Connection, Participation and Empowerment in Community-Based Research: the Case of the Transition Movement

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This project will explore patterns of engagement and knowledge exchange within the Transition movement in the UK, with particular attention to the relationships among academic researchers, Transition initiatives - local groups promoting community-led responses to climate change, peak oil and economic contraction - and the Transition Network, an international coordinating body dedicated to supporting Transition initiatives and enabling their work.In the context of an increasing emphasis on research 'impact' in the forthcoming research excellence framework (REF), many researchers in the humanities and social sciences will be seeking to engage more directly with potential research beneficiaries in community groups and movements. However, the experiences of both the Transition Network and individual Transition initiatives (as with other community organisations) suggest that the potential benefits of collaboration with researchers are not always realised. The Transition Network has also indicated that, while it recognises these potential benefits, in practice these are not always realised, and there are risks that researchers can be a drain on limited time and resources.Against this background, this project will investigate how relationships among researchers, the Transition Network, and local Transition initiatives can be mutually beneficial. It will do this through a collaboration between interested academics and Transition Network staff. This team will first lead a process of documenting and reflecting on experiences of researcher engagement with transition. The learning from this phase will then feed into the design of strategies and protocols for enhancing knowledge sharing and researcher engagement. A series of pilot workshops will also be held, to test new approaches and respond to needs identified by the transition network. Throughout, the project will experiment with a co-inquiry methodology inspired by permaculture design, chosen for its relevance to the Transition movement (itself informed by permaculture).The main outputs from this project will include guidelines for managing relationships between academic researchers and Transition groups or communities, a report for a general audience that will summarise key findings from the documentation, design and piloting phases, and an academic article in a peer-reviewed journal.The project will be relevant to a range of stakeholders and beneficiaries, including Transition Network members and staff, local Transition initiatives, academics and policy-makers interested in the Transition movement as a relevant example of community-led adaptation to climate change and peak oil, and academics interested in qualitative and participatory research methodologies.The project contributes to the development of the Connected Communities programme, addressing all three of its three core themes, including researchers from four existing scoping studies and building upon findings from a broad range of further studies in the scoping phase.