A Year in Review: The UBC Knowledge Exchange Unit

Gen: Many people use knowledge exchange (Kx), knowledge translation (KT) and knowledge mobilization (KM) as umbrella terms to cover all activities designed to speed the process from research to impact: research partnerships, community engagement, knowledge synthesis, research dissemination and implementation. Others think of them as distinct terms that occur at different stages of research-to-impact activities.

Ugen: And some terms have aligned with certain disciplines: KT as a term is primarily used among the health and sciences; KM for the social sciences. If I had to explain it all to someone very new to this area, I would tell them that regardless of the term used, it's about getting the right information to the right people at the right time.

Gen: Our activities cover all of the research impact activities — from inception to dissemination and implementation. In many Faculties, Kx is relatively new and the science and practice of knowledge exchange is continually evolving. So, we’re aiming to be to be very responsive to the ecosystem.

Ugen: We’re providing a range of events, capacity-building activities, access to resources and spotlights on UBC researchers who are doing really great work in Kx. All of these activities are outputs of ongoing discussion with faculty and our advisory committee. We don’t want to be static and repeat the same offerings over and over, rather we want the unit and its services to continue to evolve in tandem with UBC researchers and their Kx capacity and needs.

In the past year we: held the Research to Impact: Skills, practices and tools for Knowledge Exchange and Mobilization training course and Policy Communications Clinic and Workshop Series; are piloting the Knowledge Exchange and Mobilization Scholar project; have published a number of Kx Spotlights (showcasing UBC’s talented Kx experts); continue to grow our Knowledge Exchange Resource Guide; are providing one-on-one and group consultations on Kx strategy and practice (reach out to kx.support@ubc.ca to learn more!); are in the very early stages of developing a certificate course on Kx; are engaged in ongoing conversations with UBC senior leadership around placing higher value on Kx activities for merit and tenure promotion; and are working with SFU to develop a two-year institute on Implementation Science.

Ugen: In June we held our inaugural Partnering in Research Conference, at Robson Square. In collaboration with the UBC Community Engagement office, we brought together researchers from across Faculties and disciplines, and their non-academic partners to explore the ethical, cultural and political challenges of partnered research and develop strategies for driving real change. Community Engagement is a really great partner for us. Our focus is within the university, whereas their primary focus is outside the university, with community groups, and so this collaboration enables us to really bring both those points of view into the conference planning.

Gen: It was a really cool and unique opportunity for researchers from across disciplines to meet and connect, because there's often common passions and crossovers between people who are excited to be making a difference with their research, and so many synergies and collaborations were able to happen.

In my experience, there's not a lot of research-oriented events at UBC where the partners and community are also invited. Something that was really exciting with our event is that research teams who have community partners participating in their studies were able to come as entire teams and learn together. Community partners shared their experience as partners, initiating conversations about how universities can be better partners, and showing how integral and varied the partner experience can be.

There were several calls to action, which you can read about in our beautiful Conference Report, but one I’d like to highlight is the additional UBC funding required to further equitable, inclusive and diverse engagement in partnered research. The funding streams that do exist are oversubscribed and are not adequate to meet the full scope of activities including appropriate compensation for community.

Ugen: The Kx Unit is connected throughout the campus networks and we know that some Faculties already have a lot of Kx strength and resources. We also have a really great advisory committee — an interdisciplinary group of cross campus Kx experts— who we lean on and connect with around recommended connections. So if you contact us for guidance, we can connect you directly to the folks in your Faculty doing that work, to ensure that you’re receiving tailored, discipline-specific guidance.

Gen: If you're in a Faculty without established Kx support (or maybe we’re not yet aware of anybody doing that work), then we’ll guide you to consider what you want to accomplish with your research and what kind of change you want to make: influencing policy; building community partnership; raising awareness; expanding communication, all those things … Researchers at different stages in their knowledge and integration of Kx and who are engaged in different types of research are suited for different levels of Kx integration. We can help you to map out the steps to get to that impact and provide specific supports to help you achieve your goals.

For example, many researchers will come to us and say, “I want to influence policy,” but don’t have a sense of how to make that happen. Great ideas need a lot of work to be able to rise up into the policy realm. And that’s why, in collaboration with the Center for the Study of Democratic Institutions, we offered the Policy Communications Workshop, to teach participants: how to write a policy brief; how to connect with policy makers; how to build a social media strategy; how to establish a budget; and what resources will be required.

The cost of doing Kx is often underestimated, both in terms of time and money, and how much investment needs to be made prior to the research even starting. We want to ensure that you’re approaching your goals realistically and with a process that is achievable.

Ugen: For grants and reviews to be determined successful, your work needs to be measurable, so we can also help you to visualize and set measurable KPIs. In Kx it can be difficult to give “standard” examples of measurement. Because Kx is most effectively engaged at the outset of the research, before any product, service or policy has even begun to be influenced, what success looks is going to change with each project, each community partner, each level of policy the research is trying to affect.

