ABSTRACT
It is research that is shared by researchers and stakeholders. It involves the researcher acting as a change agent with community participants functioning as co-researchers (Grant December 2004: 5). Action research can be critical in developing working relationships and shared interests among a region’s stakeholder representatives. In this context, it is research that is developmental and innovative, and its goal is to produce new visions and approaches to realize those visions by means of collective, participatory and multiple stakeholder investments of learning and planning accordingly (Clark 1972). Action research can facilitate the incorporation of local knowledge and expertise into the plan making for the region.
