At the Interplay Between Needs and Expectations: Regional Perspectives on Being an Intermediary Support Structure in Knowledge Governance

Introduction: During the last decade, structures for ‘knowledge governance’ as a means of strengthening the quality of social services has been used by the Swedish government and national authorities. In this process, regional collaboration and support structures (RCSSs) have been identified as a key asset as an intermediary link between national and local actors. The aim of this study was to explore the perspectives of these regional actors on expectations associated with being an intermediary support structure in knowledge governance processes in social services in Sweden. Methods: The study uses an abductive, qualitative approach, mainly with open questions in an empirical-driven manner (inductively) and partly in a theory-driven manner (deductively). Interviews with representatives from the RCSSs were used for data collection. Conventional content analysis with elements of directed content analysis of the data material was used. Results: A variety of expectations on RCSSs was reported from the national and local levels. According to the respondents, the feeling of inadequacy in relation to the perceived expectations was recurrent because the expectations were hard to meet. They also experienced role ambiguity and that their mission was unclear. Conclusions: The findings show that RCSSs seem to handle the situation by considering, assessing, and prioritising different actors’ needs and expectations in relation to their own perception of the intermediary mission. The findings also indicate a lack of a collective sense-making process with other key actors on different levels in the knowledge governance system. To reach the core purpose of knowledge governance, it is necessary to establish a common understanding of the relationship between expectations and prerequisites for facilitation between national, regional, and local actors.