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Principles for knowledge co-production in sustainability research

Nature Sustainability volume 3, pages 182–190 (2020)Cite this article

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Abstract

Research practice, funding agencies and global science organizations suggest that research aimed at addressing sustainability challenges is most effective when ‘co-produced’ by academics and non-academics. Co-production promises to address the complex nature of contemporary sustainability challenges better than more traditional scientific approaches. But definitions of knowledge co-production are diverse and often contradictory. We propose a set of four general principles that underlie high-quality knowledge co-production for sustainability research. Using these principles, we offer practical guidance on how to engage in meaningful co-productive practices, and how to evaluate their quality and success.

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Fig. 1: Principles for knowledge co-production in sustainability research.

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Acknowledgements

A.V.N. received support by the Swedish Research Council Formas (grant number 2017-01326) and the GRAID programme at SRC. M.F.L. received support by the foundation BalticSea2020 and the Stockholm University Baltic Sea Centre. S.W. received support by the Swedish Research Council Formas (mobility starting grant 2017-01631). H.Ö. received support from the Walton Family Foundation (grants 2017-693 and 2018-1371), The David and Lucile Packard Foundation (grants 2017-66205 and 2019-68336), and the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation (grants GBMF5668.01 and GBMF5668.02). R.B. received support from the South African Research Chairs Initiative (SARChI) of the Department of Science and Technology and National Research Foundation of South Africa (grant 98766); the GRAID programme at SRC; and the Swedish Research Council (grant 621-2014-5137). M.-F.L. received support by the Swiss Academy of Sciences (SCNAT) and the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS). B.M.C. received support from the CGIAR Trust Fund and through bilateral funding agreements. This research contributes to the Program on Ecosystem Change and Society (www.pecs-science.org).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Stockholm Resilience Centre, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden

    Albert V. Norström, Simon West, Reinette Biggs, Carl Folke, Owen Gaffney, Jean-Baptiste Jouffray, Garry D. Peterson, Belinda Reyers, Maria Tengö & Henrik Österblom

  2. Australian National Centre for the Public Awareness of Science, Australian National University, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia

    Christopher Cvitanovic

  3. Centre for Marine Socioecology, University of Tasmania, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia

    Christopher Cvitanovic, Elizabeth A. Fulton & Ingrid van Putten

  4. Baltic Sea Centre, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden

    Marie F. Löf

  5. Fenner School of Environment and Society, Australian National University, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia

    Simon West

  6. Northern Institute, Charles Darwin University, Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia

    Simon West

  7. Luc Hoffmann Institute, IUCN Conservation Centre, Gland, Switzerland

    Carina Wyborn

  8. W.E. Frankie College of Forestry and Conservation, University of Montana, Missoula, MT, USA

    Carina Wyborn

  9. Instituto de Investigaciones en Ecosistemas y Sustentabilidad, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Morelia, Michoacán, Mexico

    Patricia Balvanera

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

    Angela T. Bednarek

  11. Department of Natural Resource Science and McGill School of Environment, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada

    Elena M. Bennett

  12. Centre for Complex Systems in Transition, Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch, South Africa

    Reinette Biggs

  13. Centre for Development and Environment, Global Land Programme, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland

    Ariane de Bremond

  14. Department of Geographical Sciences, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA

    Ariane de Bremond

  15. CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security, International Center for Tropical Agriculture, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark

    Bruce M. Campbell

  16. Global Carbon Project, CSIRO Oceans and Atmosphere, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia

    Josep G. Canadell

  17. Center for Limnology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA

    Stephen R. Carpenter

  18. The Beijer Institute, Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, Stockholm, Sweden

    Carl Folke

  19. CSIRO Oceans and Atmosphere, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia

    Elizabeth A. Fulton & Ingrid van Putten

  20. Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, Potsdam, Germany

    Owen Gaffney

  21. Departamento de Ecología, Center of Applied Ecology and Sustainability, Center for the Study of Multiple-Drivers on Marine Socio-Ecological Systems, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile

    Stefan Gelcich

  22. Global Economic Dynamics and the Biosphere Academy Programme, Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, Stockholm, Sweden

    Jean-Baptiste Jouffray

  23. Institute of Development Studies, University of Sussex, Brighton, UK

    Melissa Leach

  24. Future Earth Coasts, MaREI Centre for Marine and Renewable Energy, Environmental Research Institute, University College Cork, Cork, Ireland

    Martin Le Tissier

  25. Faculty of Sustainability, Leuphana University of Lüneburg, Lüneburg, Germany

    Berta Martín-López

  26. School of Geography and Development, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA

    Elena Louder

  27. PAGES International Project Office, Bern, Switzerland

    Marie-France Loutre

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

    Alison M. Meadow

  29. School of Development, Azim Premji University, Bangalore, India

    Harini Nagendra

  30. Global Mountain Biodiversity Assessment, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland

    Davnah Payne

  31. Department of Conservation Ecology, Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch, South Africa

    Belinda Reyers

  32. Global Change Institute, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa

    Robert Scholes

  33. Institute of Geography, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland

    Chinwe Ifejika Speranza

  34. Radboud University Nijmegen, Nijmegen, the Netherlands

    Marja Spierenburg

  35. Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch, South Africa

    Marja Spierenburg

  36. CSIRO Land and Water, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia

    Mark Stafford-Smith

  37. Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development, Utrecht University, Utrecht, the Netherlands

    Sandra van der Hel

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  1. Albert V. Norström
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Contributions

The design, development and writing of the manuscript were co-led by authors A.V.N., C.C., M.F.L., C.W. and S.W. The work was coordinated by A.V.N. All authors wrote and commented on the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Albert V. Norström.

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Norström, A.V., Cvitanovic, C., Löf, M.F. et al. Principles for knowledge co-production in sustainability research. Nat Sustain 3, 182–190 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-019-0448-2

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