Development geography I: Co-production

Abstract

Co-production of knowledge is a promising approach to promote more just and sustainable development outcomes. However, co-production covers many approaches, with a cleavage between those focusing on outcomes and the production of actionable knowledge; and those focusing on process and inclusion of multiple voices. There is not always dedicated commitment to identify and confront the embodied power relations nor the hegemonic knowledge systems among the participants in the process. Yet, the politics of configuring knowledge cannot be ignored. I argue that learning from the experiences and pitfalls of participatory development is essential if co-production is to meet its transformative potential.

Reconciling impact and participation: Reflections on collaborating with specialist organisations for PhD research

“…There is a differentiation in Geographical debates of collaborative work between research approaches which focus on ‘outcomes and the production of actionable knowledge’, and approaches which focus on ‘process and inclusion of multiple voices’ (Vincent, 2022, p. 1). The former refers to tangible research outcomes or ideas of impact (Oliver et al, 2019; Schmidt et al, 2020).…”

“…The former refers to tangible research outcomes or ideas of impact (Oliver et al, 2019; Schmidt et al, 2020). The latter refers to normative ideas of participation , inclusion and transformative research (Jagannathan et al, 2020; Pain et al, 2011; Turnhout et al, 2020; Vincent, 2022). The literature surrounding each will now be discussed in turn.…”

“…In the discussion of collaborative research as a means of producing ‘actionable knowledge’ (Vincent, 2022, p. 1) is the idea that this approach improves the quality of academic research (Schmidt et al, 2020). This argument states that collaboration makes research more innovative by promoting knowledge sharing, facilitating access to data, and providing deeper analytical insights (Jagannathan et al, 2020; Schmidt et al, 2020).…”

“…Second, collaboration with non‐academic partners in Geographical research has been linked to the concept of participation and participatory research. The theoretical foundation of participatory research emphasises the desire for research to include multiple voices in the scientific process, and change the relationship between science and society (Jagannathan et al, 2020; Turnhout et al, 2020; Vincent, 2022). Participation has long been a core concept in Geography, including Environmental Geography, following a ‘participatory turn’ in the discipline focusing on democratising the process of knowledge production (Chilvers, 2009; Gilchrist et al, 2015).…”

Curriculum in Professional Practice: Opening a forum for co‐production and innovation by and for professionals

“…Whilst we appreciate the barriers to inclusion of such outputs within REF submissions and the problematic nature of such accountability measures, there is still an imperative for co‐produced processes and outputs to be valued within the educational communities engaged in curriculum research. We take a critical view of co‐production, whereby power relations need to be considered through explicit recognition of who is involved and how the process is enacted (Vincent, 2022). This first Curriculum in Professional Practice forum demonstrates the immediate possibilities for this with a Perspectives and reflections article (Wall et al., 2024) that is co‐produced between academics, students and a teacher, where the authors detail the parties involved and the enquiry process used.…”