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1. An interdisciplinary and
development lens on knowledge
translation
Farah Huzair1,
*, Alexander Borda-Rodriguez2
, Mary Upton2
and
Julius T. Mugwagwa1
1
ESRC Innogen Centre, The Open University, Milton Keynes, MK7 6AA, UK
2
Development Policy and Practice, The Open University, Milton Keynes, MK7 6AA, UK
*Corresponding author. Email: f.huzair@open.ac.uk.
Knowledge translation as a dynamic and iterative process that includes synthesis, dissemination,
exchange and ethically-sound application of knowledge, is key to success in projects that require
collaboration between individuals, stakeholders or communities. We use two case studies from
South Africa: an AIDS vaccine trial site and a policy arena for the attempted harmonisation of
biotechnology policies. We demonstrate how the use of an interdisciplinary methodology asks
different questions of the knowledge translation (KT) process and foregrounds the importance
of the wider socio-economic and political context. The case studies highlight particular problems
for the KT process in developing countries and resource-constrained environments which conven-
tional analyses of technology and policy processes may not demonstrate. We conclude that
context-specific and dynamic capabilities and capacities are required for effective KT in developing
countries. We aim to add methodologically and conceptually to the study of KT and to build
capacity for exploring it.
Keywords: knowledge translation; biotechnologies; capability; community engagement;
South Africa.
1. Introduction
Wherever communities, individuals, or sets of stakeholders
are required to communicate what they know in order to
effect change, knowledge translation (KT)11 is key.
Failure by one group to communicate or understand
knowledge can result in inequality of outcome or worse,
the total failure of a project. Outside of the well-researched
knowledge path of bench-to-bedside in the field of
healthcare (Straus et al. 2009a), KT remains relatively un-
explored. We argue in this paper that viewing the KT
process through alternative lenses, contributes to its
study and conceptualisation. The work drawn on by this
paper is deeply rooted in the interdisciplinary tradition.
First, we demonstrate how use of an interdisciplinary
methodology asks different questions of the KT process
in our cases. It brings to the forefront the importance of
wider socio-economic and political contexts which we can
explore in detail as a result of the interdisciplinary lens.
Secondly, the resource-constrained developing country
context where our studies are located, highlights particular
problems for the KT process that conventional investiga-
tions may not demonstrate. We aim to add methodologic-
ally and conceptually to the study of KT and to build
capacity for exploring KT.
We use two case studies: an AIDS vaccine trial site in
South Africa and the harmonisation of biotechnology
policies also in South Africa. Through exploration of KT
in these two settings we progress our understanding of de-
velopment and the capacities that are required for project
implementation. Developing country contexts present a
host of challenges that are less pervasive in developed
countries. These include: political instability, constraints
on resources and the need to include relatively diverse and
marginalised communities. The question we therefore seek
to answer is: what specific capabilities and capacities are
required for effective KT in developing countries?
In Section 2, we define KT and explain why an interdis-
ciplinary methodology and developing country context is
beneficial for its investigation. Section 3 details our
Science and Public Policy 40 (2013) pp. 43–50 doi:10.1093/scipol/scs119
Advance Access published on 22 January 2013
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2. methods of investigation. Section 4 introduces our first
case, that of an AIDS vaccine trial site. We explore at
the micro-level the interactions of various communities
and the challenges of translating knowledge in a diverse
cultural environment. In Section 5 we detail our second
case, the harmonisation of biotechnology policy across a
number of countries. This case represents interactions at
the policy level where collaboration between a diverse set
of actors requires the amalgamation of different
understandings and consideration of different goals.
Section 6 compares KT processes at the micro and policy
levels, drawing out the common issues and challenges for
KT in the two cases. We reflect on how our interdisciplin-
ary methodology has enhanced the understanding of KT.
In Section 7 we conclude by summarising what our new
knowledge of KT means for development.
