Intermediate concepts in the generative dance between knowledge and knowing

Recognizing and facilitating the generative dance between knowledge and knowing is essential and calls for a better understanding of the processes at play. An analysis of the collective action among heterogeneous stakeholders involved in the ecological restoration of Grand-Lieu Lake, in the landscape management project in the Cevennes, and in the Vittel catchment management initiative, allows us to characterize complex situations of collective action mainly as design situations. Of the three case-studies, we analyse the Grand-Lieu situation in the greatest detail. The analysis reveals how stakeholders developed what we have identified as “intermediary concepts” and how these assisted them in successfully engaging in a collective design process. In this paper, we discuss the value of the notion of “intermediary concept” to stakeholders involved in a situation as well as to a researcher observing and analysing a situation.