Community researcher panel
As part of the Urban Wellbeing in Policy project we worked with Birmingham Voluntary Services Council (BVSC) to recruit a panel of 8 trained Community Researchers (CRs) resident in Birmingham from March 2024 onwards. We are delighted that this panel supports and informs the core research activities of the Centre for Urban Wellbeing. Here are some of the Community researchers that we are currently working alongside, and some info below on recent activities.
An artistic impression of the Neighbourhood Futures Festival ( Illustration credit: ThinkBigPicture)
Summary of work so far with the Community Researcher Panel
We have met monthly to build a Community of Inquiry focused on urban nature activism, a theme co-developed with the CRs. Topics discussed included: interpreting findings from research the Community Researchers (CRs) conducted for Natural England on cultural barriers to accessing greenspace in Winson Green, Lozells, Newtown, Handsworth and Bartley Green; local (Birmingham City Council/BCC), regional (West Midlands Combined Authority/WMCA) and national (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs/DEFRA, Natural England) policies on urban nature; international exemplars and cases of urban nature activism; partnership and trust in community participation; policy advocacy.
We conducted focus groups with local environmental and community organizations across the WMCA region to gather insights on existing interventions and actions to address these barriers.
Through these sessions with the CRs, we co-designed a half-day community event, the West Midlands 'Urban Greenroom', in June 2024 at the Neighbourhood Futures Festival. This festival was co-hosted by local charity, Birmingham Settlement and the Centre for Urban Wellbeing, and the day was attended by 250 people. UoB’s civic relationship with Birmingham Settlement spans over 100 years and our work continues this legacy to support their work in addressing social need in underserved communities.
The event aimed to provide a forum in which to share and discuss research findings, collectively examine opportunities for change, and undertake action planning focused upon these changes. It involved green prescribing and arts organisations, community health practitioners, GPs, environmental organisations, members of the regional policy authority, urban designers/developers, academics and activists working on climate action, economic justice and wellbeing. Activities included public talks, creative workshops on re-imagining ecology, life-centred urban design, community landscape visioning and local policies on nature recovery.
The CRs led a discussion workshop on 'Connecting to Nature Matters' which included an interview between two CRs relating their research experiences to their lived experiences of urban nature, and an account of one CRs personal journey to involvement in urban nature activism. The event themes were recorded by a graphic illustrator who provided rich visual pictures. We also ran a photo competition attracting hundreds of entries, and curated a 4 day exhibition during the festival on the quality of urban greenspace and problem framing.