Social innovation, research and community engagement: Managing interdisciplinary projects for societal change

A transformative research paradigm is rooted in knowledge mobilization processes involving close collaboration between researchers and the community. A formalized approach to managing multi-stakeholder participation and community engagement in a science and technology research environment is presented. Design science research methodology is applied with a systems thinking approach to implement an integrated research, development and project management network at a tertiary education institution. The network is presented as a Research and Projects Office that enables a projects-based approach to facilitate interdisciplinary and community-driven research for social change through technology development.