Co-creation with Companies: A Means to Enhance Societal Impact of University Researchers?

In this chapter, we explore co-creation as a form of societal interaction of science. We approach co-creation as a goal-oriented form of dynamic interaction aiming at mutual benefit of all parties. As such, we exclude technology transfer and other linear societal interaction forms that follow a closed-model innovation format. We argue that focusing solely on tapping the needs of researchers and ‘pure’ science would lead to ignoring the broader context in which researchers work. An excessive focus on meeting the needs of external stakeholders could jeopardize the preconditions of science. Hence, this chapter explores how researcher-company co-creation can be nurtured in a heavily institutionalized setting, where established rules govern the process of knowledge production and protect research integrity. The co-creation process is analyzed by combining Nonaka’s SECI model and Strober’s interdisciplinary interaction model for knowledge creation. We find that the core of this process lies facilitated dialogue, which is seen as open knowledge sharing between equal participants

Reflexivity in moral decision-making: assessing and managing child abuse and domestic violence

Many countries are reporting increases in domestic violence and child abuse rates and intensity during the Covid-19 pandemic. This pervasive, complex, and sensitive issue requires careful responses from child welfare organisations. Signs of abuse – often hidden and open to interpretation - can be difficult to detect and assess, and processes rely on the personal judgement of social workers and professionals. Acknowledgement of the complexities of abuse has led to attempts at reorganising the field and reducing uncertainties of practice through the provision of standardised assessments, guidelines and instruments, a trend also observed in the Netherlands. Concurrently, there is a recognition of the importance of professionals’ personal judgement and the need for reflexive practice and use of different knowledges, such as intuition. There is an opportunity for guidelines to support reflection and intuition as part of ‘good care’ practice, but we have found that on the ground, professionals fear malpractice accusations. By conducting in-depth interviews with professionals and observations of their multi-disciplinary discussions, this paper explores how good reflexivity can be achieved in highly charged moral settings at the intersection of the multiple marginalizations of domestic violence and child abuse. We particularly focus on how professionals navigate complexities, and what the role is of regulatory infrastructures, including guidelines and protocols in framing their interaction with the child welfare system

Reflexivity in moral decision-making: assessing and managing child abuse and domestic violence

Many countries are reporting increases in domestic violence and child abuse rates and intensity during the Covid-19 pandemic. This pervasive, complex, and sensitive issue requires careful responses from child welfare organisations. Signs of abuse – often hidden and open to interpretation - can be difficult to detect and assess, and processes rely on the personal judgement of social workers and professionals. Acknowledgement of the complexities of abuse has led to attempts at reorganising the field and reducing uncertainties of practice through the provision of standardised assessments, guidelines and instruments, a trend also observed in the Netherlands. Concurrently, there is a recognition of the importance of professionals’ personal judgement and the need for reflexive practice and use of different knowledges, such as intuition. There is an opportunity for guidelines to support reflection and intuition as part of ‘good care’ practice, but we have found that on the ground, professionals fear malpractice accusations. By conducting in-depth interviews with professionals and observations of their multi-disciplinary discussions, this paper explores how good reflexivity can be achieved in highly charged moral settings at the intersection of the multiple marginalizations of domestic violence and child abuse. We particularly focus on how professionals navigate complexities, and what the role is of regulatory infrastructures, including guidelines and protocols in framing their interaction with the child welfare system

Leadership for Empowerment: Analyzing Leadership Practices in a Youth Care Organization Using Peer Video Reflection

In recent years, increased complexity and persistent challenges induced governmental organizations to transform their ways of operating. Inherent to such transformations are shifts in approaches to leadership and organizational learning. However, adopting strategies that empower staff to take complex context-appropriate decisions has shown to be difficult. This paper aims to gain insight into empowering and disempowering leadership practices in complex transformation processes. Team leaders of a governmental organization participated in observing videos of weekly team meetings, noting positive and negative interactions between the peer-team leader and team members. Their observations were analyzed using the four dimensions of psychological empowerment. All team leaders showed empowering and disempowering practices within one case discussion. The findings illustrate in which contexts these practices are triggered. Results help to theoretically elucidate academic debates about the relationships between empowerment and control, differences between empowerment and laissez-faire and between empowering and destructive leadership in human service organizations

Arbeidsparticipatie en technologie: Lessen uit zeven pilots en perspectieven voor groei en opschaling

Hoe kan technologie in de praktijk kansen bieden voor de arbeidsparticipatie van mensen met een beperking? Om hier zicht op te krijgen is binnen zeven verschillende pilots een jaar lang geëxperimenteerd met de implementatie van technologie op de werkvloer. Dit eindrapport beschrijft de belangrijkste implementatielessen uit deze pilots en doet suggesties voor vervolgstappen