Engaging with Local Authority Policies in Britain and Brazil

Participatory Action Research, Methods for Reflective Collaborative Practice: Engaging with Local Authority Policies in Britain and Brazil

Participatory Action Research (PAR) is research into practice undertaken by those involved, aiming to improve their situation. To pursue common aims, practitioners jointly plan actions, implement them, observe the effects and reflect on the practical implications; then they repeat the cycle. Through this process, they can become a stronger collective actor. They gain new understandings of the change process. Separate individuals become a more cohesive group, learning how to devise more effective actions. This webinar will focus on PAR methods for Local Authority policy-change, especially for promoting solidaristic agri-food alternatives in Britain and Brazil.

Questions for this webinar

How have academics facilitated a Participatory Action Research (PAR) process?

How have they adapted the methods to specific actors, especially for group engagement with Local Authority policies?

How have they learned more about the methods?

To discuss those questions, OU researchers will present two PAR projects as follows.

Community-led Policy Innovation for Local Food-Growing

Funded by the OU’s Open Societal Challenges (OSC) programme during 2023-24

Presented by Andrea Berardi, Senior Lecturer, School of Engineering & Innovation, STEM, OU

Summary: In many places, a Borough-wide advocacy group manages initiatives for community food growing (CFG), stimulates extra ones, and seeks support measures from its Local Authority. This project brought together five such groups in the Thames Corridor. Through PAR methods, they regularly shared their experiences, identified similar difficulties, devised ways to overcome them, found more effective ways to gain support measures and sought more equitable governance arrangements. Their videos have helped to engage the Local Authority and other stakeholder groups.

Blog, https://societal-challenges.open.ac.uk/blog/communityled-policy-innovation-for-local-foodgrowing-halfyear-highlights-of-a-pilot-study/9

Brazil’s EcoSol-agroecology networks engaging Local Authority policies

Funded by the AHRC-GCRF programme during 2020-2022

Presented by Les Levidow, Senior Research Fellow, Development Policy & Practice (DPP), SSGS, OU

Summary: EcoSol-agroecology denotes a convergence between social movements for agroecological production and solidarity economy (economia solidaria in Latin America). Its networks construct short supply chains (circuitos cortos) bringing producers socially closer to consumers for their mutual benefit. During the Covid-19 pandemic, their supply chains adapted to hygiene restrictions in creative ways. e.g. by strengthening their collective action, addressing socio-economic inequalities and engaging Local Authority policies for those aims. This talk describes how Brazilian research teams collaborated with EcoSol-agroecology networks through PAR methods.

Blog in English: https://www.arc2020.eu/latin-america-agroecology-and-the-solidarity-economy/

Videos with English subtitles:

Website: https://projetoagroecos.wixsite.com/meusite

Commentary by Agnes Czajka. Professor of Politics and International Studies, SSGS, FASS

After the talks, webinar participants can describe their own efforts with PAR methods.

Contributors should contact the hosts beforehand at [email protected]

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Event Venue

Online