Co-Production Across Disciplines and Borders: the Case of Gene Drive Mosquitoes in the UK and Mali

Knowledge co-production (KC) has become a popular buzzword in the challenge-led agendas of research funders in the Global North, yet it is not well-defined when knowledge is co-produced across disciplines and across borders that stretch from the Global North to the Global South. This project will co-produce an empirically-grounded, international and transdisciplinary KC framework. Taking an interpretative approach, the research team will explore the meaning of KC in the case of gene drive mosquito technology for malaria control developed in the UK and Mali, where the scientific community is committed to KC, yet has not defined it in practice. The team will use qualitative methods, including documentary analysis, interviews, lab ethnographies and workshops to enable Malian actors to shape the very meaning of KC in advance of its implementation and to build new insights and methods for application in other cases of high technology developed with and for the Global South.