2. Analysing KT through different lenses
The need for, and challenges associated with, knowledge
utilisation, exchange, transfer and translation have been
the subject of inquiry since the 1950s (Jacobson et al.
2003). This set of knowledge problems was conceived in
early health systems research and continue to be elaborated,
primarily by researchers in this field. The confrontation
between health systems research and the knowledge
problem has arisen more prominently in this field than in
any other, possibly due to the long recognised necessity of
integrating research findings into clinical practice. While the
bench-to-bedside dogma continues to dominate as the
problem focus, we propose that understanding KT in
other settings is valuable. This paper presents two settings
where we investigate KT: a vaccine trial site and a policy
arena for the harmonisation of biotechnology policy. The
relevance of KT in determining success in these settings and
others is significant enough to warrant our attempt to elab-
orate on ‘non-traditional’ problems for KT, including the
need to understand the challenges specifically posed by the
developing country context and the need to investigate KT
through an interdisciplinary lens.
In early work, the terms utilisation, exchange, transfer
and translation were used synonymously to describe how
knowledge moves from dissemination to use, though these
terms have since evolved to explain different processes.
Using the typology developed by Graham et al. (2006),
we define knowledge transfer as a systematic approach to
capture, collect and share tacit knowledge in order for it to
become explicit. Knowledge exchange is collaborative
problem-solving between researchers and decision-makers
that happens through linkage and exchange. Utilisation is
a process by which specific research-based knowledge is
implemented in practice (Graham et al. 2006). KT is:
. . . a dynamic and iterative process that includes synthesis, dis-
semination, exchange and ethically-sound application of
knowledge. (CIHR 2004; 2008)
This definition of KT is the best known and has been sub-
sequently used and adapted by the World Health
Organisation and others. Therefore, it is the definition
adopted in this paper.
The most recent and influential work on KT still
revolves around the problem of transferring research
findings into practice (Jacobson et al. 2003; Davis et al.
2003; Pablos-Mendez et al. 2005; Graham et al. 2006;
Straus et al. 2009b). Despite more progressive models
such as the knowledge to action framework (Graham
et al. 2006) and knowledge mobilisation strategies that
can be classified as linkage or exchange (as well as
producer-push or user-pull) (Lavis et al. 2003), we find
that ‘putting knowledge into action’ (Straus et al. 2009b:
3–4) in the health systems setting (where all these
studies are situated), still implies a linear flow of know-
ledge from research into practice. The question often
posed is how to increase research utilisation and thus
change behaviour. Our cases pose different questions.
We ask what the role of KT is and what the challenges
are for KT as stakeholders with different understandings,
values and goals come together to solve problems. The aim
is not uptake of research. Instead, we see knowledge syn-
thesis, dissemination and exchange as contributory
processes that enable effective cooperation and realisation
of project goals.
Traditional analysis of the KT problem centres on inter-
actions between patients, healthcare providers and
policy-makers (Straus 2009b). More nuanced work on
the strategies for KT recognises the role of those with
interdisciplinary skills (e.g. informatics, patient education,
social marketing etc.) (Davis et al. 2003). Additionally,
Estabrooks et al. (2006) draw in some useful ‘adjuvant’
theories from other disciplines which complement
KT analysis, such as diffusion of innovations theory, or-
ganisational theories, and social theories that explore
networks, norms and communities of practice. Where dif-
ferent cultures and beliefs co-exist (Robins 2004), the
co-production of knowledge (Jasanoff 2006) is an ideal
that is difficult to realise in practice. Interdisciplinarity,
for us, forces a wider focus, beyond the clinical and
health setting to recognising that the communities and
stakeholders involved in our cases, not only have a
diverse set of understandings, values and goals, but are
influenced by their socio-political and economic environ-
ment. The socio-political and economic environment of
our case studies, both situated in the resource-constrained
setting of Africa, varies enormously from the mainly
North American work that has produced a large propor-
tion of the most influential work on KT thus far.
