Co-productive Research
A key vision of the Institute for Social Justice is to centre co-productive research to produce social impact and positive change.
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Co-production describes approaches whereby the individuals and communities who are most affected by an issue are directly involved in processes of research, policy development or service design.
Co-productive research has unique abilities to develop insightful, ethical and impactful socially engaged research and is particularly appropriate in contexts where research engages with communities who have been subject to marginalisation and exclusion. It is for these reasons that co-production is at the heart of the work of the ISJ.
We also recognise that doing co-production well and effectively is far from straightforward. It can be challenging, time consuming and often faces structural and institutional barriers. On these pages we have gathered together materials that engage with participatory and collaborative research and which would support others interested in developing their own co-productive research.
Jump to a section of this page to explore our resources
Blog
Starting in 2025 we have invited researchers at York St John University to write blogs sharing their thoughts and insights about doing co-productive research:
| Author | Blog |
|---|---|
|
Lucy Cassidy |
"Co-research feels different" |
| Matthew Green |
"Co-production is not a technique but a politics of relationship" |
|
Lorna Hamilton |
"Research led by autistic and other neurodivergent people is the solution" |
|
Ruth Knight |
"Curiosity is the key" |
|
Alice Little |
"Change requires fundamentally reimagining how we engage with young people" |
|
Sara Ma |
|
|
Charikleia Sinani |
All blog posts can be found here: Co-production Archives - Institute for Social Justice
Practical guides and resources
The following are practical resources to support the development of co-productive research:
Podcasts
Our 'Conversations in Social Justice' podcast series frequently engages with themes of co-production and participatory research. Here we have selected some key episodes relating to co-production.
In this first conversation about the I'm Me project, post-doctoral researcher Kelsie Acton talks to Zara Mallinson and Daniel Foulds from Mind the Gap.
They talk about Zara and Daniel's role as research assistants on the project and the challenges and rewards of including people with learning disabilities in inclusive research.
Listen to season 4, Episode 2 on Spotify
Download the episode transcript: Transcript - Talking to the research assistants (docx,36KB)
In the second podcast on I'm Me, project lead Matthew Reason talks to Alison Colburne, an artist at Mind the Gap, and Jess Boyes, a producer at Mind the Gap.
They explore the reasons why researchers might be reluctant to ask people with learning disabilities difficult questions in research, why asking those questions is important, and how to explore issues sensitively.
Listen to season 4, Episode 3 on Spotify
Download the episode transcript: Transcript - Asking Difficult Questions Part 1 (docx, 29KB)
In this episode, Ryan and Gavin from Lung-ha and JoAnne and Jess from Mind the Gap chat about inclusive facilitation.
Listen to Season 4, Episode 8 on Spotify
Download the episode transcript: Transcript: I'm Me: Inclusive Facilitation (docx, 36.4 KB)
In this podcast Alison from Mind the Gap talks to Amy and Victoria from Hijinx about co facilitation and representation.
Listen to Season 4, Episode 11 on Spotify
Download the episode transcript: Transcript: I'm Me - Co-facilitation and Representation (docx, 25.9 KB)
In this episode Dr Amy Skinner, Ruth Lambley (York St John/Converge Evaluation and Research Team) and Bryony Boyle (Up for Yorkshire) discuss a collaboration between Up for Yorkshire, an infrastructure organisation based in Selby, and the Converge Evaluation and Research Team - a group of researchers at York St John University with lived experience of mental health challenges.
Listen to Season 4, Episode 13 on Spotify
Download the episode transcript: Transcript: Giving Policy Voice to People With Lived Experience (docx, 66.9 KB)
In this conversation, Dr Brett Heasman (Psychology, York St John), Carl Cameron (a lead peer mentor at the autism charity Matthew's Hub), and Sammy Williams (York St John researcher and member of Matthew's Hub) discuss how to do participatory research with autistic people. They discuss various definitions of autism, the historical problems arising when autistic voices have not been included, and how such challenges should be addressed.
Listen to Season 3, Episode 2 on Spotify
Transcript - Participatory Research with Autistic People (docx, 2.6 MB)
In this podcast, senior theatre lecturers Rachel Conlon and Jules Dorey Richmond are joined by Helen Westerman, head of local campaigns at the NSPCC. In this episode, they explore the long-standing partnership between the NSPCC and York St John University's theatre department and how their creative and collaborative projects have resonated with audiences of young people nationwide, through exploring issues of child sexual abuse and exploitation through a Theatre in Education touring play and online films and teaching resources on the NSPCC website and digital learning platform.
Listen to Season 3, Episode 12 on Spotify
Transcript - Tackling Child Sexual Abuse Through Theatre (docx, 29.2 kB)
If universities are founded for the common good, what is the social contract of research? In this podcast Matthew Reason, Director of the Institute for Social Justice, is joined by Dr Erinma Ochu, a transdisciplinary biologist and storyteller from the iSchool at Manchester Metropolitan University and visiting racial justice fellow at The Ada Lovelace Institute.
Their conversation explores the potential of community-university partnerships, achieving equity in research funding and the value of ‘the commons’ for knowledge exchange to rebuild social and cultural infrastructures.
York St John University Lecturer in Art and Ecological Justice Dr Cath Heinemeyer finds out more about climate justice from Thimali Kodikara, producer and presenter of the Mothers of Invention podcast (@MothersInvent), who has interviewed climate innovators and leaders from the grassroots to the top tables of global policy.
Listen to Episode 1 on Spotify
Transcript - Education and the frontlines of climate justice (docx, 2.5 MB)
In this podcast Matthew Reason, Director of the Institute for Social Justice, talks to Jonathan P Jones of New York University about universities as spaces for activism, whether through pedagogy, mentoring, research or institutional structures.
They discuss the challenge and importance of exploring race within what are still predominantly white spaces and the importance of actively working to ensure that the future of universities is more diverse and representative.
Listen to Episode 4 on Spotify
Transcript - Activism and Race within University Teaching (docx, 35.2 kB)
In this podcast Dr Charlotte Haines Lyon, lecturer at York St John University talks to Dr Debbie Ralls of University of Manchester and Professor Kaz Stuart of University of Cumbria.
Their conversation explores how democratic methodologies contribute to social justice and the variety of conundrums they pose. They discuss how democratic methodologies can disrupt power, research and also the academy.
Dr Joan Walton, Senior Lecturer in the School of Education at York St John University, talks to Professor Hilary Bradbury, Co-Editor of The Sage Handbook of Action Research, and founder of AR+, which has the aim of making global knowledge democracy more available by supporting inter/transdisciplinary dialogue for those practising at the developmental edge of action research worldwide.
Hilary speaks about the work that she is doing to spread the practice of participatory action research, and actively encourage the involvement of marginal groups from both the global south and north.
