Co-constructed knowledge, which can invoke research that is joint, collaborative, partnered, participatory, or interdisciplinary, is a key area of inquiry within social work. Community members, practitioners and researchers possess situated, experiential, and relational knowledge, representing valuable epistemologies and ontologies with the potential to transform social realities. However, bringing different areas of knowledge together is not as straightforward as it seems. As our Special Issue titled “Co-constructed Knowledge” reminds us, the process of co-creating knowledge requires time, openness to learning, and commitment to building relationships with partners and communities. In working with the Association Quebec/Canada pour la formation, la recherche et l’intervention sociale (AQCFRIS), this is the first CSWR/RCSS collaborative issue. Delving into the richness, complexity, and potential of engaging in co-constructed knowledge and research, the three articles cover a range of contexts within social work education, intervention, and community practice. The first article titled “Co-constructing Knowledge to Benefit an Innovative Social Work Practicum: A Participatory Action Research (PAR) and Integrated Knowledge Translation (iKT)” by Sanders, Seale, Bernal, Landon, Sutton, Sullivan, Reed, Anita, Arundel and Csiernik, reports on a participatory action research study that examined the impact of a virtual pilot practicum program hosted by Kings University College at Western University and the Thames Valley District School Board. Based on an integrated approach to knowledge transfer (SAFE program), this initiative enabled students to be guided by researchers in co-constructing their learning and developing reflective, collaborative, and community-based skills. Borges, Lodetti, Tousignant, Fortin, Arsenault and Langlois’ article titled “Mise en œuvre de l’équipe d’intervenants pivots en interculturel dans les établissements de santé et des services sociaux de la région de Québec : une expérience de coconstruction des savoirs” describes the experiences of social workers within an intercultural intervention team (intervenants pivots en interculturel - IPI) at the CIUSSS de la Capitale-Nationale. By documenting the creation and functioning of this team, the Borges et al. show how the co-construction of knowledge can be embodied in organizational mechanisms aimed at improving intercultural practices. The results highlight the contribution of this approach to the development of practitioners’ cultural competence, while emphasizing the importance of structured clinical support and shared reflection processes in overcoming barriers to access and quality of care for immigrant populations. Finally, Vaccaro, Milliken, Samana and Floren’s contribution titled “As it happens”: Co-creating knowledge for a gender-based safety audit with women experiencing long-term homelessness” offers a co-creation project with women and gender-diverse people experiencing homelessness in Hamilton, Ontario. Adopting an intersectional feminist, artistic and collaborative approach, Vaccaro et al. describe their processes to engage participants in arts-based workshops to co-produce a zine. The analysis highlights the ethical and methodological challenges inherent in such approaches, but also their transformative potential for engaging marginalized communities in the production of concrete recommendations and the promotion of social change. Taken together, these three articles demonstrate the potential of engaging in co-constructed knowledge research, training, and intervention. It reminds us that combining knowledge does not simply mean adding perspectives together, but rather engaging in processes of mutual understanding capable of transforming people and their relationship to the world. In a context where social work is called upon to meet ever more complex challenges, these experiences and reflections constitute milestones on the path toward a social work paradigm of shared understanding.