A limited number of studies, however, have pointed to
the failure of KT in both developed and developing
countries (Straus et al. 2009b; Pablos-Mendez et al.
2005). Pablos-Mendez et al. suggest that challenges for
KT in developing countries are greater as resources are
fewer. Our study does not use the developing country
44 . F. Huzair et al.

3. context to hold a magnifying glass up to the problems af-
flicting KT generally, but rather aims to understand what
happens to KT processes under the conditions of develop-
ing country contexts. The study of KT in these contexts
brings to the forefront other aspects of KT which are not
so apparent when studied in developed countries. Our
cases show, in particular, the unequal power relations,
theorised to exist (Gordon 1980) between different stake-
holders and communities, which are brought into view
through the interdisciplinary lens that we use. Power
impacts prioritisation activities related to KT (Straus
et al. 2009b) and can influence the conditions under
which KT is exercised.
Conversely, this work seeks not only to influence the
way KT is studied, but also to propose that better under-
standing KT can influence the process of development in
low- and middle-income countries. The development of the
capacities and capabilities that we suggest are key to ef-
fective KT, also contribute to development. As our cases
show, progress can only be made if there are sufficient
knowledge management skills and infrastructure. As well
as system strengthening, KT is instrumental in reducing
inequality. Social and political processes are influenced
by local and national governance and the degree of
citizen participation. Furthermore, the increased active
involvement of civil society is likely to enhance the rele-
vance of knowledge for public decision-making (Welch
et al. 2009). It may be argued that KT and capabilities
for KT are crucial for effective exchange of knowledge
from civil society and underrepresented marginalised
groups and so contribute to democratic processes
and the reduction of inequality, particularly in power
relations.
3. Methods of investigation
Our case studies are sourced from two PhD projects that
gathered and analysed data over the course of three years.
Yin (1993: 13) defines a case study as:
. . . an empirical inquiry that investigates a contemporary phe-
nomenon in its real life context, especially when the boundaries
between phenomenon and context are not clearly evident.
In addition, Ragin and Becker (2005: 3) argue that:
. . . a case may be theoretical or empirical or both; it may be a
relatively bounded object or a process; and it may be generic
and universal or specific in some way.
This methodological approach allowed to us to use a
number of research tools which capture various types of
data and can be used flexibly in a complex and dynamic
research environment. We have relied on qualitative data
as this enables the investigation of complex systems and
practices that are not easily reflected by statistics or nu-
merical models. Research methods involved interviews,
document reviews, focus groups participant observation
and observations of daily practices and interactions at con-
ferences, workshops, and meetings. Our first case study
involved 38 semi-structured in-depth interviews with prin-
cipal investigators, researchers, community educators,
counsellors and community advisory board (CAB)
members. Two focus groups were also conducted. Data
were analysed thematically (Braun and Clarke 2006;
Boyatzis 1998) alongside secondary documents relating
to local, national and international vaccine advocacy.
Our second case study involved open-ended interviews,
use of questionnaires and participation in, and observation
of, policy processes. A total of 80 respondents were
involved in this study, the majority (60%) of them being
national-level policy-makers in the study region, while the
remainder were either civil society practitioners, scientists,
representatives of donor agencies, officials from agrochem-
ical companies or representatives of three supranational
organisations (SNOs) (the African Union (AU), the New
Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) and the
Southern African Development Community (SADC).
Data analysis and interpretation was done also using
thematic analysis.
4. Case study: KT and AIDS vaccine clinical
trial sites
4.1 Research background
Our first case study focuses on engaging South African
communities with high HIV and AIDS prevalence rates
in AIDS vaccine trial site activities (Upton 2011).
Sub-Saharan Africa remains at the epicentre of the
epidemic (UNAIDS 2011). In response, product develop-
ment partnerships are involved in vaccine development
which responds to the different clades of the virus found
in this context.
