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This special issue of On the Horizon focuses on strategies for applying games, simulations and interactive experiences in learning contexts. A facet of this issue is the interactive and collaborative method in which it was created. Instead of separated individual articles, the authors and editors have orchestrated the articles together, reading and writing as a whole so that the concepts across the articles resonate with each other. It is the intention that this special issue will serve as the basis of many more discussions across conference panels, online forums and interactive media that in turn will engender more special collaborative issues.

At a time when governmental corruption seems rife and administrations grow ever more secretive, the whistleblower is a crucial resource in journalism’s attempts to make accountable those who wield power. Yet despite legislation that is meant to protect employees and officials who expose wrongdoing, a governmental “war on whistleblowers” has made the hazards faced by many whistleblowers increasingly grim. This chapter explores the role of the journalist/whistleblower collaboration in disclosing important, but sensitive, information involving national security. In discussing case studies of those who have braved the government’s anger, we examine not only the circumstances of these breaches, but also their political and legal repercussions.

This paper aims to present a case study illustrating the issues involved in the tacit knowledge conversion process and to determine whether such conversion delivers value to the organisation in terms of business value and return on investment (ROI).

A single‐case multiple baseline participants experimental design, replicated across two participants, was utilised. Aaron's KM V‐model of evaluation is utilised to determine the ROI of the initiative.

While the evaluation of the tacit knowledge conversion initiative suggests positive value to the business; analysis of the conversion process also reveals a number of individual level factors, which reinforce the challenges associated with efforts to access, capture and share expert tacit knowledge.

The results of this study may stimulate further research on tacit knowledge management processes, and specifically the influence of the individual in the success or failure of these initiatives.

The paper presents an actual case study situation that reveals the micro‐level issues involved in converting tacit expert knowledge.

The paper addresses three important areas; it makes an effort to focus on tacit rather than explicit knowledge management, it takes steps to evaluate a tacit knowledge management initiative in terms of its tangible business value, and it pays attention to the influence of the individual in knowledge management processes, which are inherently driven by the individual.

This paper offers an introduction to understanding some of the issues that health and care practitioners might like to consider when supporting the health and well‐being of gypsy elders. The significance of nomadic life and the implications of planning laws on the reported quality of life experienced by gypsy elders is essential to understanding their health needs. The paper also offers an introduction to understanding some of the aspects of health and social care provision that currently impact on the take up of health and care services by gypsy elders. It then makes suggestions about ways of offering services and working with gypsy elders in ways that are culturally appropriate and respectful of their traditions. The authors had the privilege of working with the Derbyshire Gypsy Liaison Group as part of a larger national project on working with black and minority ethnic elders to help improve their mental health. The authors do not claim to be experts on gypsy health but are offering to share their learning as an introduction to understanding and meeting some of the cultural needs of gypsy elders when providing health and social care.

This paper aims to outline a knowledge translation (KT) case study undertaken as part of a multi-component research programme aimed at evaluating new parenting supports in the earliest years. The study aimed to: explore the influencing factors relating to research use in an early years context; and to use the findings, at least in part, to execute an integrated KT plan – to promote stakeholder engagement, greater research visibility and to enhance the understanding of findings emerging from the research programme.

A mixed-methods study was embedded within a large-scale, longitudinal research programme. In the present study, a national survey (n = 162) was administered to stakeholders working with children and families throughout Ireland. A series of one-to-one interviews were also undertaken (n = 37) to amplify the survey findings. Also, one focus group was carried out with parents (n = 8) and one with members of the research team (n = 3). Several dissemination strategies were concurrently developed, executed and evaluated, based partly on survey and interview findings and guided by the knowledge translation planning template (Barwick, 2008; 2013; 2019).

The main factors influencing the dissemination of evidence, as identified by the stakeholders – were: a lack of resources; an under-developed understanding of research use and dissemination; insufficient collaboration and communication; and conflicting stakeholder priorities. Despite these challenges, the research programme was found to benefit from a multi-component KT plan to achieve the outlined dissemination goals.

The KT planning process allowed the research team to be more accountable, introspective and to work more efficiently. This helped increase the likelihood of more targeted and successful dissemination of the research findings, delivering a better return on research investment.

This is the first study of its kind (to our knowledge) to provide important insights for stakeholders in Ireland and elsewhere about how to improve the dissemination process. Effective KT planning can ultimately help to bridge the research-policy-practice gap and enable the effective translation of high-quality evidence in the early years’ sector to enhance outcomes for families in the shorter and longer-term.

The concept of a community form is drawn upon in many subfields of organizational theory. Although there is not much convergence on a level of analysis, there is convergence on a mode of action that is increasingly relevant to a knowledge-based economy marked by porous and shifting organizational boundaries. We argue that communities play an underappreciated role in organizational theory – critical not only to occupational identity, knowledge transfer, sense-making, social support, innovation, problem-solving, and collective action but also, enabled by information technology, increasingly providing socioeconomic value – in areas once inhabited by organizations alone. Hence, we posit that organizations may be in the shadow of communities. Rather than push for a common definition, we link communities to an organization's evolution: its birth, growth, and death. We show that communities represent both opportunities and threats to organizations and conclude with a research agenda that more fully accounts for the potential of community forms to be a creator (and a possible destroyer) of value for organizations.

LifeMatters is a cognitive behavioural coaching programme that provides tools and techniques for developing and applying five areas of life skill competency: taking care of the body, feeling positive, thinking wisely, acting wisely, and taking care of the spirit. The purpose of paper is to evaluate the viability of the LifeMatters programme with a cohort of secondary school students (12-15 years) in Ireland.

Open-ended feedback obtained from 196 participants who completed an open-ended questionnaire. These responses were subjected to a thematic analysis. Subsequent quantitative analysis of the resulting categorical data were carried out using correspondence analysis.

Categorical analysis produced statistically significant sex and age differences showing that males and females differed in their experience of the programme. Girls benefited more from a focus upon stress and self-confidence whereas boys benefited more from a focus on relationship building.

This study demonstrates the viability of the LifeMatters programme for secondary school students as an aid to develop life skills. It highlights the different needs of boys and girls in this area.