{"id":12360,"date":"2012-01-25T12:48:50","date_gmt":"2012-01-25T17:48:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/researchimpact.ydsinc.ca\/walking-amongst-canadas-knowledge-mobilizers-lessons-and-comparisons-from-a-visit-to-york-university-toronto\/"},"modified":"2021-11-23T16:40:26","modified_gmt":"2021-11-23T21:40:26","slug":"walking-amongst-canadas-knowledge-mobilizers-lessons-and-comparisons-from-a-visit-to-york-university-toronto","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/researchimpact.ca\/fr\/archive\/walking-amongst-canadas-knowledge-mobilizers-lessons-and-comparisons-from-a-visit-to-york-university-toronto\/","title":{"rendered":"Walking amongst Canada\u2019s knowledge mobilizers: lessons and comparisons from a visit to York University Toronto"},"content":{"rendered":"

The following blog story was first published on the Centre for Research on Families and Relationships (CRFR) on January 12, 2012<\/a>. It is reposted here with permission.<\/em>
\nSarah Morton Co-Director (Knowledge Exchange) reflects on a recent visit to Canada<\/strong>
\n\"\"<\/a>I was fortunate enough for the\u00a0ESRC\u00a0to fund me for a visit to\u00a0York University<\/a>, Toronto Canada as part of my PhD studentship looking at how we assess the impact of research. The visit also chimed with my role as Co-Director (Knowledge Exchange) at the\u00a0Centre for Research on Families and Relationships<\/a>. This blog reflects on some of by observations about the ways we do\u00a0KE\u00a0or\u00a0KMb\u00a0on opposite sides of the pond.
\nDavid Phipps<\/a>, Director, Research Services & Knowledge Exchange at York was a wonderful host, who set up many meetings and exchanges with like-minded individuals and made me feel very welcome.
\nSo the language is immediately different. No-one in my networks in the UK uses the term Knowledge Mobilization \u2013 and the \u2018z\u2019 makes it appear very North American to us. I also enjoyed the term \u2018transition into lunch\u2019 used at a conference! But overall there was more to unite than divide the respective communities in Scotland (UK) and Toronto.\u00a0CRFR\u2019s model of doing\u00a0KE\u00a0was still an exemplar, and there was lots of interest in my work on increasing and assessing research impact.
\nDay one I gave a presentation at the\u00a0Ontario\u00a0KMb\u00a0community of practice<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 a wonderful way to make connections and set up further meetings. What interested me about the\u00a0CoP\u00a0was that it was a real mix of university-based and public\/community based\u00a0KEpractitioners (in health, housing, schools), who all talked the same language around knowledge use. The\u00a0CoP\u00a0is large \u2013 over 100 members, so 40 can turn up to a meeting at any time, and a fairly high level, knowledgeable discussion of\u00a0KE\u00a0issues is possible in that forum. I struggle to think of an equivalent here, although we hope to set up a new\u00a0KE\u00a0network from\u00a0CRFR\u00a0in the Spring.
\nDavid Phipps\u2019 Knowledge Mobilization Unit at York is part of theKE\u00a0and Commercialisation department, but with a specific decision to make the\u00a0KMb\u00a0in social sciences distinctive, especially in terms of engagement with the local community. There are two main members of staff in the unit:\u00a0Michael Johnny<\/a>, and Krista Jensen, assisted by project staff, and graduate students at different times.What I found distinctive about their approach compared to my experience in the UK was:<\/p>\n