The role of engaged scholarship and co-production to address urban challenges: a case study of the Cape Town Knowledge Transfer Programme

Abstract

The increasing recognition globally of the difficulties faced by local governments in their attempts to address the complex nature of urban policy has led to engaged scholarship and knowledge co-production increasingly being invoked. To better understand how knowledge partnerships are formed, sustained and the (perceived) benefits of such knowledge configurations, this paper draws on the knowledge transfer programme (KTP). The KTP (2012–2015) was a partnership between academic researchers at the University of Cape Town and city practitioners at the City of Cape Town, based on the assumption that a single knowledge base is not sufficient to respond to the changing nature of urban and environmental change. The benefit of partnerships and the collaborative approach used in the KTP are detailed. Using qualitative research methods, it is argued that more engaged interactions, including knowledge co-production approaches between the researchers and the practitioners generates multiple benefits. Whilst the engagement for both institutions lies in the knowledge produced during the interaction, the process of embedding in alternate institutional spaces for sustained periods resulted in building trust, deepening partnerships and surfacing of tacit knowledge. Furthermore, individual benefits accrued by participants including support available to researchers and officials through fostered relationships, access to data and knowledge, improved understanding of urban issues, broadened networks via new partnerships, conceptual reflection and wider knowledge bases through collaboration and embedded research were found to be significant.

Keywords:

• Engaged scholarship
• partnerships
• knowledge co-production
• Knowledge Transfer Programme
• Cape Town

Acknowledgements

We are grateful to interviewees for their time and inputs. Many thanks too to Nicola Burmeister and Saskia Greyling for constructive comments and inputs to earlier drafts. The comments and suggestions from the three anonymous reviewers have greatly enhanced the paper, thank you for your time and careful consideration. Any omissions and errors remain our own.

Notes

1. The premise for the establishment of the ACC stems from the understanding for the need for academic knowledge to be pooled with other forms of practice-based knowledge by exposing academics to the problems faced by local government and city practitioners so that more effective and relevant contributions for urban development processes could be produced (Anderson et al., 2013; Patel, Greyling, Parnell, & Pirie, 2015; Pieterse, 2013; Watson, 2009).

2. Mistra Urban Futures is an international centre for sustainable urban development. The headquarters is located in Gothenburg, Sweden. At the time of the research, the centre operated in four cities around the world including Cape Town, Gothenburg, Greater Manchester and Kisumu. Mistra Urban Futures focused in Phase 1 (2010–2015) on co-production of knowledge as well as creating fair, green and accessible cities for a sustainable urban future. A global arena provides for interaction between the four cities.

3. Engaged scholarship involves combining different sources of knowledge to create, or co-produce, new knowledge (MUFR, 2014).

4. The Energy Governance interventions, based in the Environmental Resource Management Department aimed to offer perspectives and analysis of national policy and its implications for the City. The Space Economy interventions, based in Spatial Planning and Urban Design, sought to co-create an economic platform to inform planning decisions – resulted in the development of The economic Areas Management Plan (ECAMP) as an output. The other two policy areas that were the Green Economy and Climate Adaptation. These two areas were new on the CCT policy agenda, being introduced in parallel with the KTP, both concerned primarily with setting up appropriate institutional structures to support policy development.

5. Including the Project Steering Committee (PSC) and Project Advisory Committee (PAC). The PSC was a high-level strategic committee, co-chaired by the City and ACC. Meeting venues alternated between the university and the City, on a monthly basis. The PAC steered the operations of the KTP, also co-chaired by City and ACC members. This committee included all embedded researchers and their city counterparts.