Free to register, with optional donation
Free to register, with optional donation
In traditional research we already know the questions, the methods, even the target population. Anything outside those parameters - we leave out.
Participatory research does not just gather data in a different way; it should challenge who gets to define the problem.
It changes what we see and alters the futures we design as a result.
When done well, participatory research is the practice of shifting power, expanding knowledge, and challenging what’s possible within the hierarchy of research and policy.
In this interactive session, we will go beyond the basics of participatory research and explore the identity, role, value and practice of a participatory researcher:
- who can be a participatory researcher?
- what’s involved?
- how is it done?
Participants will place themselves in the role of a participatory researcher experiencing the stigma, unique personal challenges and risks, and the new possibilities that come with the role.
About the session
This Lunchtime Talk will be facilitated by Ryan Wise and Thomas Spielhofer, from the Tavistock Institute, with Callum Ross and Lisa Androulidakis from Habitus Collective (a social research company centred in Lived Experience).
They will lead the conversation and share knowledge on the boundaries and ethics of the role and approach. Leading practice will be identified, and participants will leave with new insights into quality practice, approach limits and ideal conditions.
Biographies
Lisa Androulidakis is a lived-experience leader, systems thinker and partner at Habitus Collective. She specialises in participatory research, peer leadership and community-led evaluation. She supports governments, organisations and health trusts, like the WHO, NHS and Samaritans to centre lived experience, shift power, and turn community insight into meaningful policy and practice change.
Callum Ross is a strategist, mentor and community researcher who models lived-experience-peer leadership. Former Director of Innovation at the Canadian Mental Health Association, he has led mental-health innovation for over a decade. He now advances participatory and peer led research and leadership through the International Peer Leadership Network and Global Leadership Exchange. Currently he is working with the University of Nottingham and Wellcome Trust to build a national Peer Research Academy for the UK.
Thomas Spielhofer is a Principal Researcher at the Tavistock Institute, specialising in theory-based and participatory evaluation across youth, mental health and social inclusion. He combines mixed-methods rigour with co-production, recently directing evaluations that centre lived experience, including Samaritans’ Online Chat, and leading learning partnerships that use Outcome Harvesting and Theory of Change to drive systems improvement. He is currently training to be a counsellor using person-centred approaches.
Ryan Wise is a social worker, systemic family therapy practitioner and consultant at the Tavistock Institute. His work focuses on working with groups and individuals who often face discrimination and marginalisation. He values co-production and equitable evaluation to ensure lived experience is at the heart of Tavistock’s research principles.
Free to register, with optional donation
