Session 2 | April 11, 2025 | Virtual
Session 2 focused on deepening shared understanding of transdisciplinary knowledge co-production and applying these principles through a food insecurity case study. Participants explored how disciplinary perspectives, lived experience, and community knowledge intersect in addressing complex social challenges, while reflecting on power, language, and collaboration within co-production processes.
Session Summary
- What is Knowledge Co-Production: Framed as an iterative, relational, and inclusive process that brings together diverse forms of expertise to enable societal transformation.
- Food Security as a Case Lens: The case study illustrated how participatory, community-engaged approaches can surface power dynamics, contextual realities, and practical pathways for action.
- Disciplinary Diversity as Strength: Participants reflected on how different disciplinary lenses shape problem framing, methods, and solutions, and how embracing this diversity strengthens outcomes.
- Power, Language & Positionality: Discussions emphasized the importance of reflexivity, shared language, and intentional structures to ensure equitable participation across hierarchies.
- Centering Community Voices: Lived experience and practitioner knowledge were consistently identified as essential to meaningful, ethical, and impactful co-production.
The breakout group discussions were incredibly valuable, as they allowed for cross-disciplinary dialogue and knowledge sharing in a more intimate setting. I appreciated hearing diverse perspectives on challenges and approaches to co-production. The real-world case studies also helped ground theoretical concepts in practice. They clarified how transdisciplinary collaboration plays out in different sectors and highlighted both the opportunities and tensions that arise.
CoP Member