Co-creating enduring practitioner-researcher collaborations in multi-functional landscapes

Sheona Shackleton; Pienaar du Plessis; Nadia Sitas; Cherié Forbes; Nadine Methner

doi:10.17159/sajs.2024/17829

Authors

Sheona Shackleton African Climate and Development Initiative, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6133-9070
Pienaar du Plessis African Climate and Development Initiative, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0828-0070
Nadia Sitas 1.Centre for Sustainability Transitions, Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch, South Africa; 2.Climate and Development Knowledge Network, SouthSouthNorth, Cape Town, South Africa https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0888-8617
Cherié Forbes 1.African Climate and Development Initiative, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa; 2.BioSCape, Department of Geography, University at Buffalo, Buffalo, New York, USA; 3.BioSCape, Department of Biological Sciences, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8276-9603
Nadine Methner African Climate and Development Initiative, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9153-8425

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.17159/sajs.2024/17829

Keywords:

collaboration, co-production, multi-stakeholder forums, multi-functional landscapes, equity

Abstract

Collaboration between different disciplines, sectors and society is essential to tackle contemporary sustainability problems. This paper integrates learnings and reflections from a series of workshops and interviews conducted in the Berg-Breede landscape that explored the challenges and enablers to long-term, researcher-practitioner partnerships. We found several, often entrenched and systemic, challenges to working collectively and equitably within complex landscape spaces. From conversations on solutions to these hurdles, we distilled out four key enablers of enduring collaboration, drawing on critical moments of learning and understanding and thinking about how the benefits and values of collaboration can be leveraged and amplified. Our work illuminates how supporting enduring collaborations can help bridge the research-implementation gap to facilitate more equitable and resilient multi-functional landscapes.
Significance:
While sustainable and equitable management of landscapes can be improved through intentional efforts to build collaborative partnerships between researchers and practitioners, the longevity and endurance of these partnerships rely on several features, including shifts in the way researchers design and undertake their research, in the values and benefits that collaboration can deliver, and in how research findings are articulated and shared. Third spaces can play an important role in achieving these shifts and enhancing collaboration.