How indigenous farmers and university engineers create actionable knowledge for sustainable irrigation

In this article we explore how actionable knowledge was created among substantially different communities of practice in a process with enduring consequences. Analysing an irrigation technology case from southern Ecuador, we illustrate how an indigenous irrigation organization, an intermediary NGO, and a university engineering center together produced actionable knowledge. The project’s original expert approach to designing generally applicable software for irrigation management gradually and implicitly transformed into an iterative participatory action research approach. We show how the transformation improved the work as the stakeholders gradually contextualized their knowledge creation, bridged the boundaries of the involved communities of practice by externalizing mutual knowledge and shared tacit knowledge by engaging in common practices with concern for the quality of relationships.