Co-innovation and Integration and Implementation Sciences: Measuring their research impact - examination of five New Zealand primary sector case studies

The Primary Innovation programme investigated co-innovation to solve complex agricultural problems in five New Zealand primary sector projects. The projects engaged diverse stakeholders using a collaborative, integrative process to co-define problems, and co-create and implement solutions. Each project included a Reflexive Monitor, who facilitated group relationship and integration of multiple disciplinary and stakeholder knowledges. This paper seeks to address the following research question: Is co-innovation an effective research approach for achieving societal impact from innovations? Results indicated that the five behavioural principles of co-innovation and the presence or absence of elements defined in the Integration and Implementation Sciences Framework (i2S) for enhancing research impact were positively related to the three success measures. This suggests validity of these measurement tools, and of using a co-innovation approach and/or systematic attention to the elements of the i2S framework to enhance the processes, outcomes and impacts of projects tackling complex real-world problems.