Removing Boundaries

Partnerships between universities and communities can help address urgent social issues. This project explores co-production for small-scale, local, community-based research and interventions.

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 a one-day workshop, participants explored 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 brought 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

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The workshop aimed 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? 

Benefits of Participation

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Through tackling the research questions, participants came away from the workshop with: 

• A rich and cross-disciplinary appreciation of community-engaged research projects
• An understanding of the support provided by the university for partnerships between UCL researchers and civil society organisations
• An understanding of what the Co-Production Collective is and how it can be of value in helping UCL researchers and students conduct community-based research and assist civil society organisations in meeting their objectives
• The experience of a shared learning exchange exploring challenges, solutions, and best practice in community-engaged research, facilitated by members of the Co-Production Collective community
• The tools to reflect on their research practice and carve out new approaches for public engagement.
• Actions that they can take away to develop their practice as collaborative and community-based researchers.
• A better understanding of how to disrupt traditional research hierarchies by centring communities and their voices in the research process, after having heard from those with lived experiences of public and policy issues
• Access to a new scholarly network across all research stages, as well as community and institutional contacts.

Image Credit: Diva Plavalaguna