Working method

 

TransForum fulfilled its mission by conducting research and experimenting together with other parties. In its activities TransForum aims at cooperation with what is known as the KENGI partners. These are:

  • Knowledge institutes
  • Entrepreneurs
  • Non-governmental organisations
  • Governments
  • Intermediaries

TransForum has three types of project:


Innovative practical projects

TransForum worked on a practical basis. Questions from the world of practice provide the point of departure for the Innovative practical projects (IPs). In the IPs, knowledge institutes, non-governmental organisations, entrepreneurs and intermediaries (KENGI) worked closely together in order to realise concrete and sustainable value propositions. Participants in IPs frequently came across issues that call for more detailed research. This is when the Scientific Projects came into the picture.


Scientific projects

TransForum worked on Scientific projects the results of which must be of direct public importance and hence be usable and applicable. The questions arising out of the practical projects formed the agenda for the scientific projects. The scientific programme was therefore intimately bound up with the world of practice.

The ability to define a good knowledge question is not, however, something that is given to each and every entrepreneur. And setting up an actual practically-oriented piece of research is not plain sailing for each and every researcher. It is also often incorrectly held that entrepreneurs and researchers must do everything together, or that everything must be demand-driven. It is clear that various parties not only speak different languages but also have different interests. Where entrepreneurs are driven by economic gain, researchers are looking in particular for scientific recognition, governments for power and non-governmental organisations for influence. From this it will be clear that there are no simple solutions but that we face a complex challenge. The challenge is to learn to understand each other's language, jointly to develop a new language, to recognise each other's interests and from there to develop new incentives that do justice to shared interests and close cooperation.


Knowledge projects

Both the Practical Projects and the Scientific Projects were not just producing output but are gradually building up a considerable body of knowledge and experience on how that output is arrived at. The emphasis is on dealing with (cultural) differences, risks and new problems, etc. TransForum's knowledge projects aimed at learning from all the knowledge and experience that has been built up and converting this into transferable forms. The learning took place at three levels: 1) within projects, 2) between projects, and 3) from projects.

The Learning Programme was aimed at the organisation of reflection and learning at the three levels so as to render visible and transferable the competencies and skills required for the realisation of innovations.