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The Removing Boundaries workshop will explore challenges, solutions & best practice in publicly engaged research by bringing together UCL staff & students with members of the Co-Production Collective
In a world of globalisation, where many public issues become human issues, it is increasingly important for researchers to transcend traditional research hierarchies to work alongside and in service of the communities with which they engage. The widely recognised importance of authentic partnership with communities constitutes one specific aspect of the current general shift in academia towards more reflexive research practices, alongside decolonisation of the research process and the integration of indigenous modes of knowledge production.
In this one-day workshop, participants will explore the challenges, solutions, and best practice in community-engaged research to develop creative approaches to issues that affect us on a local, national, and global scale, such as the climate crisis and social justice.
A joint endeavour between UCL Grand Challenges and the Co-Production Collective, this workshop will bring together UCL staff (from Faculty and Professional Services departments) and postgraduate students to hear from two keynote speakers with experience in conducting community-engaged research (morning session), before participating in a shared learning exchange facilitated by members of the Co-Production Collective (afternoon session).
Research Questions
In this workshop, we aim to tackle the following questions:
- How can co-creation and co-production partnerships between academic researchers and community-based organisations shed new light on societal problems through creative collaborative solutions?
- What potential barriers (e.g., cognitive, experiential, institutional/structural) exist between academic researchers and the communities they work in service of?
- How do academic researchers and civil society groups navigate conflicting agendas and power imbalances when co-producing knowledge?
- How can reframing public issues as ‘human’ issues by encouraging cross-disciplinary discussions help cultivate favourable conditions for the co-production of knowledge?
- What roles do mutual respect/trust/accountability/transparency play in facilitating co-production?
- How can dismantling traditional research hierarchies by centering the lived experiences of communities help academic researchers form their best practice?
- In what ways does UCL, as an institution, support partnerships between researchers and civil society organisations?
- Is there such a thing as an ‘independent' researcher? Isn't all knowledge co-produced?