A few days ago, I got the chance to participate in the UK Knowledge Mobilisation Forum held this year in Edinburgh, in the stunning building of the Royal College of Physicians. This event allowed me to get accustomed to the terms of “knowledge mobilization” (KMb), that I had already come across in the literature of course, but without the awareness that it was a specific concept in itself (leading to concrete actions). So far, I was more familiar with the concepts of “knowledge sharing” or “knowledge transfer”. With it came the discovery of the expression “knowledge brokers” that I must admit, I was hearing for the first time. I knew about “information brokers” or “knowledge managers”, but had never heard about “knowledge brokers” and that of course, caught my attention and certainly did stir up my intellectual curiosity. (A few years out of the KM field are apparently enough to miss quite a few new significant changes in this area in constant evolution).
According to what I’ve understood so far, KMb’s purpose is to bridge the gap between university researchers and those who are meant to use the outcomes of the research in their practice. This concept which has apparently been defined within the social sciences field, and apparently in Northern America, is similar to the concepts of “knowledge translation” in the health sector and “knowledge management” in the business one. KMb does use well-known KM practices like “knowledge sharing” or “knowledge exchange”, but what differs here is the perspective from where knowledge is perceived and used. As clearly defined on a document published by the Institute for Community Engaged Scholarship :
“Knowledge mobilization (KMb) is a broad and encompassing term that includes the products, processes and relationships among knowledge creators, users, and mediators (individuals or intermediary organizations that support knowledge brokering).”
To mobilize knowledge means to put knowledge into action, to make it “move”. I actually find this idea of “movement” very inspiring, and would like to end this post with a philosophical touch. If one considers that the entire universe is in movement, and movement occurs in existence only when there is life….then it is quite probable that in the absence of movement, we are facing something that is far deep asleep, unconscious, if not dead. To mobilize knowledge is therefore a way to make us aware on how much knowledge is alive, without mentioning the people who produce it and use it…
I’m therefore very thankful that I could enrich my own knowledge by attending such an alive event, full of wonderful professionals, all dedicated to the importance mobilizing knowledge in the most suitable and creative ways possible.