{"id":1132,"date":"2023-08-16T13:33:09","date_gmt":"2023-08-16T12:33:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/publicengagement\/?p=1132"},"modified":"2024-02-06T14:20:01","modified_gmt":"2024-02-06T14:20:01","slug":"testing-a-participatory-approach-to-funding","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/publicengagement\/2023\/08\/16\/testing-a-participatory-approach-to-funding\/","title":{"rendered":"Testing a participatory approach to funding"},"content":{"rendered":"

Moving into year two (well, technically 2.5) of our ParticipatoryResearc@Bath<\/em><\/a> project, a big focus of our work over the autumn will be our grant scheme, and sticking to the participatory principles the project, we\u2019re testing out participatory grant-making for this fund.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Our approach to the Research England Participatory Research funding allocation has been to take a culture change approach. We\u2019re working to understand current participatory research practice, the needs of our colleagues and communities outside the University, and putting in place initiatives to support and enhance participatory approaches to research.<\/p>\n

Changing our approach to grant-making<\/h1>\n

Based on our work with other culture change projects, we knew from the outset of the project that colleagues would want financial support to undertake participatory research.<\/p>\n

We\u2019ve been using Sarah Banks\u2019 definition of Participatory Research, which states that this type of research \u201cinvolves people whose lives are the subject of study in some or all aspects of research design, process, dissemination, and impact, with a focus on generating socially just change.\u201d\u00a0 We particularly note the phrase \u201csome or all aspects of research design\u201d. For us, research design doesn\u2019t start with the academic or even a community organisation, it starts with the funding.<\/p>\n

There are also many critiques of conventional funding approaches, which note that it upholds inequalities, doesn\u2019t recognise the expertise of those who need the money most, supports extraction, and tend to reflect the broader injustices in society by being racist, ableist, sexist and heteronormative. Not least, it's also time-consuming.<\/p>\n

Our Engage Grants funding scheme, which has been running since 2013 and distributed around \u00a3200,000, is based on a conventional grant-making model. This approach reflects the funding traditions our academics are very familiar with, and going with those traditions has been a valuable tool to help us in our work to embed public engagement with research at the University. \u00a0However, given the emancipatory nature of participatory research, this approach didn\u2019t sit well with us.<\/p>\n

How could work funded through a call that was created by us, had a process created by us, had criteria defined by us, and was assessed by us possibly be truly participatory?<\/p>\n

Shaping our thinking to grant-making<\/h1>\n

Since finding out about the Research England funding allocation, we\u2019ve deliberatively chosen to take our time to think about the approach we wanted to take to our funding scheme. We didn\u2019t want to rush it so have been learning with and through a few initiatives.<\/p>\n