Co-production of knowledge in soils governance
Katrin Prager katrin.prager@hutton.ac.uk
CECHR Symposium 11 February 2015
Prager, K.; McKee, A. (in press) International Journal of Rural Law and Policy
Knowledge types involved in soil governance in the Scottish case study ď Ź What is the role of knowledge in the process of soils governance? ď Ź How can the combination of different types of knowledge influence soil governance?
Types of knowledge: Scientific/expert knowledge; Bureaucratic/administrative/policy-makers stakeholder/citizens/lay/practical/non-scientific
Levels of interaction Identify interaction levels to derive the extent to which knowledge co-production has taken place: a) major interaction/ two way communication b) medium interaction/ one way communication c) minor or absent interaction (Edelenbos et al. 2011)
Activities and co-production processes Timeline Feb 2009
Activity Arena and co-production process Soil Focus Group set up and three Arena 1 - Between natural scientists and annual meetings participants at SFG meetings
2012 – early 2013
Survey consultations: first by SFG Arena 2 – Between SFG subgroup/ natural subgroup , second by natural scientists and representatives of stakeholder scientists groups (soil data users)
Feb – May 2013
Negotiation about study of soil data and information needs
Jun - Aug 2013
Iterative development of study format
Sep-Oct 2013 Dec 13 Until March 2014
Interviews with soil data users Report submitted Exchanges about further steps, feedback
Arena 3 – Between social scientists, core policy actors (SG RESAS, SNH, SEPA) and stakeholders
Findings medium to major level of interaction
Timeline
Activity
Arena and co-production process
Feb 2009
Soil Focus Group set up and three annual meetings
Arena 1 - Between natural scientists and participants at SFG meetings
2012 – early 2013
Survey consultations: first by SFG subgroup , second by natural scientists
Arena 2 – Between SFG subgroup/ natural scientists and representatives of stakeholder groups (soil data users)
Feb – May 2013
Negotiation about study of soil data and information needs
Jun - Aug 2013
Iterative development of study format
Sep-Oct 2013
Interviews with soil data users
Dec 13
Report submitted
Until March 2014
Exchanges about further steps, feedback
Arena 3 – Between social scientists, core policy actors (SG RESAS, SNH, SEPA) and stakeholders
medium level of interaction major interaction between social scientists and policy actors;
medium to no interaction between stakeholders and policy actors
Findings Different levels of interaction, with co-production processes complementing each other Divergence in problem framing between the actor groups, diverse soil data needs Variation in perceptions of solutions
Challenges remain: blurred boundaries of co-production arenas, delineation of knowledge types Extent to which knowledge co-production is pursued depends on issues at stake, actors, culture of governance, resources and power held by different stakeholders