Co-creating Research Priorities with Seacroft Community Voices

Supervisors: Vasilki Kioupi, Rosario Michel Villareal and Charlotte Nussey | University of Leeds

Context

Our communities are invaluable in shaping our lives. They make up our surroundings, our sense of place, and some of our most meaningful relationships. With what can feel like such divisive and discordant sentiments in the world at the moment, communities grow ever more vital. Being proud of your community – through directly impacting it in a tangible and meaningful way – translates to fulfilled lives. Belief that things can change for the better starts by being heard. 

The project aims to do exactly this: by making the people of Seacroft researchers in their own right, the community is equipped with the skills to systematically understand issues they wish to address, and produce thorough research that policymakers take seriously. Seacroft has historically been over-researched and under-prioritised, so bridging the gap between academics and ordinary, working-class individuals through trust and ethical practice is fundamental, and at the very heart of the project. 

Outputs

So far, the team have hosted workshops to develop participants into researchers. The Seacroft researchers have produced questions and topics to address, and will return with results. We want to understand how they approached this process: what they adapted within the framework, how they undertook their research, and why they prioritised certain intentions or techniques over others. 

Joining the project towards its end, I will be documenting and co-organising reflective spaces and producing analytical reports of this community-led methodology. We will target policy relevance of the outcomes for results that are applicable far beyond Seacroft for future decision-making. I also hope to use creative methods of communication – graphics and filmmaking – to open dialogue between us, the Seacroft researchers, and policymakers alike. 

I hold the post-war estate in Southeast London I grew up in near and dear to my heart. I am very excited to work on a project that looks to instil this sense of pride and belonging amongst Seacroft residents, and produce new methods for doing so anywhere.