Steen,R.van Regenmortel,M.R.F.Hermans,K.2025-02-012025-02-012018Steen, R, van Regenmortel, M R F & Hermans, K 2018, 'Beyond the research–practice gap : The development of an academic collaborative centre for child and family social work', British Journal of Social Work, vol. 48, no. 6, pp. 1611–1626. https://doi.org/10.1093/bjsw/bcx1260045-310210.1093/bjsw/bcx126https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14602/68617The gap between research and practice has been a long-standing challenge in social work (e.g. Richmond, 1917; Rubin, 2014). Partnership structures between research facilities and social care organisations are seen as a possible way forward, but knowledge on how such partnerships can be successfully elaborated and implemented in local social work practices is scarce. In this article, we elaborate on our experiences in building an academic collaborative centre (ACC): a long-term partnership between a social service organisation and a university (see also ACCs for public health in the Netherlands, e.g. Garretsen et al., 2007; Molleman and Fransen, 2012; Jansen et al., 2015). Starting from the conceptual framework of Thompson et al. (2009), we open up the black box of our collaboration project and give insight into what turned out to be a long and messy but also a very rich and insightful process. We conclude by identifying three important aspects to implementing a research–practice partnership in local social work practice: (i) informal contacts between the different stakeholders and knowledge brokering, (ii) collaborative research projects and (iii) a general framework of mutuality and agreement in which differences can safely exist and negation can take place.enginfo:eu-repo/semantics/closedAccessBOUNDARY ORGANIZATIONSEMPOWERMENTEXCHANGEGOVERNANCEKNOWLEDGEMANAGEMENTPARTICIPATIONPERSPECTIVESPOLICYPartnershipsSCIENCEacademic collaborative centreevidence-based practiceknowledge co-creationresearch-practice gapBeyond the research–practice gap: The development of an academic collaborative centre for child and family social workArticleGeneral rights Copyright and moral rights for the publications made accessible in the public portal are retained by the authors and/or other copyright owners and it is a condition of accessing publications that users recognise and abide by the legal requirements associated with these rights. - Users may download and print one copy of any publication from the public portal for the purpose of private study or research. - You may not further distribute the material or use it for any profit-making activity or commercial gain - You may freely distribute the URL identifying the publication in the public portal" Take down policy If you believe that this document breaches copyright please contact us providing details, and we will remove access to the work immediately and investigate your claim.20347534https://research.tilburguniversity.edu/en/publications/248f32c8-35df-44e1-ab21-0ac09541d9ec(c) Universiteit van TilburgSteen, R.van Regenmortel, M.R.F.Hermans, K.