Impact – Participatory action research

Community participatory action research (CPAR) to enable change in communities

Initiatives to support disadvantaged communities to thrive and bring about change in their communities must include the perspectives, voices and experiences of residents. An inclusive approach – from research through to delivery – inspires and empowers people in marginalised areas to become co-drivers of change. It also increases the depth and quality of research data by drawing on local knowledge and lived experience.

Between 2021 and 2025, the FoodSEqual project carried out research in four diverse and underserved urban communities in the south of England to address food system and health inequalities.

In each area, community researchers (CRs) worked alongside academics from FoodSEqual as well as local stakeholder organisations. The research engaged the local community to learn more about their lived experience and relationship to food.

This report shares insights and learnings from FoodSEqual’s inclusive approach to addressing food system determinants of health inequalities in urban environments. In each of the four areas studied, residents played a vital role in co-creating innovative solutions that were relevant to their needs and meaningful for the community.