Collaborative engagement in clinical trial site activities
requires an understanding of the diverse communities
involved and their concerns over trial involvement. To
these ends, data on the KT process were gathered over a
four-month period in 2008 in two clinical trial sites based
in metropolitan Cape Town and Soweto, where clinical
and social science research on vaccines and other preventa-
tive measures aim to reach ‘at risk’ groups and encourage
their trial participation. In key roles, community educators
and voluntary CAB members liaise between investigators
and trial site communities by disseminating information on
HIV prevention and treatment and the clinical trial process
to their communities, whose concerns are then relayed
back to the investigators. Since the research was carried
out, government change has stimulated a more
co-ordinated HIV and AIDS policy, with the involvement
of traditional health practitioners in response to local
cultural norms and values.
An interdisciplinary and development lens on knowledge translation . 45

4. 4.2 Data collection: KT in clinical trial sites and
community engagement
4.2.1 Politics, beliefs, power and conflicting
knowledge bases. The politics, stigma and different
health beliefs surrounding HIV and AIDS is reflected in
the power relationships between stakeholders involved in
vaccine initiatives at international, national and local
levels. During this study, political controversy over HIV
and AIDS provoked a polarisation broadly distinguished
between President Mbeki, his health minister and sup-
porters—who disputed the scientific explanation of the
causes of HIV and AIDS, the links between them and
the solutions to the epidemics—and HIV treatment activ-
ists and scientists supporting a biomedical approach. The
co-existence of different cultures and health beliefs meant
that the co-production of knowledge between publics and
scientists was an ideal that was difficult to realise in
practice. The different framings of HIV and AIDS pose
difficulties for those whose macro-level biomedical know-
ledge conflicts with micro-level local knowledge. As ex-
plained by an outreach staff member:
Even though [this woman] died of AIDS they’re like ‘she died
of poisoning you know she was bewitched’ and then the
President, like: ‘No, HIV doesn’t cause AIDS’ and people
believe him.
The dissonance between researchers’ knowledge and the
embedded knowledge of communities was felt most
keenly by trial site staff and CAB members grappling
with the difficulties in KT within trial site communities.
Lack of knowledge, revealed in myths about HIV and
AIDS, is common to developing and developed societies,
but community educators and CAB members have the
local expertise to deal with specific misconceptions over
voluntariness and more general fears of clinical investiga-
tors’ agendas. As CAB members explained, people did not
understand that trial participation was voluntary and felt
that they were forced into trial participation as ‘guinea
pigs’.
4.2.2 Political instability, socio-economic insecurity
and lack of cultural understanding. Political instability
had an impact on community engagement activities.
During the research period, conflict rooted in economic
insecurity resurfaced between South Africans and
migrants, exacerbating ongoing concerns with finding
food and employment. Intermittent involvement in CAB
activities and a high turnover of CAB members tends to
prevail. As a CAB member explained:
. . . sometimes this one is here and next week it is somebody
else. We always have new faces in our CAB, or else the
members, they just don’t pitch up.
Such instability results in the need to acclimatize new CAB
members and repeat information before moving on to the
more challenging tasks of KT within communities. Periods
of political instability and the pressing concerns of
communities living in difficult socio-economic environ-
ments conflict with the researchers’ timescales. More time
is needed in some cases for reviewing protocols, for con-
sulting with family members over trial participation, or for
community decisions over the building of trial site clinics.
These types of specific understandings about families and
communities are essential to medical staff who tend to
dismiss cultural concerns rather than accept them as a ne-
cessary part of the research process. A principal investiga-
tor tells her staff:
. . . when you move into the community territory, it’s on the
community’s terms . . . and that is a hard lesson for us medics
to learn . . . medics have a bus to catch most of the time . . . [It’s]
not about a single trial or a single study—it’s a relationship.
Building relationships requires adequate feedback loops
between investigators and communities. In reality, the
main flow of information was ‘top down’ from investigator
to community and this dissemination process did not
extend throughout the lengthy trial period. Good
feedback mechanisms are key to effective community en-
gagement and collaboration in order to bridge gaps in
cultural and technical understanding.
