C-Research: A Framework for Integrating Research into Society

Luca Montabone

This position paper explores one possible framework within which the integration of research, education, problem solving, and outreach may lead ordinary members of society towards inquiry-based personal knowledge. Research is considered as a ‘cognitive tool’ and it is argued that the direct participation of the public in dedicated research projects facilitates the understanding of the process by which knowledge is obtained, and therefore its application. Some of the new specific concepts of research that have been recently developed (such as citizen research, community research, participatory research) are briefly reviewed, before introducing the more generic concept of ‘c-Research’ (where the ‘c’ stands for ‘cooperative’ and ‘collaborative’) and describing the key differences with respect to ordinary research. The paper concludes with some hints on the implementation of a c-Research structure.

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