Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

To co-produce or not to co-produce

Nature Sustainability volume 1, pages 722–724 (2018)Cite this article

Subjects

Researchers, stakeholders and funding organizations have embraced co-production of knowledge to solve sustainability problems. Research focusing on the practice of co-production can help us understand what works in what contexts and how to avoid potentially undesirable outcomes.

In the sustainability and climate change arenas, scientists, stakeholders and funders increasingly believe that collaborating to co-produce knowledge will increase its use in policy, decision-making and practice1. In the last decade, co-production how-to guides, webpages, handbooks and peer-reviewed articles have proliferated, and many funding solicitations now include requirements for scientist–stakeholder engagement and co-production. For many, this represents much needed change in the culture of science — a small step toward relinquishing the old and powerful myth that any and all science inherently meets society’s goals.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Relevant articles

Open Access articles citing this article.

Access options

Rent or buy this article

Get just this article for as long as you need it

$39.95

Learn more

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

References

  1. Irwin, E. G. et al. Nat. Sustain. 1, 324–326 (2018).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Bremer, S. & Meisch, S. Wiley Interdiscip. Rev. Clim. Chang 8, 1–22 (2017).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Armitage, D., Berkes, F., Dale, A., Kocho-Schellenberg, E. & Patton, E. Glob. Environ. Change 21, 995–1004 (2011).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Fujitani, M., McFall, A., Randler, C. & Arlinghaus, R. Sci. Adv. 3, 1–12 (2017).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Akpo, E., Crane, T. A., Vissoh, P. V. & Tossou, R. C. J. Agric. Ext. Educ. 21, 369–388 (2015).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Lemos, M. C., Kirchhoff, C. J., Kalafatis, S. E., Scavia, D. & Rood, R. B. Weather. Clim. Soc. 6, 273–285 (2014).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Lövbrand, E. Sci. Pub. Policy 38, 225–236 (2011).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Hegger, D. & Dieperink, C. Ecol. Soc. 20, 1 (2015).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Porter, J. J. & Dessai, S. Environ. Sci. Policy 77, 9–14 (2017).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Meehan, K., Klenk, N. L. & Mendez, F. Sci. Technol. Human Values http://doi.org/gcz7wk (2017).

  11. Klenk, N. Nat. Cult. 13, 332–355 (2018).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Newton, A. & Elliott, M. Front. Mar. Sci. 3, 1–13 (2016).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Wall, T. U., Meadow, A. M. & Horganic, A. Weather. Clim. Soc. 9, 95–107 (2017).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Spaapen, J. & van Drooge, L. Res. Eval. 20, 211–218 (2011).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Chubb, J. & Reed, M. S. Br. Politics http://doi.org/cw3x (2018).

Download references

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Socio-Environmental Synthesis Center (SESYNC) under funding received from the National Science Foundation (NSF) DBI-1052875. Any opinions, findings, conclusions and recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the NSF.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School for Environment and Sustainability, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA

    Maria Carmen Lemos & James C. Arnott

  2. Aspen Global Change Institute, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA

    James C. Arnott

  3. Stanford University, Graduate School of Education and Woods Institute for the Environment, Stanford, CA, USA

    Nicole M. Ardoin

  4. Urban Sustainability Directors Network, Baltimore, MD, USA

    Kristin Baja

  5. The Pew Charitable Trusts, Washington, DC, USA

    Angela T. Bednarek

  6. Wageningen University, Public Administration and Policy Group, Wageningen, Netherlands

    Art Dewulf

  7. Science, Technology, & International Affairs, Georgetown University, Washington, DC, USA

    Clare Fieseler

  8. Tijuana River National Estuarine Research Reserve, Irvine, CA, USA

    Kristen A. Goodrich

  9. School of Social Ecology, University of California Irvine, Irvine, CA, USA

    Kristen A. Goodrich

  10. Energy and Resources Group, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA

    Kripa Jagannathan

  11. Department of Physical and Environmental Sciences, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

    Nicole Klenk

  12. Department of Earth System Science, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA

    Katharine J. Mach

  13. Institute of the Environment, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA

    Alison M. Meadow

  14. Center for Community and Citizen Science, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA, USA

    Ryan Meyer

  15. Earth Institute, Columbia University, New York, USA

    Richard Moss

  16. Joint Global Change Research Institute, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, New York, USA

    Richard Moss

  17. National Science Foundation, Alexandria, VA, USA

    Leah Nichols

  18. City and Regional Planning, University of Memphis, Memphis, TN, USA

    K. Dana Sjostrom

  19. Office of Sustainability and Innovations, City of Ann Arbor, Ann Arbor, MI, USA

    Missy Stults

  20. Wageningen University, Forest and Nature Conservation Policy Group, Wageningen, Netherlands

    Esther Turnhout

  21. International Research Institute for Climate and Society, Earth Institute/Lamont Doherty Earth Observatory, NY, New York, USA

    Catherine Vaughan

  22. Carnegie Mellon University, Engineering and Public Policy, Pittsburgh, PA, USA

    Gabrielle Wong-Parodi

  23. Luc Hoffmann Institute, Gland, Switzerland

    Carina Wyborn

Authors
  1. Maria Carmen Lemos
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. James C. Arnott
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Nicole M. Ardoin
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Kristin Baja
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Angela T. Bednarek
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Art Dewulf
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Clare Fieseler
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  8. Kristen A. Goodrich
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  9. Kripa Jagannathan
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  10. Nicole Klenk
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  11. Katharine J. Mach
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  12. Alison M. Meadow
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  13. Ryan Meyer
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  14. Richard Moss
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  15. Leah Nichols
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  16. K. Dana Sjostrom
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  17. Missy Stults
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  18. Esther Turnhout
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  19. Catherine Vaughan
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  20. Gabrielle Wong-Parodi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  21. Carina Wyborn
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Maria Carmen Lemos.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

About this article

Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Lemos, M.C., Arnott, J.C., Ardoin, N.M. et al. To co-produce or not to co-produce. Nat Sustain 1, 722–724 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-018-0191-0

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-018-0191-0

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing