Linked and Situated: Grounded Knowledge

Effective, participatory research requires respect for many different types of knowledge, including local and expert. But how can the integration of these sometimes very different ways of thinking be achieved? Co-authors Noelle Harden, Michael M. Bell, William Bland, and I draw on the successes and failures of participatory processes aimed at reducing non-point sources of water pollution, like phosphorus and nitrogen. We find that grounded knowledge offers a key way of enacting and also understanding how people with different ways of knowing can work together. Download the article here.