Data School signs position paper on participatory and collaborative research

Universities are keen to emphasize their efforts participatory and collaborative research efforts and their social impact ambition. But in reality, this is often limited to good intentions and does not necessarily translate to effective support and recognition. The position paper Participation as Imposition identifies these problems and provides recommendations for university administrators and funding organisations to accommodate and support participatory research.

The paper has been developed during a VW Foundation funded scoping workshop at University of Hannover. About 30 researchers from a wide range of disciplines collaborated in identifying challenges and opportunities for participatory research. The workshop initiated a much-needed networking and capacity building of researchers whose work and practices are often marginalized despite their profound social impact and excellent academic work. The joint paper marks a critical milestone in outlining conditions in which participatory and collaborative research can thrive. The paper calls upon universities and funding organisations to recognize the epistemic value of participatory research and its societal impact. It also emphasizes the need for accommodating and rewarding the invisible labour which is necessary for running participatory research projects.

For many years, Utrecht University’s Data School is pioneering participatory and collaborative research practices. Therefore, Dr. Mirko Schaefer was invited to the workshop and to co-authoring the position paper: “This workshop brought together researchers from different fields who all are experts in participatory and collaborative research. We all struggle with very similar challenges such as marginalization, inapt support structures, invisible labour or missing funding opportunities while we also experience how our research leads to effective societal impact and invaluable academic insights from our work.”

A New Research Paradigm

This position paper underscores the necessity of recognizing participatory and co‑creative research as genuine academic inquiry with distinct methods, skills and outcomes. It offers both theoretical justification and practical advice for supporting and rewarding these research practices.

“Participatory and collaborative research are especially suited for studying the pressing challenges our societies face today such as climate change, demographic change, migration, or as in our case digitization and AI. And it allows not merely to investigate a research topic but to intervene effectively and contribute to knowledge transfer and problem solving.”

In times of neoliberal budget cuts, and anti-science sentiment, participatory and collaborative research do not only advance society’s general understanding of academic research, but also connects the university better to its stakeholders, and academic research to the lived experience, current challenges and urgent knowledge needs of different communities. The position paper emphasizes the capacity of participatory research to generate societal impact and connect universities better to their local environment and its communities.

Key messages include:

• Co‑producing knowledge through participatory research increases relevance and rigor.
• Iterative engagement cycles build sustained trust between researchers and stakeholders.
• Interdisciplinary collaboration dissolves siloed perspectives and enhances epistemic gains.

The main objective of participatory research is to study phenomena up close, and to generate knowledge which is not only useful for academic purposes but simultaneously responds to the urgencies and the need for problem solving in society.

Call to action for university admins and funding organisations

Drawing from a number of case examples, the paper identifies the shortcomings of university policies and funding schemes in supporting participatory research. It formulates practical recommendations to implement to incentivise and support participatory research. The paper calls for a tangible commitment to reshaping research cultures. Institutions and funders are called upon to:

• Embed participatory methodologies into evaluation and funding frameworks.
• Incentivize collaborative research practices through structural and financial support.
• Offer training and infrastructure to sustain inclusive research ecosystems.

We can only hope that many policy and decision makers in universities and funding organisations will take notice and start implementing these recommendations.

About the Volkswagen Foundation’s Scoping Initiative

The Volkswagen Foundation’s scoping workshops—open to interdisciplinary teams—aim to reflect on the current state of fields and envision future pathways through collective stakeholder dialogue (partizipation-als-zu-mutung.de, volkswagenstiftung.de, volkswagenstiftung.de).