Co-producing knowledge

A key claim of participatory approaches from all theoretical and disciplinary provenances is the goal to build equal research partnerships of scholars and citizens and/or professionals to co-create knowledge that benefits communities or social groups. Valuing and integrating diverse sets of knowledge such as experiences from everyday life and professional practice, contextual, relational, and conceptual knowledge is commonly stated as requisite. However, few accounts exist that provide reflections let alone guidance on the complex doing of co-producing knowledge. The chapter contributes to the development of participatory approaches in ageing research by providing insights from a community-based participatory research project initiating caring communities as a social and health initiative to support ageing in place in Switzerland. We reflect on a three-year research partnership between academics from two universities and residents, professionals, and political leaders in one of the project’s pilot municipalities. We explore which different sets of knowledge emerge in moments of cooperation and how they interact. We identify two forms of interaction between sets of knowledge: (1) working in parallel on clearly assigned tasks and (2) getting into each other to create novel solutions. Participatory research is well positioned to create momentum for a move from mode 1 to mode 2 production of knowledge with inspiration and information flowing in both ways between science and society.