Case Study: Connecting with Tyne & Wear Communities through Co-Creation

As part of the NERC-funded Engaging Environments programme, a Community of Practice was established in the Tyne & Wear region, led by a team from University of Newcastle based at the Dove Marine Laboratory, to explore co-created research with local communities. Here, we share information about the projects, key outcomes and learnings, as guidance for future co-created research projects.

Context and Aims

If we are to address global environmental challenges, such as climate change and biodiversity loss, it is essential that inclusive public participation in scientific research is increased. However, academia, research and the language of science can often be inaccessible and the benefit to communities may not seem immediately clear.

Co-Investigators at the University of Newcastle, Dr Jane Delany, Dr Heather Sugden and Dr Danielle Robinson, sought to address these issues by using a transdisciplinary research approach to engage with four local community groups. The overarching aim of the project was to include community groups in key decision-making processes throughout all research phases, to co-create projects that addressed local concerns and/ or interests.

Projects also aimed to:

· Create the conditions for engaged, responsive, inclusive, equitable co-created research.

· Engage diverse communities with marine environmental science.

· Build capacity for researchers and community partners to collaborate, develop skills and engage with issues of environmental and social justice.

· Develop guidance and dialogue around the principles and processes which underpin co-created research.

Projects and community groups

Each of the projects were co-created by local community groups and researchers at Newcastle University. Co-creation – collaborative knowledge generation by academic researchers working alongside other stakeholders – recognises the value of different knowledge systems, incorporates different perspectives, and addresses power imbalances through building trust between academia and community members. Communities are heard, and involved as equal partners throughout the research process to ensure practices and outcomes are informed by societal concerns and aspirations. The community groups involved were: Sangini, a Black and minorities-led arts project committed to ending gender-based violence; Hart Gables, which supports LGBTQ+ communities in the region; the International Community of Sunderland (ICOS), which exists to improve the quality of life for Black and minoritised people in the North East; and North Tyneside Youth Strike for Climate, and activist group for young people aged 10 and above that are engaged in the climate emergency.

Each community was engaged in a distinct programme of work which was collaboratively developed with the Newcastle team to respond to key areas of interest or concern. Sangini co-created an art-science collaborative, combining environmental awareness with participatory arts practice. Guided by Bangladeshi artists, co-researchers created artwork from recycled materials to express their concerns around issues such as plastic pollution and climate change. Hart Gables co-designed a series of thematic workshops combining environmental awareness and practical activities to improve community awareness of local environmental issues and break down barriers to community

engagement with scientific research. Youth Strike for Climate co-designed a project to record local rocky shore species, developing scientific research skills and capacity for data collection, while raising awareness of local biodiversity. Finally, ICOS co-designed a project to address plastic pollution on local beaches, integrating data on marine litter (collected as part of the project) and local knowledge for a more holistic understanding of plastic pollution at a local scale.

Pull-out quote: “Eliciting voices through qualitative research necessitates research which challenges power dynamics, giving power to lived experience and providing compelling insight regarding context and action.”

Outcomes

Sangini developed artwork using reclaimed plastic materials and other techniques which was then displayed at a public exhibition, sparking meaningful discussion around Bangladeshi heritage and the impact of environmental change on everyday life. This led to a new partnership with another community group in the region, where co-researchers exchanged knowledge and experiences to develop a new long-term project, involving more participants from different cities.

Hart Gables reflected on the practical and creative methods employed during workshops and how this helped breakdown barriers to community participation in scientific research. Their sessions also created safe spaces for sharing environmental and social concerns across a range of topics, providing a platform to develop more meaningful ways of connecting with environmental issues.

ICOS divided their focus on beach clean-ups and surveys across two locations – one an affluent coastal community, the other considered to be more deprived – to investigate variance in pollution at a local scale. Their findings were compared with UK-wide datasets and combined with local knowledge, and participatory maps, revealing a multi-layered issue. On the basis of this knowledge co-researchers outlined community actions to help reduce plastic pollution including raising wider awareness in ‘litter hotspots’ and discussing the allocation of resources with the local council.

Youth Strike for Climate submitted data to the National Biodiversity Network (NBN) contributing to long-term monitoring efforts in the region.

In addition to project outcomes documented above, co-researchers reported a variety of benefits at both the individual and community level when discussing their experience participating in the co-creation of environmental citizen science.

“It has helped us feel part of a community, and more part of the community that is around us”.

You can learn more about the value of co-creation via this paper: “Beyond science: Exploring the value of co-created citizen science for diverse community groups”: https://doi.org/10.5334/cstp.682

Shared learnings from each of the projects also led to the development of a road map to guide future co-created initiatives. This is presented as a series of guiding principles and recommended practices that represent the experiences and perspectives of academics, artists, community development officers and project workers involved in each of the projects.

It is also essential to recognise the interdisciplinary nature of the issues being addressed at the intersection of environmental and social justice, and for this to be reflected in the presentation of the research and its outcomes. These issues are complex and multi-layered in nature, so finding creative and culturally responsive methods to engage with them and communicate the value of the engagement is an important element of scaling this approach.

*Please note – further information on the outcomes of this project will be made available via a link to an external journal article once published.


Credits & Further Information

Dr Danielle Robinson, Research Fellow, University of Leeds

Dr Jane Delany, Senior Lecturer, School of Natural & Environmental Sciences, University of Newcastle

Dr Heather Sugden, Senior Lecturer, School of Natural & Environmental Sciences, University of Newcastle

Padma Rao, Project Manager, Sangini

Andrew Towers, LGBTQ+ Project Worker, Hart Gables

Julia Wysocka, Community Development Officer, International Community of Sunderland (ICOS)

Matt Burrows, Editor, Engaging Environments, University of Reading