective two- way communication amongst the project team and stakeholders from the outset, which begins with building a shared understanding of the region and the project (Roux et al., 2006; Toomey, Knight, & Barlow, 2017).”
- An operational model for mainstreaming ecosystem services for implementation (2008, background): “Such organizations must be representative of the sectors that are concerned with land-use decision-making and planning and should foster a spirit of colearning, cogovernance, and accountability (22, 23, 56), which is not always easy to achieve (19); key individuals and good leadership are of paramou”
- Participatory Scenario Planning for Protected Areas Management under the Ecosystem Services Framework: the Doñana Social-Ecological System in Southwestern Spain (2011, background): “…of management (Elster 1998); involving and empowering participants (Tippett et al. 2007); the coproduction of knowledge between experts and users (Roux et al. 2006); improving the community/ protected area relationship (Méndez-Contreas et al. 2008); reaching consensus among stakeholders and…”
- Enabling effective problem-oriented research for sustainable development (2012, background): “Establishing forums or communities of practice that enable regular interactions of scientists and practitioners can be a powerful means of achieving outreach (Wenger 2000, Kueffer 2006, Roux et al. 2006; Fig.”
- Institutional challenges in putting ecosystem service knowledge in practice (2017, neutral): “There is also a clear need for more effective science-policy-society interface mechanisms (Roux et al., 2006; Vadineanu et al., 2014; Carmen et al., 2015), which can ensure the relevance and reliability, and consequently also effectiveness, of ecosystem service knowledge from planners and…”