TY - JOUR
T1 - Responsible north–south research and innovation
T2 - A framework for transdisciplinary research leadership and management
AU - French, Matthew A.
AU - Barker, S. Fiona
AU - Henry, Rebekah
AU - Turagabeci, Amelia
AU - Ansariadi, Ancha
AU - Tela, Autiko
AU - Ramirez-Lovering, Diego
AU - Awaluddin, Fitriyanty
AU - Latief, Ihsan
AU - Vakarewa, Isoa
AU - Taruc, Ruzka R.
AU - Wong, Tony
AU - Davis, Brett
AU - Brown, Rebekah
AU - Leder, Karin
AU - for the RISE consortium
N1 - Funding Information:
This study was completed as part of the Revitalising Informal Settlements and their Environments (RISE) program ( https://www.rise-program.org/ ) on behalf of the RISE Consortium (doi: 10.26180/ctjf-vf69 ). The RISE program is funded by the Wellcome Trust (grant 205222/Z/16/Z ), the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, New Zealand , the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Australian Government , the Government of Fiji , the Asian Development Bank and Monash University , and involves partnerships and in-kind contributions from the City of Makassar, the Cooperative Research Centre for Water Sensitive Cities (now Water Sensitive Cities Australia), Fiji National University, Hasanuddin University, Stanford University, Emory University, Melbourne University, Southeast Water, Melbourne Water, Live and Learn Environmental Education, UN-Habitat, UNU-IIGH, WaterAid International, and Oxfam. K Leder has received support by an Australian National Health and Medical Research fellowship, APP1155005.
Funding Information:
This study was completed as part of the Revitalising Informal Settlements and their Environments (RISE) program (https://www.rise-program.org/) on behalf of the RISE Consortium (doi:10.26180/ctjf-vf69). The RISE program is funded by the Wellcome Trust (grant 205222/Z/16/Z), the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, New Zealand, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Australian Government, the Government of Fiji, the Asian Development Bank and Monash University, and involves partnerships and in-kind contributions from the City of Makassar, the Cooperative Research Centre for Water Sensitive Cities (now Water Sensitive Cities Australia), Fiji National University, Hasanuddin University, Stanford University, Emory University, Melbourne University, Southeast Water, Melbourne Water, Live and Learn Environmental Education, UN-Habitat, UNU-IIGH, WaterAid International, and Oxfam. K Leder has received support from an Australian National Health and Medical Research fellowship, APP1155005.
Funding Information:
Ensuring ongoing accountability for pre-agreed responsibilities and contributions also created significant anxiety and tension, particularly failing to secure the pledged ADB intervention funding (to a value of US$10\u202Fm). No intervention funding meant no RCT research, and thus no program. Could RISE ethically and morally continue if intervention funding was in doubt? Ultimately, we secured alternative intervention funding from the New Zealand Government for Fiji and from the Australian Government for Indonesia for the 12 intervention sites, enabling RISE to continue. This was achieved by leveraging the demand, goodwill and enthusiasm of local government and community stakeholders through our (by that stage) strong Country Offices. But in the interim, the Executive and Leadership had to \u2018hold the uncertainty\u2019 to avoid reducing morale, losing other partners and putting the whole endeavour at risk.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2024 The Authors
PY - 2024/6
Y1 - 2024/6
N2 - The number, scale and ambition of transdisciplinary research initiatives between the global north and the global south is increasing, yet there is very little theoretical or empirical scholarship on how to lead and manage implementation to promote responsible practice. Within science, technology and innovation (STI) studies and decolonising research frameworks, and utilising collaborative autoethnography, this study codifies experience with implementing the ‘Revitalising Informal Settlements and their Environments’ (RISE) program (2017–2020). Our specific aim is to explore the leadership and management tensions and challenges of implementing transboundary transdisciplinary research. The findings reaffirm the importance of research leaders and managers carefully operationalising north–south research by critically reflecting on power asymmetries between disciplines, partners and locations, leveraging the potential for transdisciplinary consortia to build research capabilities in the global south, and creating a culture of reflexivity on the historical and social positionality in which research is designed, funded, implemented and evaluated. The findings foreground the role of boundary-spanning ‘integrators’ and ‘pracademics’, roles that have received little attention to date but are essential for effective delivery and societal impact beyond scientific advances. A framework for implementing north–south transdisciplinary research is outlined with five domains: (1) collaborative leadership; (2) agile management; (3) flexible consortia; (4) researcher positionality; and (5) co-design and participation. The framework can support efforts for responsibly designing and implementing large, transdisciplinary, cross-country research programs in line with ambitions for decolonising north–south research.
AB - The number, scale and ambition of transdisciplinary research initiatives between the global north and the global south is increasing, yet there is very little theoretical or empirical scholarship on how to lead and manage implementation to promote responsible practice. Within science, technology and innovation (STI) studies and decolonising research frameworks, and utilising collaborative autoethnography, this study codifies experience with implementing the ‘Revitalising Informal Settlements and their Environments’ (RISE) program (2017–2020). Our specific aim is to explore the leadership and management tensions and challenges of implementing transboundary transdisciplinary research. The findings reaffirm the importance of research leaders and managers carefully operationalising north–south research by critically reflecting on power asymmetries between disciplines, partners and locations, leveraging the potential for transdisciplinary consortia to build research capabilities in the global south, and creating a culture of reflexivity on the historical and social positionality in which research is designed, funded, implemented and evaluated. The findings foreground the role of boundary-spanning ‘integrators’ and ‘pracademics’, roles that have received little attention to date but are essential for effective delivery and societal impact beyond scientific advances. A framework for implementing north–south transdisciplinary research is outlined with five domains: (1) collaborative leadership; (2) agile management; (3) flexible consortia; (4) researcher positionality; and (5) co-design and participation. The framework can support efforts for responsibly designing and implementing large, transdisciplinary, cross-country research programs in line with ambitions for decolonising north–south research.
KW - Decolonising research
KW - Global south
KW - Research leadership
KW - Research management
KW - Sustainability
KW - Transdisciplinary
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85196862522&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.respol.2024.105048
DO - 10.1016/j.respol.2024.105048
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85196862522
SN - 0048-7333
VL - 53
JO - Research Policy
JF - Research Policy
IS - 7
M1 - 105048
ER -