Curating life in vacant spaces: Community action research and reversing the process of academic knowledge-making

For scholars in academic institutions, the process of research usually begins with a question often gleaned from academic literature, progresses through some methods and results, then ends in writing and dissemination of the findings. ‘Impact’ is identified by trying to see if anyone takes up...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Kelly Dombroski, Rachael Shiels, Hannah Watkinson
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: UTS ePRESS 2025-01-01
Series:Gateways
Subjects:
Online Access:https://epress.lib.uts.edu.au/journals/index.php/ijcre/article/view/9296
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1832575456878002176
author Kelly Dombroski
Rachael Shiels
Hannah Watkinson
author_facet Kelly Dombroski
Rachael Shiels
Hannah Watkinson
author_sort Kelly Dombroski
collection DOAJ
description For scholars in academic institutions, the process of research usually begins with a question often gleaned from academic literature, progresses through some methods and results, then ends in writing and dissemination of the findings. ‘Impact’ is identified by trying to see if anyone takes up the research and uses it to inform policy or action outside of academia – with contemporary impact databases measuring this by whether it has been cited in policy documents. But this way of understanding impact is fundamentally at odds with researching community-led activism, where impact is already happening, and researchers engage with communities to document and evaluate the impact in ways that support the work. For activists out in the community, research and learning are happening all the time and have impact without anyone writing it up at all. This article reflects on a research project in the city of Ōtautahi Christchurch in Aotearoa New Zealand, where researchers and community activists began with ‘impact’ and ‘dissemination’. From there, we developed frameworks and methods, developed evidence, then ended with asking wider theoretical questions relevant to academic literature. Effectively, we reversed the order that research projects usually follow. In order to recognise this ‘reversed’ order, our article utilises a reversed structure, using the concept of thinking infrastructures to understand what academic research adds to the knowledges already produced in community impact.
format Article
id doaj-art-6bc56ae3002e4edc946907f9f7399ce8
institution Kabale University
issn 1836-3393
language English
publishDate 2025-01-01
publisher UTS ePRESS
record_format Article
series Gateways
spelling doaj-art-6bc56ae3002e4edc946907f9f7399ce82025-02-01T05:12:58ZengUTS ePRESSGateways1836-33932025-01-0118110.5130/ijcre.v18i1.9296Curating life in vacant spaces: Community action research and reversing the process of academic knowledge-makingKelly DombroskiRachael ShielsHannah Watkinson For scholars in academic institutions, the process of research usually begins with a question often gleaned from academic literature, progresses through some methods and results, then ends in writing and dissemination of the findings. ‘Impact’ is identified by trying to see if anyone takes up the research and uses it to inform policy or action outside of academia – with contemporary impact databases measuring this by whether it has been cited in policy documents. But this way of understanding impact is fundamentally at odds with researching community-led activism, where impact is already happening, and researchers engage with communities to document and evaluate the impact in ways that support the work. For activists out in the community, research and learning are happening all the time and have impact without anyone writing it up at all. This article reflects on a research project in the city of Ōtautahi Christchurch in Aotearoa New Zealand, where researchers and community activists began with ‘impact’ and ‘dissemination’. From there, we developed frameworks and methods, developed evidence, then ended with asking wider theoretical questions relevant to academic literature. Effectively, we reversed the order that research projects usually follow. In order to recognise this ‘reversed’ order, our article utilises a reversed structure, using the concept of thinking infrastructures to understand what academic research adds to the knowledges already produced in community impact. https://epress.lib.uts.edu.au/journals/index.php/ijcre/article/view/9296impacttransitional place-makingcommunity action researchChristchurchNew Zealand
spellingShingle Kelly Dombroski
Rachael Shiels
Hannah Watkinson
Curating life in vacant spaces: Community action research and reversing the process of academic knowledge-making
Gateways
impact
transitional place-making
community action research
Christchurch
New Zealand
title Curating life in vacant spaces: Community action research and reversing the process of academic knowledge-making
title_full Curating life in vacant spaces: Community action research and reversing the process of academic knowledge-making
title_fullStr Curating life in vacant spaces: Community action research and reversing the process of academic knowledge-making
title_full_unstemmed Curating life in vacant spaces: Community action research and reversing the process of academic knowledge-making
title_short Curating life in vacant spaces: Community action research and reversing the process of academic knowledge-making
title_sort curating life in vacant spaces community action research and reversing the process of academic knowledge making
topic impact
transitional place-making
community action research
Christchurch
New Zealand
url https://epress.lib.uts.edu.au/journals/index.php/ijcre/article/view/9296
work_keys_str_mv AT kellydombroski curatinglifeinvacantspacescommunityactionresearchandreversingtheprocessofacademicknowledgemaking
AT rachaelshiels curatinglifeinvacantspacescommunityactionresearchandreversingtheprocessofacademicknowledgemaking
AT hannahwatkinson curatinglifeinvacantspacescommunityactionresearchandreversingtheprocessofacademicknowledgemaking