4.2.3 Language translation. Feedback on how to trans-
late complex scientific concepts into lay terms and into
different languages is essential to ethical trial participation
and community engagement more broadly. Knowledge
decay (Lesch et al. 2006), low literacy levels and different
abilities to understand complex scientific information are
an additional challenge in developing country contexts. As
described by a CAB member, a key difficulty is:
. . . understanding the scientific language, to be able to pass it
on. Because there are certain terms that are not very easy in
our African languages to be able to pass over to the
community.
In this context, translating HIV information into several of
the 11 official South African languages is a costly exercise
requiring additional funding.
4.2.4 Resources. Securing funding for the whole range
of resources needed is a challenge, given multiple
accountabilities to sponsors and communities and the
increasing costs involved as the process develops into
large-scale trials. Funds for community engagement tend
to be the first casualties in the competition for site infra-
structures, salaries and other resources involved. Yet, com-
munity engagement lays the foundations for trial
participation. As a programme manager explained:
[however] great the ideas, what kind of a facility we have, or
healthcare we provide, if no-one’s there, then who cares? So
it’s incumbent on us to invest . . . to be a site that proves that
46 . F. Huzair et al.

5. we can recruit people . . . for long periods of time, for interest-
ing and complicated things.
If priced out of the market, donors move elsewhere and
pioneering local health initiatives of this kind are left
without funds. The same programme manager explained
the dilemmas and frustrations:
We’re struggling to get doctors on board and the last thing we
can afford is to hire someone to do a special training for our
health workers, even though they are the bread and butter of
the organisation.
Insufficient funding impedes building and maintaining the
representation of key community sectors on CABs for the
duration of the lengthy clinical trial process to ensure
effective KT and ethical trials. Yet, securing resources
for monitoring and evaluation of community engage-
ment—an important element in successful KT—was an
ideal yet to be achieved in this case. The benefits for
donors and researchers are in more successful trial partici-
pation and retention. For communities, that success trans-
lates into a more proactive role for CABs in developing
wider functions beyond providing HIV knowledge.
5. Case study: Harmonisation of biosafety
systems in Africa
5.1 Research background
Our second case study presents key observations from an
analysis of the engagement and knowledge exchange
processes among actors in efforts towards harmonisation
of policy and regulatory systems for managing the devel-
opment and spread of genetically modified organisms and
products in Africa. Participating countries are at different
levels of technological and regulatory development, affect-
ing the types of knowledge to be packaged and
transmitted. It is clear that, if a regional system emerges,
it will be effective to the extent that local specificities are
taken into account in the KT process. However, local
concerns around biosafety remain fluid and elusive
because they are under larger external and internal
forces, and this is a reality that further complicates con-
vergence and collaboration.
Data were collected in the periods 2006–8 and 2009–11,
which examined the processes towards the emergence of
‘converged’ or ‘harmonised’ systems for managing modern
biotechnology processes and products in Sub-Saharan
Africa. The study examined the roles of three SNOs: the
AU, the NEPAD and the SADC, who, together with other
regional and international bodies, have initiated processes
to assist the 15-country SADC region towards cross-
national similarity or convergence of biosafety systems
(Mugwagwa 2008).
5.2 Data collection: KT in technology governance and
the policy-making arena
5.2.1 Unclear and fluctuating understandings of
terms. Some policy actors did not fully understand the
meanings of terminologies used, the differences between
them and other related terms. One researcher from a sci-
entific and industrial research and development institution
in Zambia indicated that he:
. . . was confused as to whether what required was consensus,
unanimity or coherence.
However, he:
. . . felt the desired end is to have regulatory systems that speak
to and understand each other.
He also bemoaned the lack of arrangements to introduce
and equip policy actors adequately to deal with challenges
in the policy innovation arena. Thus, there is an issue of
actors facing the challenge of moving, for example, from
being policy implementers to policy developers, without
the necessary exposure and experience.
