Where do knowledge

brokers come from?

DR. BRONWYNNE WILTON AND DR. ANNE BERGEN

KNOWLEDGE MOBILIZATION FORUM JUNE 9-10, 2014

Getting started

What kind of person would be LEAST

suited to be a knowledge broker?

What skills would this person be

missing?

How would they practice knowledge

brokering?

2

Who are knowledge brokers? 3

Intermediaries

Individuals & Organizations

Who are knowledge brokers? 4

Boundary workers

Part of multiple worlds

Who are knowledge brokers? 5

Bridge scientists

Who are knowledge brokers? 6

(Policy) advisors &

consultants

Who are knowledge brokers? 7

Dogma breakers?

Transactional vs. transformational work.

Where do we come from? 8

Education

Training

Career history

Sharing Experiences - Questions for

Discussion

9

1)What is your disciplinary background?

2)How did you get into KMb?

3)What element of your training helps you the most

in your work (e.g., skills)

Some Challenges 10

• Short-term contracts

• Lack of job mobility (within institution)

• Isolation - lack of colleagues (within institution)

• Unclear roles

• Unclear key competencies

• Hard to define success

See Lightowler & Knight, 2013

Sharing Experiences - Question for

Discussion

11

What is your biggest challenge on a day-

to-day basis?

Some Key Competencies 12

• Facilitating, convening,

and hosting

• Planning and scoping

• Synthesizing, curating,

and summarizing

+ Curiosity!!

Sharing Ideas- Question for

Discussion

13

What skills would you like to build for

your own KMb practice?

What would you include in a KMb

(graduate) training program?