The recent C-DICE Knowledge Exchange Live Lab brought researchers and industry partners together for a day of curiosity, collaboration and creativity.
Participants heard from businesses with real challenges, tested practical KE tools, and explored how to create shared value and impact through intentional collaboration. From mapping stakeholders to building the foundations of a Theory of Change, researchers left with new skills, confidence, and energy to apply KE in their own work.
One participant shared how a simple exercise “completely changed how I thought about my research… It simplified the purpose of my research in my head and helped me refine my approach by immediately cutting out all the unimportant complexity and noise. I’m already using it as the first paragraph of my paper introduction.”
Another described the workshop as “a fantastic session that blended hands-on learning brilliantly with input from industry partners,” highlighting the value of co-design, curiosity, and tackling the barriers to change in pursuit of impact.
The Live Lab showed that Knowledge Exchange is not just a method but a mindset that connects research with the real-world challenges of companies, policymakers and society, and with the practical expertise that flows when people share knowledge across different settings and organisations.