On the other extreme, policy actors can become locked
into framings and understandings, mainly to be seen to be
in tune with current discourses and to secure funding from
donors. For example, ‘multi-stakeholder’ or ‘participatory
processes’ seem to be the mantra for civil society-driven
processes, whether or not this brings the required effi-
ciency. The following observation in August 2006 from
one coordinator of a regional biodiversity programme in
the SADC typifies this dilemma:
Let’s not forget that there are two key issues here; the
problems exist here, but they are identified (from) elsewhere,
and the agenda to address them is set elsewhere too. So we
have to comply . . . with the problem-packaging and the
solution-packaging.
5.2.2 Rivalries, alliances and organisational
mandates. Contested power, competence and legitimacy
issues between and among institutions also lead to some
institutions or individuals adopting certain framings and
KT processes at the expense of others. The same is true
where institutions want to identify with practices in
another institution, to the extent of adopting similar prac-
tices. Thus, there are understandings of how cooperation
should happen which are based on rivalries or alliances
among institutions. For example, two leading SNOs had
staff fail to attend meetings of a joint committee set up by
the two organisations because of fundamental conceptual
differences between the two organisations. A respondent
from one of the institutions was very emphatic that:
. . . this joint committee is just a requirement of the donors,
otherwise we have no [further] grounds on which to cooperate.
The mandates and missions of different institutions have a
major influence on how they frame the convergence issue,
An interdisciplinary and development lens on knowledge translation . 47

6. and this in turn depends on the actor coalitions around
each institution and the issue at hand. Fluctuations within
the actor coalitions sometimes result in fluctuations in
framings. Further complications emanate from the fact
that the different actors are at various vertical and hori-
zontal levels, ranging from institutional, sectoral and
national to international levels.
5.2.3 Varying demands on convergence of ideas. The
level of interdependence among institutions varies consid-
erably in space and in time, and this leads to constant shifts
in the processes adopted. For example, in international
fora (e.g. negotiations and discussions under the
Biosafety Protocol) organisations that are ordinarily
rivals within the region may be forced to present a
unified agenda, and this causes a temporary, though some-
times permanent, shift in policy processes. On the other
hand, allied institutions may present divergent faces as a
way of trying to develop some unique selling points for
their programmes. One respondent from a policy analysis
network in the SADC region indicated that:
. . . when all factors have been taken together, our agendas and
the way we discern and implement processes is influenced more
by providers of funding, than by the local policy communities
we intended to serve . . . our own visions vary with those of the
providers of funding.
Early 2006 saw southern African partners on both divides
of the biotechnology debate participating in a preparatory
meeting for the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety’s
Conference of Parties meeting which was held in Brazil.
The coming together in the preparatory meeting was
possible because, as one senior official in a regional bio-
diversity management programme observed:
. . . a donor came along and gave the region funds to prepare
that way so that a regional voice could be developed.
[but] . . . as it turned out, when we got to Brazil, everyone
teamed up with their traditional international partners.
5.2.4 Resources. Linked to the issue of mandates and
missions, is the issue of resources for implementing pro-
grammes. Many organisations and programmes have to
contend with a narrow remit of issues because of restricted
resources. Resource availability thus dictates how stake-
holders or clusters of stakeholders engage each other, in
the process influencing both the content and outcomes of
the engagement. It is argued that availability of resources
can propel development towards a common pattern
despite disparate politics, ideology and culture
(McGaughey and De Cieri 1999). In fact, respondents
highlighted the issue of resources as both the biggest
hurdle to, and determinant of, the potential path to be
taken by policy processes.
5.2.5 Mobility of policy actors. There is also the issue of
policy actors moving from one policy arena to another,
either in pursuit of new employment opportunities, or as
routine ‘surfing’ to fill capacity gaps (cf. Hilgartner and
Bosk 1988). This leads to continual fluctuation of the
knowledge exchange processes among groups of actors.
