Module GEOG42315: Knowledge for Action and Leadership

Department: Geography

GEOG42315: Knowledge for Action and Leadership

Prerequisites

• None

Corequisites

• None

Excluded Combination of Modules

• None

Aims

• To critically explore the role of knowledge in various models of action and impact, especially in relation to risk and sustainability
• To introduce students to different types of organisations addressing global challenges
• To develop students’ abilities to translate, disseminate, and use knowledge to communicate with different audiences

Content

• This module equips students with the knowledge, skills, and practical experience necessary to engage effectively with diverse organisations involved in addressing contemporary global problems and challenges, particularly around risk, climate change, and sustainability. Students will critically examine how research informs decision-making and action in different types of organisation, explore strategies for communicating and applying knowledge to influence practice, policy, and decision-making across a variety of sectors, and gain initial practical experience in different ways of working with and disseminating knowledge.
• Indicative content may include:
• Introduction to Knowledge for Action and Leadership and underpinning concepts
• Defining different types of knowledge, equity, and power dynamics
• Knowledge mobilisation, transfer, and exchange
• Impact as a part of the research process: definitions and frameworks
• Overview of theories of change and types of action
• Organisational contexts and knowledge use
• Introduction to different types of organisations that use knowledge for understanding risk and sustainability
• What kinds of information are used and how
• Advocacy and formal and informal mechanisms of knowledge transfer
• Case studies showing how different organisations engage with research and knowledge to address problems and make decisions
• Knowledge dissemination practices and strategies
• Effective use of knowledge for diverse audiences, such as policy makers, practitioners, and the UN
• Development of impact plans

Learning Outcomes

• Be familiar with research impact and the pathways by which impact can be achieved;
• Understand different types of knowledge and theories of change;
• Understand the place of research, knowledge and expertise in various models of impact;
• Be familiar with a range of organisations in the field of risk and sustainability, including their roles and the types of decision that they take.

• Be able to critically assess, develop, and apply theories of change;
• Be able to critically reflect on how different types of organisation use knowledge, research and expertise in their work;
• Be able to critically assess pathways to impact for different types of organisation;
• Be able to choose appropriate modes of communication to reach different audiences.

• Develop practical strategies for using knowledge in relation to a diverse range of stakeholders and audiences;
• Identify and reflect on different pathways to impact
• Apply communication skills appropriate to different types of organisation.

Modes of Teaching, Learning and Assessment and how these contribute to the learning outcomes of the module

• The module will be taught through five days of paired lectures and workshops over the first two weeks of Term 3. The lectures will set up the workshops by introducing students to key ideas and concepts around the use of knowledge for action and leadership across different kinds of organisation. The workshops will be taught using a variety of formats including discussion of cases, exploration of different communication styles, problem-based mapping exercises, and a scenario-based group proposal pitch.
• The final workshop will involve a formative ‘pitch to peers’ of a theory of change and a plan for impact and engagement. This will develop skills for the summative assessment. Students will be given a range of research problems to choose from, and will work in groups to develop both a theory of change and an impact plan around their chosen research area. The individual summative assessment will allow students to develop a proposal for a theory of change and impact plan around their chosen dissertation topic or focus.

Teaching Methods and Learning Hours

Summative Assessment

Formative Assessment:

Formative feedback and peer engagement with in-class workshop activities will be given in each workshop. Workshop activities are designed to develop knowledge and skills for both the formative and summative assignments. .

■ Students who do not attend monitored activities shown under Teaching Methods and Learning Hours, or who fail to complete the summative or formative assessment(s) specified above, may be subject to the Academic Progress procedures defined in the University's General Regulation V, and may be required to leave the University.