Knowledge, the new currency in regeneration

Abstract

Knowledge is a neglected commodity in regeneration. It can be seen as the 'new currency' — the element in modern society which very largely distinguishes the empowered from the disempowered. But while much attention is paid to developing sustainable communities in contemporary settings, very little is paid to the flow and accumulation/acquisition of knowledge or knowledges which might inform and empower them. If knowledge could be said to be like water, it is as though one is content to leave it unchannelled, and its course uncharted. Policy-makers and regeneration practitioners need to ask questions such as whether Big Science public investment decisions are too important to be left to scientific researchers, and whether technologies, professional skills and expertise of all sorts need to be seen as a resource in themselves within sustainable development frameworks for national, regional and local economies. This paper makes the case that knowledge is the new currency, and examines some ways in which understandings of knowledge as a commodity might become a constructive aspect of regenerational good practice.