Paper long abstract:

The presentation will discuss the concept and practice of knowledge co-production and integration in a co-operative research process by reflecting on the experiences gained in a project, which involved researchers from academic institutions and members from civil society organisations in research on 'Alternative Agro-Food Networks'. The goal was to produce knowledge which goes beyond the narrow designation of being called 'scientific' and embraces different kinds of knowledge, represented by different actors participating in the research process. Moreover, the project aimed at becoming conscious about the 'framing of knowledge (production)', which refers to the process of giving knowledge a certain form or shape, prioritising its most important elements, stressing some dimensions versus marginalising others, referring to other concepts and parts of knowledge and interlinking it with certain social problems, interests and needs.

The presentation will highlight the relevance of differentiation and integration in the context of knowledge co-production and explain how these concepts have been implemented in practice in the course of a transdisciplinary research activity. Our experiences illustrate that the implementation of differentiation and integration steps is complex. We identified certain conditions and some key aspects influencing the process of knowledge co-production and integration. Finally the presentation will conclude with basic rules and some good practice tips for a meaningful engagement of CSOs in research.

The presentation builds on an interpretative analysis of diverse material collected in situ over the course of reflexive project steering, combined with retrospective in-depth interviews.