It has been proposed that “researcher/practitioner collaboration should be seen… as a construction site, where individuals with diverse backgrounds, experiences, perspectives and skills meet to build something which they have as yet to imagine (Britton 2017). Evidence exists that such networks play a vital role in the field of Social Innovation (Haxeltine et al., 2017; Britton 2017b), but there is a tendency for researchers to remain invisible, or pretend to be external to them.
By comparing two particularly interesting examples: the Social Innovation Exchange (SIX), formed initially by the Young Foundation in the United Kingdom, but now linking regional-based networks around the world; and the DESIS (Design and SocialInnovation for Sustainability) Network, a global network of design schools and other organisations applying design principles in support of sustainability andsocial innovation, this paper looks at what value might emerge from explicitly recognising and reflecting on the way researchers interact with, influence and promote the networks they study but also from part of.
Britton, G. M. (2017a).Designing for a new culture. IRSPM XXI. Budapest, Hungary.
Britton, G. (2017b).Co-Design and Social Innovation: Connections, Tensions and Opportunities. NewYork, Abingdon, Routledge.
Haxeltine, A., Pel, B., Dumitru, A., Kemp, R., Avelino, F., Jørgensen, M. S., Wittmayer, J., Kunze, I., Dorland, J., & Bauler, T. 2017a. Deliverable D3.4: Consolidated version of TSI theory: TRANSIT
The practice panel (Connecting researchers and practitioners SIG)
