Story sprints for Global Water Futures

Canada First Research Excellence Fund (CFREF)Non-Peer ReviewedTransdisciplinary research moves beyond building interdisciplinary teams of researchers who work together to build shared language and frames of reference, to include potential users of research in the planning and implementation of research projects. The need for transdisciplinary research has become clear with the increasing challenges that rapid climate and social change are bringing: those wicked problems that take an entire society with its multiple types of knowledge to solve. Involving non-scientists in research processes is not always easy. But interactions that take place between researchers and potential knowledge users are key in co-creation of new knowledge as they are part of the often-elusive science-policy interface. Sometimes these interactions are captured and documented in formal project processes, but often they are lost in the labour-intensive and time-pressured activity needed to collect, analyse, and publish data. Accounts of these interactions are considered anecdotal and therefore non-essential. But often these interactions are signals of creativity and new understanding that moves the research in a new direction. We are planning rapid production of accessible stories in a variety of formats that reflect the actual experience of Global Water Futures project researchers while interacting with knowledge users. Working with Secretariat and partner university communications staff, we will assemble and deploy a support team the course of several days to work directly with pairs of PIs and selected young scientists