The Systemic Effectiveness of Knowledge Networks of Regions: Northern Ireland Local Government Association 2022-2023

Adi Weidenfeld,

Faculty of Economic Sciences and Centre of Excellence in Social Sciences

University of Warsaw, Dobra 56/66 St. Room. 2.90

00-312 Warsaw, University of Warsaw, ul. Długa 44/50, 00-241 Warsaw, Poland 

a.weidenfeld@uw.edu.pl

Nick Clifton

Department of Accounting, Economics and Finance, 

Cardiff Metropolitan University, Cardiff, UK CF5 2YB

nclifton@cardiffmet.ac.uk

Main aims:

  1. Exploring and assessing the structure, intuitional capacity and systemiceffectiveness in terms of member engagement in meaningful knowledge exchange among members and partners for enhancing innovation in Northern Ireland
  2. Identifying the role of Northern Ireland Local Government Association (NILGA’s) management team in supporting knowledge exchange and innovation
  3. Identifying barriers, incentives and providing policy recommendation.

Main methods:

  1. A questionnaire survey and social network analysis
  2. In-depth qualitative interviews with members of NILGA team and key individuals from member and partner organisations.

Practical implications/recommendations

  1. NILGA’s knowledge exchange among members and partners focused on economic development, finance (particularly post-Brexit), public service delivery, regeneration, and general staff affairs. The most popular knowledge exchange channel is face-to-face meetings, followed by best practice visits, events, and the use of social media.
  2. Most knowledge exchange takes place among members and partners from Northern Ireland, as well as with some other organisations in the UK, including SOLACE, LGA, the Association for Public Service Excellence, COSLA, WLGA, and the Centre for Local Economic Strategies. There is also engagement with Irish and European regions, although less so with other worldwide regions (Figure 1–2).
  3. Emphasis should continue to be placed on face-to-face interactions. However, given the post-pandemic shift and advancements in technology, online practices have become more prominent and widely accepted. Therefore, this finding should be interpreted with caution and may need to be revisited as online channels continue to gain popularity.
  4. The NILGA team is facilitating an apolitical, professional, and fit-for-purpose mechanism, which should continue operating in this way.
  5. Greater engagement with academic organisations is needed to benefit from research-informed knowledge, enhance innovation, and create more effective partnerships.
  6. The geographic scale of NILGA as a knowledge network extends beyond Northern Ireland to the UK, Ireland, and across Europe, where active actors such as SOLACE and LGA are located. These active partners should be recognised as key players in future initiatives.
  7. The engagement of associate partners makes a considerable contribution and should be acknowledged when planning and funding initiatives aimed at promoting knowledge exchange and joint innovation.
  8. Complementarities in knowledge, skills, and competencies among members and partners are essential for effective interactions. These can be enhanced by encouraging collaborative projects involving members with varying levels of experience—particularly in areas where some councils are strong while others need improvement (e.g., financial service management).
  9. Identifying and raising awareness of informal practices and norms that enhance knowledge exchange—by stimulating new ways of collaborative thinking and motivating joint strategic interregional challenges—is essential. This can be supported by hosting informal social gatherings or allocating more time for networking within formal events (e.g., dinners).
  10. Encouraging informal contacts between individuals, regardless of location or organisational affiliation, is recommended. This can be incentivised by funding participation in events and facilitating travel to and from partner organisations.
  11. NILGA should encourage greater engagement with the private sector, particularly in commercially driven innovations, which are currently underemphasised. Industry collaboration could significantly enhance practical and financial aspects of innovation.
  12. Weaker engagement from Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon was identified. It is recommended to provide targeted incentives to foster their meaningful participation in knowledge exchange.
  13. The study recommends a mixed-method approach, which NILGA and similar knowledge networks can use to periodically assess their structure, scale, effectiveness, and the outcomes of their knowledge interactions. This can guide management teams and members in improving their efforts to support innovation processes.

Further details, including references, can be found in the following open-access articles:

Figure 1. NILGA’s structure as a knowledge exchange network (based onqualitative data from interviews with individuals from member and partnerorganisations

Figure 2. Levels of active engagement in knowledge exchange among NILGA’smembers and partners (based on a survey questionnaire 2022-2023)