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Making Knowledge Actionable for Sustainability (Journal)
The COVID-19 pandemic has transformed the world in unimaginable ways and at a rapid pace. The crisis has revealed, very dramatically, how science can inform bold societal actions in response to risks. At the same time, the use of science for decision-making on COVID-19 and other major societal challenges reveals a very complex relationship between science and action. The relationship between science and action on sustainability is the focus of a newly released special issue of the journal Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability. A team of researchers from different social sciences disciplines came together to understand what makes knowledge “actionable,” and how scientific organizations can fund and foster the production and use of knowledge to advance sustainability solutions.
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What is Actionable Intelligence?
Actionable Intelligence can be defined in several ways such as “having the necessary information immediately available in order to deal with the situation at hand,” but for the purposes of this book, we will define it as “intelligence that can be acted upon within a 12 to 72 hour period of time.” (via)
For knowledge to become accepted as actionable, it must be linked to the receiver's conception of what is relevant and useful. the act of translation changes the idea. (via)
Actionable intelligence is information that can be followed up on, with the further implication that a strategic plan should be undertaken to make positive use of the information gathered. (via)
Knowledge which is necessary for and required to initiate immediate response to changes in the operational environment. Hence, Actionable Knowledge includes in its fullest form both pertinent and germane forms of knowledge, the latter two providing only the supportive background. Actionable Knowledge is typically domain-restricted even if its application may affect several related domains. (via)
What is knowledge management (KM)? Linklaters’ 2014 ‘Knowledge to Action’ report includes the following definition from KM and organisational learning specialist and author Chris Collison: KM is “....a toolkit of different methods, techniques, approaches, ways of working and behaviours that are all designed to enable and increase organisational efficiency. It is about the ‘know how’ and the ‘know who’ and how you put these to work more diligently.”This definition, and the report itself, underline the importance of making knowledge and KM actionable. Actionable KM firmly positions knowledge and KM at the heart of the business by developing dynamic systems, processes and behaviours designed to maximise the contribution of a firm’s (or corporate legal department’s) collective knowledge and expertise to its business and its clients. (via)
