4.7 Article

Co-production of knowledge-action systems in urban sustainable governance: The KASA approach

Journal

ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & POLICY
Volume 37, Issue -, Pages 182-191

Publisher

ELSEVIER SCI LTD
DOI: 10.1016/j.envsci.2013.09.014

Keywords

Co-production; Knowledge-action systems; Science-policy interface; Sustainability; Urban governance; Social networks; Boundary work; Epistemic cultures; Future visions; Tropical city

Funding

  1. National Science Foundation [0948507, 0504248]
  2. Direct For Education and Human Resources
  3. Division Of Graduate Education [0504248] Funding Source: National Science Foundation
  4. Direct For Social, Behav & Economic Scie
  5. Division Of Behavioral and Cognitive Sci [0948507] Funding Source: National Science Foundation

Ask authors/readers for more resources

This paper examines how knowledge-action systems - the networks of actors involved in the production, sharing and use of policy-relevant knowledge - work in the process of developing sustainable strategies for cities. I developed an interdisciplinary framework - the knowledge-action system analysis (KASA) framework - that integrates concepts of the co-production of knowledge and social order with social network analysis tools to analyze existing configurations of knowledge-action systems in the city of San Juan, Puerto Rico, and how these are shaping both what we know and how we envision the future of cities. I applied KASA in the context of land use and green area governance and found that a diverse network of actors are contributing diverse knowledge types, thus showing potential for innovation in governance. This potential is conditioned, however, by various political and cultural factors, such as: (1) actors dominating knowledge about land use are the same ones that control urban land resources, (2) conventional planning expertise and procedures dominate over other alternative ways of knowing; (3) multiple visions and boundary arrangements co-exist in the city, and (4) boundary spanning opportunities limited by assumptions that knowledge and action should be done in distinct spheres of city planning. This study shows that developing adaptive and innovative capacities for sustainability is not solely a matter of harnessing more science, but about managing the politics of knowledge and visions that emerge from complex governance systems. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Authors

I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.

Reviews

Primary Rating

4.7
Not enough ratings

Secondary Ratings

Novelty
-
Significance
-
Scientific rigor
-
Rate this paper

Recommended

No Data Available
No Data Available