Spotlight on Participatory Research in the Takeover Space
A visitor interacting with the display, Experts by Experience: Who Knows Best?
Who decides what is researched and how it’s done? Participatory Research is a collaborative practice that seeks to redress power imbalances and actively involve communities in research that is relevant to them. We spoke to Bella Spencer and Nat Gohlan from King’s Impact and Engagement Services team to find out more.
What is Participatory Research, and why is it important?
Traditionally, researchers in universities have worked from constructed positions of power, equipped with the resources and agency to drive research agendas, and impart - or impose - their generated knowledge on communities. Participatory Research sets out to challenge this hierarchy by centring communities outside of academia as collaborators in research to create knowledge and enact social change.
The approach recognises that those with lived experience of an issue or system are experts by experience, and therefore are best placed to contribute to related research. Ultimately, Participatory Research aims to develop collective agency by building capacities for collaboration, analysis and action between universities and communities.
Where did this approach come from?
Participatory Research is a collaborative and self-refl ective method that emerged in the 1940s, gaining authority during the anti-colonial movements of the 1970s and 80s in the Global South. Its roots can be traced back to non-hierarchical grassroots activism, and many of its core practical elements are derived from this.
Participatory research projects at King’s highlighted in the exhibition
What Participatory Research projects are currently happening at King’s?
Among the projects we have seed funded are MAPS, a project bringing together academics and survivor-led organisations to co-create a framework to support survivor-led research; The MORE project, a training programme to upskill and empower peer researchers to shape research addressing inequalities in maternal health outcomes; and Include Us In, a collaboration with the Palestinian Museum to explore cultural entrepreneurship in the West Bank.
Tell us about your takeover at Science Gallery London
Science Gallery London embodies many of the core values of Participatory Research by blurring the line between academia and communities and inviting them onto campus to learn, collaborate and grow new ideas. This spring, a group of Participatory Researchers will create a collaborative installation for the gallery’s Takeover Space. Experts by Experience: Who Knows Best? will explore the concept of lived experience in knowledge production. A series of thought-provoking events and training workshops will also run alongside the installation.
Experts by Experience: Who Knows Best? is on display from 10 April – 5 June