Pluriversal Methods Forum: Hands-On Labs for Inclusive and Ethical Research Practice
Join the Pluriversal Methods Forum for hands-on workshops exploring ethical, decolonial and inclusive research practices through collaborative and creative methods.
Pluriversal Methods Forum: Hands-On Labs for Inclusive and Ethical Research Practice
About
The Pluriversal Methods Forum: Hands-On Labs for Inclusive and Ethical Research Practice is organised by DECOLAB (Decolonial Collaboratorium), Bartlett School of Architecture, in collaboration with UCL’s Department of Science, Technology, Engineering and Public Policy (STEaPP). The event is supported by the UCL Grassroots Research Culture Seed Fund 2026.
At a time when research practices are increasingly shaped by standardisation, metrics, procedural frameworks and extractive modes of knowledge production, this forum seeks to create space for alternative, situated and plural approaches to research.
The Pluriversal Methods Forum is a hands-on, participatory workshop series exploring inclusive, ethical, creative and decolonial approaches to research practice. Bringing together interdisciplinary researchers, practitioners and students, the forum collectively engages with methods that challenge one-size-fits-all approaches to knowledge production.
The event is grounded in the idea that methods are not neutral tools, but are deeply entangled with questions of power, positionality, ethics, representation and lived experience. Through interactive workshops and discussions, participants will engage with approaches that foreground collaboration, reflexivity, storytelling, participation, care, justice and situated ways of knowing within research practice.
Designed as a space for dialogue, experimentation and learning-by-doing, the forum will include four interactive methods sessions led by contributors from across disciplines, alongside opportunities for discussion, reflection and exchange throughout the day.
The event also forms part of the wider Pluriversal Methods initiative, which includes the development of a forthcoming booklet series documenting diverse, situated and practice-based methodological approaches from researchers and practitioners across multiple fields.
The forum is convened by Dr Lakshmi Priya Rajendran (UCL Bartlett School of Architecture / DECOLAB) in collaboration with Dr Bipashyee Ghosh (STEaPP, UCL).
Registration
Please register by Monday 15 June 2026 to attend the workshop. Spaces are limited.
Event format
The workshop will include:
- A short introduction to the Pluriversal Methods initiative
- Four interactive methods sessions
- Group discussions and reflections
- Opportunities for interdisciplinary exchange and networking
This is an in-person participatory workshop and attendees are encouraged to actively engage in the sessions.
Schedule
10:00–10:15
Welcome and introduction by Lakshmi Priya Rajendran and Bipashyee Ghosh
10:15–11:15
Methods Session 1
Mapathon as a Counternarrative: Radical Pedagogy of a City Studio in Johannesburg
Richard Muller and Pushpa Arabindoo, Department of Geography, UCL
11:15–12:15
Methods Session 2
Creative Co-Design as Policy Practice: Exploring Narrative Plurality Across London Boroughs
Nidhi Chaudhary, STEaPP, UCL
12:15–13:15
Lunch break and informal networking
13:15–14:15
Methods Session 3
The Ethnographic Sketchbook: Drawing as a Method for Creative and Critical Practice
Raina Ghosh, Urban Studies Foundation International Fellow, University of Amsterdam
14:15–15:15
Methods Session 4
Knowledge Co-Creation in a Multiversity: How Diverse Epistemes and Imagination Can Shape Plural Futures
Elisa Randazzo, STEaPP, UCL
15:15–15:30
Closing reflections and feedback
Contributors
Pushpa Arabindoo is Associate Professor in Geography and Urban Design at UCL. Her teaching and research focus on urban studies in the Global South, particularly India, with interests spanning ecological imaginaries, the urbanisation of water and nature, middle-class activism, slum evictions, resettlement and the right to the city.
Nidhi Chaudhary is Associate Professor (Teaching) in Development, Technology and Innovation Policy at UCL STEaPP. Her work takes a transdisciplinary approach informed by economics, art, architecture, engineering and the social sciences.
Bipashyee Ghosh is Lecturer in Engineering, Innovation and Public Policy at UCL STEaPP. Her research focuses on innovation, policy and sustainability transitions, with interests in democratic and decolonial futures.
Raina Ghosh is an Urban Studies Foundation International Fellow at the University of Amsterdam. Her research interests include urban political ecology, water-society relations, spatial politics in South Asia and qualitative research.
Lakshmi Priya Rajendran is Associate Professor in Environmental and Spatial Equity at the Bartlett School of Architecture and founder of DECOLAB. Her work focuses on decolonial methodologies, climate justice, spatial justice and inclusive research cultures.
Richard Muller is an artist and PhD researcher in the Department of Geography at UCL. His work explores speculative and spatial practices across art, urbanism, technology and ecological imaginaries.
Elisa Randazzo is Associate Professor in Development, Technology and Innovation Policy at UCL STEaPP. Her work focuses on political agency in contexts of conflict and climate-related emergencies, with interests in governance, justice and crisis politics.