3.2 HighARCS Reflections & Lessons Learned
Reflections
In this section, we will share some of our reflections on the HighARCS project. The reflections are divided into two levels: (1) HighARCS as a process of Multi-partner and Multi-disciplinary collaboration; and (2) HighARCS as a case of integrated action research and planning for sustainable use of aquatic resources.
The reflections are summaries of scientific papers already published or in pipeline from HighARCS, or what the teams have reported as their reflections or have responded when interviewed about this. More reflections will follow as more scientific papers are produced in the coming months
(1) Process of Multi-partner and Multi-disciplinary Working
Research funding has increasingly moved in favour of large, multi-partner, multi-disciplinary and multi-site research projects. When research involves multiple research teams at separate institutions, there is a need to consider how lead researchers can ensure their team members are working in synchrony with partners towards common goals, particularly when teams are based in different countries. The reflections in this section focus on one measure which was taken by project leaders in HighARCS to address some of the dilemmas involved in multi-sited, multi-partner research: the employment of a full-time research fellow to work with all of the teams throughout the key segments of the project cycle.
Benefits of employing a ‘floating’ research fellow to work across multiple field sites
For large-scale multi-team projects a full-time traveling research fellow can be a highly valuable tool to help keep the project on a common trajectory by playing an intermediary role, facilitating communication, enhancing the standardization of methods, and contributing to the capacity building of junior team members. By spending time at all sites, a research fellow is well qualified to identify fields where more data is required, ensure results use a set format, while identifying common research design problems. In addition, for multi-disciplinary projects, a full-time research fellow can be employed to focus on a particular strand of research, filling in ‘gaps’ in the disciplinary specialization of the research teams. This enhances cross-site comparison, as it allows one researcher to get much closer to the data being produced in each field site.
Challenges
A full-time floating research fellow is not a catch all solution to meeting the complex demands of multi-disciplinary, multi-partner projects. Being a facilitator is not always straightforward when teams can only be visited periodically, and inter-team communication remains a challenge. This is amplified when working in diverse institutional and cultural contexts across several countries. Furthermore, projects employing a research fellow need to consider how they will overcome the barriers of language, and deal with teams with very different academic needs in terms of disciplinary specialization.
Hiring a research fellow will only be successful if an appropriate candidate can be found with the required skills and competencies to handle such a demanding role. As well as relevant academic abilities, a range of personal attributes are necessary including resilience, willingness to travel, cultural sensitivity, independence, patience, adaptability and flexibility. The skills of trust-making, inter-cultural communication and the facilitation of mutual learning should not be underestimated in order to assure better project outcomes. It is worth bearing in mind that not all researchers automatically possess these attributes for undertaking such a challenging role and the recruitment process should incorporate some difficult scenarios to assess these competencies.
It is important to ensure that projects retain a common direction, disciplinary differences are levelled out and communication between teams remains effective. For this a full-time research fellow can be an invaluable tool, so long as they are inserted into projects with sensitivity, and project leaders are aware of the potential benefits and drawbacks as well as the cost implications and complex power relations this entails.
Reflections on the role of the researchers seen from the site teams
The reflections on the HighARCS action planning experience made by the members of the site teams are included in the HighARCS Deliverable 8.1 country reports. The site team researchers have reflected on their roles in the elaboration of the action plans in the different phases of the process from assessment, through the planning, the assessment of plans, and their implementation & monitoring (evaluations yet to come).
(2) HighARCS as a case of Integrated Action Planning for sustainable use of upland aquatic resources
To be elaborated later