'Collective Collaboration Mapping' towards Knowledge Commons

The success of any design or research project that deals with complex issues depends on the development of a shared understanding of the domain(s) in question, between all stakeholders. Recognizing the value of knowledge from various sources such as personal experience, collected insights, theories, and all forms of education is critical for tackling complex challenges. However, exchanging and combining different perspectives and types of knowledge (e.g., information, ideas, experiences, insights, data) can prove to be a complex endeavor. An effective, inclusive collaboration requires an accessible, deliberative approach that goes beyond a contributory approach. Collaboration as a collective effort brings together people with diverse backgrounds and skill-sets to find solutions to a shared issue, while still respecting everyone's individual goals. The co-creation of the collaboration process can benefit all involved and support people in the decision to work together, or not. Moreover, to ensure an effective, inclusive collaboration it is important to assess and evaluate the various types of knowledge to offer individual people, groups, and communities the chance to inform the design of the research process. Because this process involves the exchange of knowledge, critically analyzing the experiences that are shared, in order to build 'knowledge commons'. Therefore, it is important to design and closely monitor the collaboration process, as the combination of different perspectives and types of knowledge transforms the relationships, positions, and roles between stakeholders. At the proposed workshop, we will explore and evaluate the theoretical and conceptual 'Collective Collaboration Mapping' (CCM) Framework. The framework provides designers, researchers, groups of people, communities, and non-trained researchers to co-create an inclusive and transdisciplinary collaboration process by using the concept of touchpoints in the CCM Framework. The CCM Framework offers practical guidance to co-create collaboration to build 'knowledge commons' that contribute to complex issues.