Die Konjunktur partizipativer Forschungsformen

摘要

Taking Kurt Lewin’s thoughts on the necessity of involving practice partners in any given research process, in the sense of his idea of “action research”, this article will consider the question of the extent to which research can, or even must, take on the role of mediator or facilitator between science and practice. In doing so, it will present the principles of trans-disciplinary intervention research as a process or procedural science. Paradigms for research which tries to organise processes, in which scientific results and analysis can be connected up with the know-how of people engaged in day-to-day, practical work so that knowledge can have an effect to work and changes or development in the given field of research can be achieved. One of the greatest challenges for modern societies is the organisation of decision-making processes within highly complex interdependencies, together with numerous different systems operating under diverging system logics. Co-operation between science and practice entails theoretical and practical challenges, and the question of how scientific insights can be “earthed” presupposes continual reflection on research activity as well as a corresponding attitude or stance towards that work. The deliberations below feed off (our) experience with trans-disciplinary research projects and consist of excerpts from the reflection work done thereby.