Abstract

People learn from practice research in design but how and what is the nature of knowledge they acquire? In this track we look at knowledge claims generated through practice research in the context of and in relation to social design. In other words, the focus is on knowing and how knowledge is produced and acquired through practice research in social design. The basic assumption, as well as the proposition being tested, is: because the knowing in question is acquired in a certain way, it makes certain things known; or maybe even going further, it makes certain - some but not all - things happen. Accordingly, all of the papers submitted to the track speak to – refine and elaborate – the process through which knowledge is produced and, perhaps more speculatively, suggest what outcomes follow from this: what becomes known through practice research in social design and what difference it makes. They don’t arrive at a uniform conclusion but present a range of considerations, together with the vocabulary, to take this line of research forward.