UoR & BSA Community-Led Research Pilot: From roots to results

The Integrated Research and Development Centre (IRDC) is a community organisation based in Reading which aims to address health and environmental challenges in minoritised communities in the town, including the Nepalese communities.

The IRDC, as with the other groups whose films we’re hosting here, has been a partner with University of Reading (UoR) and the British Science Association (BSA) as part of a Community-Led Research Pilot (CLRP) since 2022, in which organisers and participants co-designed and delivered their own culturally relevant and responsive research. This has been supported through evaluation from the Scottish Community Development Centre (SCDC) and with participatory filmmaking from the Cobra Collective.

IRDC Leader Baburam Banstola, Community Researcher Krishna Neupane, with other IRDC members, worked closely with Professor Hong Yang and Dr Deepti Angra, to develop a project focused on improving gardening practices through Nepalese customs, composting management, and food waste recycling.

The IRDC shared feedback on the participatory video process: “The video captured the group’s strong voices on how they learned and earned new science-based knowledge, understanding the value of experiments contributed to creative thinking, through observations and interactions answering their questions.

“The process fostered creativity, teamwork, built confidence, and a strong sense of ownership. Cobra Collective did a fantastic job capturing the gardeners’ voices, experiences, and learning.”

The following film, created in partnership with the Cobra Collective, shares the story of the project from the IRDC’s perspective, with insight into research methods, purpose, principles, and outcomes:

UoR & BSA Community-Led Research Pilot: HongUnity Community Garden Project

Reading HongKongers CIC was founded in 2022 to support Hong Kong nationals who have settled in the Berkshire area through the government scheme of British National (Overseas) (BNO) visa route, supporting them with a diaspora network and helping them to integrate into the local community.

The HongKongers have been supported by Dr Deepti Angra to investigate the impacts of community gardening on belonging, identity, cohesion, biodiversity and mental wellbeing. Additionally, they aimed to find out the possibility of cultivating native Hong Kong plants and crops in Reading.

Pandora Liu, Community Organiser with Reading HongKongers, commented on working with the Cobra Collective approach, saying: “Storytelling is indeed a powerful tool for revealing the deeper processes and implicit meanings that often require time to uncover. The participatory video serves as an effective medium for sharing our stories, allowing every member to express their feelings and experiences related to a project. This method not only amplified voices but also fosters a sense of community and connection among the members.”

They share the story of their organisation and this research in the film below:

Working with Cobra Collective

Cobra Collective specialises in the innovative practice of participatory video, working with communities to address complex socio-ecological challenges. They helped to design and deliver an accessible training programme to support this community-led research, and in the latter stages of the project, helped evaluate the outcomes using participatory video.

The approach to participatory video from the Cobra Collective is fast-paced, engaging, and beneficial for community groups in terms of both process and outcome. The communities are the owners of the narrative, the script, the collecting of footage, and the resultant Intellectual Property, as well as being active partners in the editing, crediting, approval and dissemination processes.

Several methods are employed to enable this. Cobra Collective facilitate workshops with the groups to discuss the project – including pivotal moments, challenges, and solutions/resolutions – whilst also considering how this would fit into the narrative arc of a film. After this is established, the groups develop the script in their own words and with their own key messaging, and decide what other footage can accompany the narration or interviews.

The groups then shoot the footage themselves, using equipment supplied by the Cobra Collective, having had technical video training focused on certain shots and framing which could be incorporated to complement the other content of the film.

The technical training involved helps to enable future community-led filmmaking projects, and the ownership of narrative is particularly vital if communities are to share their aims and experiences of research engagements in an open and honest way.

You can find out more about the Cobra Collective’s work here: https://cobracollective.org