Learning for change: With and for citizens - a change from within
As the room warms up, the participants of the session ''Citizens: how to do research, design and delivery of public services'' listen carefully to the speaker, who explains that this workshop will be an active exchange of practices and experiences regarding the collaboration between public servants, citizens and their ability to design research in a sustainable away while still being able to create policy and deliver public services efficiently.
‘’Why should we work with citizens to research, design and deliver public services?’’
The struggles are many. For example, one participant explains that during a research project on poverty conducted in Amsterdam, the difficulty in using a bottom-up approach happened when the attempt to include the individuals affected was overpowered by their life and economic responsibilities. But regardless of an obstacle such as this one, there is a general feeling that a shift in policy making is happening: cold data is being replaced by warm data who is defined by the interconnectedness between those who make policies and those who are affected by it.
''You do ask people to participate in your research based on their experience but for them it has real implications in their lives'' explains one of the participants as the discussion progresses in smaller groups.
At the moment, the key point of discussion is to what extent a researcher should take care of, for example, a participant from a highly precarious background who faces a serious obstacle in their personal lives.
The opinions are somehow divided yet similar- the boundaries of what is the role of the researcher is blurry in such a situation. But in the end, humanity prevails and the group agrees that helping in such cases would be the preferred course of action. This shows once again that making policies and conducting research involving vulnerable groups is incredibly complex and it depends on various contingencies such as resources and the nature of the group itself.
The solution to an issue such as this one and to the overall problem of establishing relations between citizens and researchers is the exchange of good practices and most importantly, finding citizens who are willing to participate in such projects and become a peer researchers.
Nevertheless, even with citizens that find themselves in highly precarious situations, the speakers explain that the rate of participation can be stabilized by creating relations of trust between the citizens, the researchers and the project for which they will be working. Naturally, monetary compensation is essential but the creation of standards is the most important part of the solution.
As the end of the session approaches, the speakers share their experiences in how to balance their role as researchers, as team leaders and still be able to keep the citizens participating in research projects safe. Besides this, it is also important to understand how can the publication of research results be published in a humane and sincere way that reflects the human side of the project. Participatory research is becoming more collaborative and research data can now be analysed together which allows for the creation of storytelling and it avoids the research itself being reduced to just numbers and figures.
The conclusion is then upon both the group and the speakers: warm data, ethical researching and plural methodology will eventually transform the way research is done- a change from within by, and for, both researchers and citizens.