Policy actors find themselves not having enough time to
adequately prepare for, or consider issues, as one respond-
ent from a national farmers’ union in Zimbabwe indicated:
Being in this position can be distressing sometimes, as I have to
deal with many issues, from HIV/AIDS, climate change, pol-
lution, and then this (biosafety and biotechnology). And I have
to represent my organization on all these issues. Coping with
the demands is never easy, especially keeping up with the latest
developments. Half-baked jobs are the order of the day.
In addition to the above challenges emanating from capacity
constraints, there are country-specific conditions that influ-
ence knowledge exchange towards certain policy positions/
conceptualisations. Appreciation of these drivers is crucial
for shaping interventions within the multi-actor arena. For
example, there are countries which have a long tradition of
being risk-averse (e.g. Zambia) and always waiting for
technologies to mature before being taken on board. Such
countries are, not surprisingly, more towards the narrow,
country- and biosafety-centric measures and processes. A
country’s or an institution’s capacity to create, acquire, ac-
cumulate, diffuse and utilise scientific knowledge also has a
strong correlation with the breadth of their understanding
of the issue, although the leadership influence of some
countries and institutions may have a confounding effect.
The data from this case show that policy actors feel the
effectiveness of the regional system for biosafety will
always be subordinated to other issues, such as trade,
politics and food security and so the need for resources
dedicated to KT for biotechnology policy harmonisation
have not been assessed.
6. How interdisciplinarity finds the common
problems in effective KT
Power, politics and resources are contextual interdisciplin-
ary constructs and are at the heart of KT difficulties in
developing countries. Each case highlights a number of
problems linked to power, politics and resources that are
relevant to our understanding of KT. A number of com-
parable problems are given in Table 1.
The general problems of lack of resources and instability
are perhaps obvious: the high turnover of personnel at the
trial site and the need for policy-makers to move between
roles leads to a gap in KT activity and an undermining of
KT capacity. Myths and misconceptions become dominant
where literacy is low and information and outreach efforts
are limited.
In both the developed and developing country contexts,
languages and interpretation in KT are common issues
48 . F. Huzair et al.

7. that need to be resolved. As noted in the case for harmon-
isation, policy-makers struggled with definitions of consen-
sus, unanimity and coherence. Similarly at the vaccine
trials site, researchers and participants struggle with the
complexity of the scientific language. While it is common
for different communities of practice to have variances in
language, developing countries show language problems
exacerbated by lack of resources. As we have seen in
South Africa, there are many different languages used in
these diverse communities. Under these circumstances,
translation costs are an additional burden on budgets.
The resource problem leads both projects to seek
funding from multiple agencies and donors. As a result,
the missions, mandates, framings and discourses used by
donors are adopted by those seeking funding. The gulf in
language and discourse between those that seek funding
and those affected by the implementation of projects
becomes greater. The need to seek funding and to adopt
the discourse and agendas of donors implies an uneven
power relationship. Inequalities of power in the KT
process endanger the inclusion of local knowledges,
understandings and agendas. Our cases notably highlight
the difficulty in negotiating ‘macro-level’ knowledge that is
commonly translated top-down and a micro-level know-
ledge that struggles to be transmitted bottom-up.
However, where action requires active participation of
communities with contrasting knowledge bases, conflict
may be an issue as in the case of AIDS vaccine trial sites
in South Africa. Here the macro-level biomedical know-
ledge of the researchers conflicted with a diversity of
micro-level knowledges and lived experience of local
communities which regarded the scientific community
and its agenda with suspicion.
We can outline three factors that exacerbate the
problems of unequal power relations and a fractionated
knowledge base:
. Where the context is dynamic with either information,
bureaucracies or institutions changing rapidly, there is
a potential for uncertainty, knowledge decay, and the
loss of communities from the technology programme
and KT process.
