PRILL – Phase One - Participatory Research Innovation and Learning Labs

Breakout activity and discussion during PRILL Learning Lab 2

The PRILL project ran from March-July 2022, offering a series of workshops for Durham University staff and postgraduate researchers and members of community organisations interested in, or with experience of, participatory research (PR). It was initiated and facilitated by academic and community partner members of the Centre for Social Justice and Community Action – an interdisciplinary research centre that supports and promotes participatory action research for social justice.

Recognising the potential and rising popularity of PR, the PRILL project was invested in supporting capacity-building and skills development through a sequential workshop-based learning program open to university and community researchers. PR involves people with lived experience of the issue being studied playing a role in undertaking all of some of the research design, data collection, analysis and interpretation and dissemination.

The aims of PRILL were to:

Build on and chart some of the experiences, expertise, aspirations, good practice and challenges for PR at Durham;
Combine introductory level support and guidance with opportunities for advanced level learning;
Create a space where novel, challenging and complex approaches, methods and problems can be worked on collaboratively by groups of practising participatory researchers.

Over a total of five sessions (hosted online and in person), the PRILL project facilitated a shared learning space for emerging and experienced participatory researchers. Through a combination of presentations and group activities, the PRILL Learning and Innovation Labs adopted a gradual approach to learning through sequential sessions, while also allowing time and space for exploration, reflection, dialogue, and sharing of experiences across learners and facilitators.

Participants from beyond Durham University included:

The Auckland Project, Aspire, BSMHFT, CSJCA, Difference NE, Durham Foodbank, Energy Democracy Project, Healthwatch, Healthwatch Greenwich, Homes England, Joseph Rowntree Foundation, Newcastle University, Newcastle West End Foodbank, Poverty Alliance, Queen Margaret University & University College Cork, Recovery Connections, St Mary’s Twickenham, St. Mary’s University, Sunderland Foodbank, Teikyo University, The Open University, Tyne and Wear Public Transport Users Group, Tyneside Outdoors, UCLan.

PRILL was supported by UKRI Research England, Participatory Research funding.

The brief report of the PRILL project can be found here.