Yes, it’s great to be able to achieve those highly impactful goals — changing government policies around affordable housing or creating sustainability solutions — but the ground-level, less visible and measurable goals achieved through effective Kx activity can really lay the groundwork for your later success. If you're working in close partnership with a community or group, track your level of engagement with them: how was their experience of the research and partnership?

Gen: That's a great point and a really good example of the importance of partnership relationship building. As a researcher you can think you've had great engagement with your partners and that you’ve tackled and solved their most pressing issues, but if they don’t agree, will your solution have impact and value? To do Kx well, you’ve always got to be thinking about the value for your community partners, how to keep them appreciated, engaged and invested in the partnership, what the ultimate outcome will be for them once the research is complete, and of course, how you will measure if you were successful.

Ugen: The gold standard of knowledge exchange is an integrated process, where your partners have equal leadership and engagement in all stages of your research, from process to dissemination. This results in the research becoming more relevant to them, and consequently increasing the uptake of the research evidence.

Gen: And particularly in community-based, participatory research, community members are the driving force behind the research, the ones identifying the problem that requires solving. So it can be very satisfying to both partners: for the researchers because you get that real, lived experience with the community members and are able to see you ideas move forward, and for community members because they gain access to some of that knowledge and research capacity that might otherwise have been locked up in the “ivory tower.”

I think universities have a very sad record of extractive research: going in and grabbing knowledge, taking it back and using it to bolster research careers, without benefiting the communities or giving them access to the knowledge. Communities have been justifiably reluctant to participate in research because of that experience of being disenfranchised. Which in turn has an impact on future research and potential to inform policy, and we can see that being particularly detrimental when it comes to things like homelessness and poverty reduction.

Ugen: For some faculties it's a really natural fit. The School of Nursing is doing amazing knowledge translation work, as is Oceans and Fisheries, in terms of engaging with policymakers and actually changing policies. Kx activity is really accelerating for Forestry as well. There's not that big gap between their practice and research, so it definitely makes sense for these to be leaders in the field.

Our Kx Spotlight series is highlighting a lot of the great work being done. Read about how: Shandin Pete (Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences) is bridging traditional Indigenous wisdom with scientific practices; Dr. Vicky Bungay (Nursing) partners to address issues including the effects of stigma, discrimination and gender-based violence; how Drs. William Cheung (Institute for Oceans and Fisheries) and Rashid Sumaila (Institute for Oceans and Fisheries, and Public Policy and Global Affairs) use a holistic and interdisciplinary approach to address the consequences of climate change on oceans and the human societies; and more!

Gen: Kx and KM are enjoying a renaissance. There was a long time where people didn't really accept them as an essential and ethical part of the research process, but now there's a much broader awareness of that and a lot more Kx activities happening in many more UBC Faculties. It's really great for us because researchers are approaching excited to participate in training and capacity building and just really want to know more. That's part of why we're doing our scholar program; we understand that centrally we're not going to be able to meet the needs and expectations of this renewed excitement around getting more Kx and support, so we’re training faculty to be able to build that Kx culture and capacity within their Faculties.

One of the most important things for UBC (and all universities) beyond capacity building, is to change hearts and minds around the value of Kx and to have it incorporated into researchers’ evaluations for tenure and promotion. I think that you can do as much capacity building as you want and build up training and skill, but if it's not integrated that those activities will be valued as a part of their tenure package, then they just won’t make time to do them. There's a long road to go into in terms of changing that mindset across not just UBC, but the academic world more generally.

Gen: While we’re both still relatively new to the UBC VP Research and Innovation Office, Ugen and I have worked together in varying capacities for a long time. We been really able to support each other’s growth and awareness around Kx, and our different skillsets create a really great balance for broadening our own understanding of Kx and to then capitalize on that to enhance our offerings to the community. It was really exciting to get the opportunity be able to continue that collaboration here at UBC!

Ugen: I came into Kx/KT rather serendipitously about six years ago. I don't have a research background, but my previous background is in public engagement — using communications, project management, stakeholder relations, which are all components that support knowledge exchange — using a very relationship-centric approach, which enabled me to adapt really well into the knowledge exchange sphere.

Gen: I came to KT via academia and it’s been my focus for about seven years. I did my doctoral and postdoctoral research on men and suicide, and it was always important for me to do research that I thought would make a difference to mental health services, and to raise awareness about masculinities and grief. And I was very lucky to be able to work with supervisors and mentors John Oliffe, Elizabeth Saewyc and Mariana Brussoni, who have a really strong commitment and skill in Kt. Without exactly knowing what KT was beyond dissemination, I jumped at the chance to be the manager for knowledge translation at Health Research BC, which has a really strong track record and infrastructure around knowledge translation. So I really was lucky enough to build that kind of learning through in the field and then to help the field grow.

And I haven’t looked back!