. A lack of accountability mechanisms, which undermines
the KT process. Stronger feedback loops, and methods
of ensuring participation in activities cutting across dif-
ferent layers of stakeholders would contribute to more
effective information sharing and closing of gaps in
understandings between different stakeholder groupings.
. Poorly funded infrastructures and poor socio-economic
conditions undermine capacity building for effective KT.
Developing country contexts present us with complex
systems with a number of different micro- (e.g. local know-
ledge, cultural understandings) and macro-level factors
(resource availability, political instability) that impact the
effectiveness of KT. In each case study, different disciplin-
ary bases bring particular aspects to the forefront: for
example, sociology identifies the social norms and
mythologies whereas political science reveals the
socio-economic conditions and power relationships. An
interdisciplinary lens allows us to examine the system of
interactions in a more holistic way. In this case, local
understandings, framings and agendas are shaped and
impacted by wider economic and political forces which,
in turn, affect KT processes. Our case studies therefore
highlight how interdisciplinarity traverses theoretical and
practical knowledge bases: we now understand that issues
effecting KT and project success at the micro-level, are
impacted by economics, politics, policy and funding
which is often set at the macro-level. Proposed solutions
such as targeted funding to address the gaps in KT or build
KT capacity would be more effectively implemented if
assessed and analysed from this systems or holistic inter-
disciplinary perspective.
7. Conclusions
KT is an interdisciplinary construct, crossing the trad-
itional boundaries of academic fields. It was brought into
being in the medical literature when it was recognised that
translating knowledge for effective practice requires the
engagement of practitioners from various disciplines and
backgrounds. We have shown here that likewise, the inves-
tigation of KT, and capacity for building KT, benefits
Table 1. Issues impacting notions of KT in each case
AIDS vaccine trial sites Harmonisation of biosafety systems
Challenges to
effective KT
Local and scientific languages and interpretation Different terminologies used and terms not understood
Multiple accountabilities to donors and communities stretches
funding
Framings and discourses shift to reflect donor concerns and
secure funding
Movement of participants and personnel due to socio-economic
and political instability
Policy actors moving between roles to fill capacity gaps
Different knowledge bases of research and local communities Fear that local agendas will be lost amidst external and
regional forces
Local understandings are affected by myths and political
controversies
Different levels of regulatory development create different
types of knowledge and different levels of motivation
An interdisciplinary and development lens on knowledge translation . 49

8. from an interdisciplinary approach, combining scholarship
of knowledge, power, communication systems, learning
and culture. Researchers conducting these case studies
have used largely ethnographic techniques combining
interviews, case study methodology, document analysis
and observation to capture rich and detailed data. It is
the richness of the data that allows us to analyse the insti-
tutional arrangements that allow KT, the cultural codes
that permit and restrict KT in particular directions, and
the power relationships that emerge from culture and
context that shape the institutions.
Importantly, we demonstrate that KT happens in
practice and therefore in context. Contexts are not
bounded by the actors that directly engage in the KT
process. Contexts also reflect a wider socio-economic, pol-
itical and geographical identity of each case investigated,
which affect the KT process. Poor funding, for example,
undermines capacity building, as does a lack of political
will, and geographies that complicate the physical meeting
of actors that engage in KT. An interdisciplinary lens
captures many of these dynamics, and complexities, under-
standing not only the importance of all, but the inter-
actions between them. Interdisciplinary methods as
demonstrated in this paper are useful in comparing
within and across cases in order to understand the different
levels from the micro to the macro and how actors at each
level engage. Traditional disciplines often miss the
‘systems’ perspective which necessarily includes the over-
arching government framework, policy, and legislation as
well as the day-to-day actions of actors at the micro-level.
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to acknowledge and thank the
Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) for its
centre grant to the ESRC Centre for Social and
Economic Research on Innovation in Genomics
(Innogen) [grant number RES-145-28-0002].
Note
1. KT in many texts refers to knowledge transfer. In this
work we use KT as an abbreviation for knowledge
translation.
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