Working with Community Researchers in Co-produced Research

Across communities, the third sector, and academia, there is an increasing focus on research that is undertaken co-productively - between communities and universities - and which includes community 'peer' researchers as core members of research teams. Community 'peer' researchers bring valuable ‘experiential expertise’ into the research process. The inclusion of community 'peer' researchers in research projects is an acknowledgement that individuals in the community are competent, knowledgeable, and capable of participating in research on a variety of levels, including as researchers.

Can be hard to define

Community researchers can be hard to define but are typically laypeople without any prior recognised research training and with minimal knowledge or experience of a research process who are also ‘peers’ to a project’s research participants (sharing at least one shared ‘lived experience’). The roles and responsibilities of community researchers shift substantially across contexts. They can be ‘community’ activists or volunteers, organisational employees nominated to represent an organisation within a research partnership or, employees/volunteers recruited from a ‘community’ specifically to participate in a research project. Community researchers can be the paid employees of an organisation or university, work on a voluntary basis or, with some form of remuneration for contributed time. In some cases, community researchers partner in all facets of a research project and are members of the core research team. In others, they are instrumental in one or more specific aspects of fieldwork, recruitment, or consulting/reviewing project design, data and findings in a more advisory capacity.

Part of community-engaged and co-produced research projects

This workshop is aimed at researchers who are interested in learning more about training and supporting community 'peer' researchers as part of community-engaged and co-produced research projects. It will be an interactive style, incorporating discussions, trials of community researcher training activities, and short seminar-style presentations.

The workshop will be delivered by Helen Thomas-Hughes who is an Associate Professor in Community-Engaged Research and Pedagogy at the University of Bristol, and Director for Education at The Cabot Institute for the Environment.

Places are limited, please book your place with Tove Samzelius.

tove.samzelius@mau.se

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