How being intentional about values can strengthen impact, collaboration, and long-term change

When we talk about knowledge mobilisation, the focus is often on outcomes, the bigger picture and the kind of reach we hope our work can have. With many moving parts and the increased speed of media production and consumption, it’s easy to forget that the reality of knowledge mobilisation is shaped just as much by the small, everyday decisions that happen along the way and are embedded in the process. 

These decisions are often made quickly, sometimes by a small group of people, and they can easily go unnoticed. Yet they shape who is included and thought of, how knowledge is shared, and what kind of impact becomes possible through outreach and engagement. 

At SPRE, we see values as an essential part of knowledge mobilisation practice because we understand them not as something abstract or optional, but as an essential tool that helps us in making sure that the way we work is aligned with the change we are trying to create.

The role of values in everyday practice

For many of us, knowledge is precious, exciting and sometimes hard won. It can be difficult to fully understand how our ideas and insights travel and how much the choices we make around format, language, partnerships, and priorities all reflect underlying assumptions about what matters.

We are aware that many people working in this field operate with very limited time budgets and restrained resources and that it can be easy to lose sight of values that are, when we have time to consider them carefully, essential to how we engage with and share knowledge. Something we have found to be useful for many of our members is to commit to seasonal check-ins with ourselves and our collaborators to see what works and what doesn’t, where we might adjust and re-orient ourselves to what our priorities are. We may ask:

What matters most in this project?

Where should we invest energy?

What does “good” look like in this context?

When it comes to inclusion or broad public engagement for example, it is easy to lose sight of the ways that our own lived experiences and identities might limit our understanding of what others need in order to take part in what we do. If we want knowledge to reach a wide range of people, then inclusivity needs to be present in the way we design and deliver our work, not just in the outcomes we hope to achieve. When we have the opportunity to host workshops with our partners for example, we love asking open questions, taking time to listen and embedding as much of what we learn as possible in the ways in which we move forward. 

Creatively connecting values to the change you want to see 

Values become most meaningful when they are clearly linked to purpose. If the aim is to help people see an issue differently or to support new ways of thinking, then creativity might need to play a central role. This could involve using methods that feel unfamiliar or even slightly challenging, such as creative workshops or performance-based approaches that invite people to engage with knowledge in new ways. 

When it comes to more creative practices, it can be really helpful to anchor our intentions right from the start and to keep returning to them as our projects unfold. Being clear and transparent about priorities in knowledge mobilisation allows people to be more intentional about the strategies they choose and clearer about why those strategies matter.

Values in in longer project timelines

Knowledge mobilisation is often long term work that reaches beyond the timescale of research projects, term times, policy cycles and parliamentary terms. It can unfold over years and may become part of an ongoing way of working rather than a single project with a clear endpoint. While there are many things we can do to stay connected to our own values and to let them evolve, we are also working in a context of changing technologies that affect the way we mobilise what we know. 

Because of this, values are not something to define once and set aside, there are always benefits in refining them and adapting them to changing requirements, communities and seasons. Creating space to reflect, whether individually or with collaborators, allows people to notice how values are showing up in practice. It also creates opportunities to adjust and realign where needed.

These moments of reflection do not need to be overly formal. What matters is creating a rhythm of checking in and asking whether the work still feels connected to its original intentions. In its simplest form, we may add regular touch points into our calendars and keep a journal with our intentions and observations. 

Building connections across systems

Knowledge mobilisation frequently takes place across different contexts, including academia, policy, community settings, and services such as health and social care. Each of these spaces brings its own priorities and, often, its own set of values and customs.

Being open about the values guiding your work can create a starting point for conversation because it allows people to explore where there is alignment and where there might be differences. In many cases, there is more shared ground than might be expected and this can be expanded upon more easily when we are aiming to be transparent right from the start of a collaboration. 

Recognising this alignment can help build trust and make collaboration more effective. Values, in this sense, become a shared language that supports partnership working across different systems.

What we want you to know about being values-led in knowledge mobilisation 

Spending time thinking about values is not a distraction from impact, it is very much part of what makes meaningful impact possible.

Values shape the decisions that define practice in big and small ways, every single day. They help ensure that knowledge mobilisation is not only effective, but also intentional and aligned with the kind of change we want to contribute to.

By making values visible and returning to them over time, it becomes easier to stay focused, work collaboratively, and create approaches that are both thoughtful and responsive to the contexts in which we work.

 

By Catherine-Rose Stocks-Rankin and Yarrow Magdalena