Why is research–practice collaboration so challenging to achieve? A creative tourism experiment

Abstract

Within tourism research, there has been little attention to research–practice knowledge exchange during the research process nor to practice-based research. This article examines a research-and-application project on creative tourism in which research–practice collaboration is explicitly foregrounded and made central. Through a reflexive process, the challenges this hybrid approach embodies and the pragmatic dilemmas that accompany the complexities of building closer research–practice relations and capturing practice-based knowledge are examined in three strategic areas: developing spaces for ongoing knowledge exchange, enabling practitioners to take on the role of co-researcher, and fostering researchers’ close attention to the application side of the project. In the context of the CREATOUR project, hybrid roles question who can do research, reinforce consideration of the added value of research processes for practitioners, and lead researchers to go beyond traditional research activities, with this ‘disruptive’ context causing tensions, uncertainties, and dynamic co-learning situations. Ongoing interactions over time are necessary to build relations, understanding, and trust, while flexibility and responsiveness are vital to address emerging issues. Training on research–practice collaboration, knowledge transfer, and mentorship techniques for both researchers and practitioners is advised. Challenges in integrating practice-based knowledge directly into research articles suggest a customized communication platform may be a useful ‘bridging’ mechanism between practice-based and academic knowledge systems.

摘要:在旅游研究领域, 很少关注研究过程中的研究与实践的知识交流, 也很少关注基于实践的研究。本文研究了一个创意旅游方面的研究应用项目, 该项目明确以研究与实践的合作为中心展开研究。本文通过一个反思的过程从三个方面（发展持续进行知识交流的空间,推动实业界认识承担合作研究人员的视角以及促进研究者密切关注项目的应用面）思考了这种混合方法表现出来的挑战以及伴随建立更紧密的研究实践关系, 获取实践性知识的复杂所提出的实际困难。在创意旅游项目的背景下, 多元混搭角色, 用这种产生紧张、不确定性和动态共同学习状况的“颠覆性”背景, 质问了谁可以做研究, 强化研究过程给从业者带来附加价值的想法, 以及带领研究人员超越传统的研究活动等方面的问题。为了建立关系、理解和信任, 需要不断地进行互动, 同时灵活性和反应能力对于解决新出现的问题至关重要。建议为研究人员和实践者提供研究-实践协作、知识转移和辅导技巧方面的培训。将基于实践的知识直接集成到研究文章中所面临的挑战表明, 定制的交流平台可能是基于实践的知识系统和学术知识系统之间有用的“桥梁”机制