Constructing an Arena for Energy Efficient Multi-family Housing Development: A case study of inter-organisational knowledge sharing

The Swedish building sector has for a long time struggled with the difficulty to create andshare new knowledge. Within the sector, groups of professionals have been found to onlyshare knowledge with members of their network, not with those they consider to be outsiders.As an attempt to unite different views and professional groupings, an arena project forsharing knowledge on energy efficient renovation of multi-family buildings was created by agroup of scientists. This paper is examining the forming of this knowledge arena forsustainability. The overall purpose is to create an understanding of how knowledge can beshared between different communities. The paper identifies triggers that facilitate knowledgesharing between arena participants representing different organisations related to theSwedish building sector. By using case study methodology, data was collected throughinterviews with arena participants, observations and document studies. Findings revealedarena seminars and pilot projects as catalysts for social interaction, and a common toolserved as a coincident boundary object. All three triggered sharing of knowledge acrosscommunities. Still, in spite of good prerequisites, the social interaction that took place on thearena was not enough to inspire sharing of knowledge to any large extent, thus preventingthe arena project becoming what was hoped for, i.e. a driver of innovation for sustainability