Co-designing collaboration - a speculation
Abstract
Britton and Bonser (2014) have proposed that the concept of co-design may be useful in framing researcher/practitioner collaboration. This draws attention to the production of knowledge as a joint project which ‘relies... [ view full abstract ]
Britton and Bonser (2014) have proposed that the concept of co-design may be useful in framing researcher/practitioner collaboration. This draws attention to the production of knowledge as a joint project which ‘relies heavily on the inter-action among experiences, ideas and practices of diverse groups each drawing on different experiential, professional and personal backgrounds’ (p. 5). It conceptualises researcher/practitioner collaboration as an open-ended design process. By contrast, the alternative ‘aqueduct models’ (Nicolai, 2004), which focus on tightly defining a ‘real-world’ problem and then seek a response from preexisting, context-free ‘knowledge’ can be seen as inherently constrained. Moreover, such models tend to treat both the definition of the problem, and the knowledge which is brought to bear on it to produce a ‘solution’, as questions of rationality and ‘expertise’, excluding considerations of voice and power, whereas co-design is explicitly inclusive and respectful of multiple perspectives, both on the nature of the question and on what constitutes a suitable response.
This paper explores the possibility of understanding researcher/practitioner collaboration as a co-design process, and some of the implications of understanding it in this way.
References
Bonser, P. & Britton, G. M. 2014. ‘Co-design as a frame for researcher/practitioner collaboration’, IRSPM XVIII, 9-11 April. Ottawa, Canada.
Nicolai, A. T. 2004. The Bridge to the ‘Real World’: Applied Science or a ‘Schizophrenic Tour de Force’? Journal of Management Studies, 41(6): 951-976.
Authors
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Garth Britton
(University of Queensland, Institute for Social Science Research)
Topic Area
Topics: Topic #1
Session
E101 - 1 » E101 - Connecting Public Management Researchers & Practitioners for Improved Outcomes (1/3) (13:30 - Wednesday, 13th April, ICON_Silverbox 3)
Paper
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