participatory action research

Communities can be “researched,” engaged, and surveyed to explore a variety of questions such as what barriers are preventing students from graduating? What are the local economic and health impacts of having only a few grocery stores in the area? It’s important to rigorously explore these types of questions, but there can be danger in taking data and stories from a community for the purpose of research. You can fall into the trap of “community extraction” if the research is not deeply connected to how that community progresses.

Participatory Action Research, otherwise known as PAR, is a methodology that engages those closest to the issues and positions them as the leading experts in research on and about their community.

To learn about PAR, and what it looks like when community members are the researchers, we hear about the work of NoLa CARES, a collaborative of childcare organizations that focuses on creating access, resources, and equity for the success of Black and Latine women in New Orleans, Louisiana. 

We talk with Dr. Nnenna Odim (Beloved Community) and community researchers Peggy Patterson and Lisa Williams about how NoLa CARES practices PAR to further their goals -  embedding it into their initiative to uplift community leadership, voice, and expertise, and support community members to take the lead in the changes they want to see.

References and Footnotes

• NoLa CARES
  Beloved Community

More on Collective Impact

• Infographic: What is Collective Impact?
• Resource List: Getting Started in Collective Impact

The Intro music, entitled “Running,” was composed by Rafael Krux, and can be found here and is licensed under CC: By 4.0.

The outro music, entitled “Deliberate Thought,” was composed by Kevin Macleod. Licensed under CC: By.

Have a question related to collaborative work that you'd like to have discussed on the podcast? Contact us at: https://www.collectiveimpactforum.org/contact-us/

Petra Molnar is a lawyer and anthropologist, and co-director of York University’s Refugee Law Lab. This episode she and Elizabeth talk about how researchers get their expertise into the hands of people who shape the world we live in, like policymakers, politicians and journalists. They talk about what it means to know something, as well as different approaches to sharing knowledge, like co-production and co-learning. They also consider the power imbalances of knowledge and how to make sure that knowledge is being shared equitably, and inclusively.

Additional resources:

• One of the academic papers we used to prepare for this episode is Paul Cairney and Kathryn Oliver’s (2020). How Should Academics Engage in Policymaking to Achieve Impact? Check it out here.
  
  
• Off the top, Elizabeth mentions SSHRC, which provides a bunch of information on knowledge mobilization (or KM) for researchers. Here’s what they say about effective KM.
  
  
• Elizabeth also talks about the idea of co-production and Petra further mentions co-learning. This cool graphic from Michelle Lokot’s paper on research in humanitarian settings, shows a number of components that could be part of co-production (FYI there isn’t just one way!)
  
  
• Petra mentions participatory action research. Find out more here.
  
  
• Elizabeth suggests that part of the work of knowledge mobilization is teaching people about knowledge itself, about how you know if knowledge is valid or if the evidence is reliable. If you want to know more, try this crash course on The Meaning of Knowledge.
  
  
• Petra mentions that she takes a “transgressive approach” in her work. Take a look at this short video to find out. 
  
  
• Petra mentions that part of the work she does is related to the “de-centralization of knowledge.” What does that mean and why does it matter?
  
  
• Petra mentions the EU’s current drafting of legislation to regulate AI, and her related work technology and border issues. Here’s more on that.
  
  
• Petra mentions that she takes a trauma-informed perspective in her work. Take a look at this guide from Western University on Trauma- And Violence-Informed Research. 

Check out www.polcommtech.ca for annotated transcripts of this episode in English and French.

The final episode.

Here is where this process and project gets wrapped up. It is a conclusion of sorts, where I examine and review this particular phenomenology and herbalism inquiry. I reflect on my relationships with the more than human world and wonder about if this might just be accessible for others.

But this is by no means the end of this overall trajectory, heavens no.

Though it is the completion of this particular podcast and project. For now...

Thank you for listening in. And if you've found anything particularly intriguing and would like to learn more or perhaps collaborate down the road, please do reach out and let us see what we can make happen.

My email is: joseph.m.culhane@gmail.com

I'd love to hear from you.

 And check out Schumacher College if you are not familiar with this amazing place. It is incredible what they are doing. And there is a global network of Schumacher alumni and offshoots of this primary institution and I am aiming to bring one to Los Angeles one day soon. So stay tuned for that, too 😉

Part two of this three-part podcast gets a bit further into what the heck phenomenology is all about. And lays out many of the key concepts and terms that have been integral to this project and process.

These concepts and terms are :

More than Human, Scholarly Personal Narrative, (post) qualitative research, Scholarly Activism, Political Ecology, Eco-femenism, Critical Race Theory, Queer Theory, Participatory Action Research, Complexity World View, Systems View of Life, Ontology, Epistemology, Settler Colonialism, Herbalism, Traditional Ecological Knowledge,  Anthropocentrism, Appropriation, Anthropocene, Chthulucene, Capitalocene, Plantationocene, IPCC Report, Sixth Mass Extinction, Animism, and Ontopoetics,