City residents, scientists and policy-makers: power in co-producing knowledge

The need to merge scientific with societal knowledge in addressing global sustainability challenges has deepened research on a methodology known as co-producing knowledge. It differs from participatory approaches by holding potential for solution-oriented research through sustained relationships with actors across disciplines and sectors. Although there is growing recognition that power shapes interactions in co-producing knowledge, few studies have empirically grounded articulations of power in the context of urban sustainability. This paper draws on case study projects in Africa to discern the forms of power that are navigated by actors when co-producing locally grounded knowledge and solutions for urban sustainability. The projects include: localizing norms on sustainable energy in Kampala city Uganda; confronting coastal vulnerability in Durban South Africa; and upgrading informal settlements in Stellenbosch South Africa. The forms of power across the projects are: expert power by academics; statutory power for policy-makers; and the power of locally-embedded knowledge by city residents. Navigating these forms of power is possible, if boundary objects are used in dialogues on scalable solutions to sustainability challenges. The boundary objects in the case studies are: briquettes from organic waste as alternative cooking energy for households in Kampala; a locally-appropriate costal vulnerability index for visioning sustainable climate action in Durban; and an improved Shack dwelling for improving living conditions in Stellenbosch. These boundary objects interrupted the reproduction of unequal power relations, while demonstrating how hierarchies in co-producing knowledge can be flattened.