Durham Community Action (DCA) and the Rural Design Centre (RDC) are working with Durham University (DU), Durham County Council, Point North, Insights North East and Newcastle University (NU) to develop a Community Research Network in rural County Durham.
This is part of UK Research and Innovation's national Community Research Network programme.
What is Community Research?
A community research network is a way of supporting local people to have an active role in research and to move away from academic research where communities sometimes feel they have been "done to".
Members of communities and community organisations have a deep knowledge of their local areas, their assets and needs, and shared issues and problems. This isn’t always recognised and used.
The Young Foundation was commissioned by UKRI to explore how communities can be more equitably involved in knowledge creation and has now awarded just under £1m to our project in County Durham.
What will the Rural Durham Community Research Network Deliver?
Working in Teesdale, Weardale and Derwent Valley, our project runs from Autumn 2024 for five years and aims to build research capacity and capability in rural communities to investigate local issues, be fully involved in setting research agendas, contributing their experiences, collecting relevant information, and influencing positive changes in policy and practice. The Community Research Network will explore barriers to accessing health and social care, a lack of opportunities for young people and access to critical public services.
The community research network will support and influence decision making by bringing new evidence to light and providing insight that will contribute to improvements in outcomes for people and rural communities in County Durham.
Opportunities to be involved
If you are a community within Teesdale, Weardale or Derwent Valley wanting to get involved in research to benefit your community, please get in touch: abby.weatherill@durhamcommunityaction.org.uk
You will be fully supported through the research process, from identifying what it is that you want to change, who, why and what you want to influence, what methodologies to use, how to collect and analyse the data through to reporting the findings of your research There will be funding available to support research participants throughout the process with further details to be disseminated to interested people and organisations in March 2025.
Key Contact
Abby Weatherill, Volunteering Manager, Durham Community Action
Email: abby.weatherill@durhamcommunityaction.org.uk
Telephone: 07904 009782
Project Partners
About Community Research Networks
Funded by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), and delivered by The Young Foundation, the Community Research Networks programme supports place-based networks across the UK to strengthen the capacity, capability and connectivity required to support sustainable and equitable community engagement with research.
About UKRI Research and Innovation
UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) is the largest public funder of research and innovation in the UK, with a budget of around £8bn. It is composed of seven disciplinary research councils, Innovate UK and Research England. We operate across the whole country and work with our many partners in higher education, research organisations, businesses, government, and charities.
Our vision is for an outstanding research and innovation system in the UK that gives everyone the opportunity to contribute and to benefit, enriching lives locally, nationally and internationally. Our mission is to convene, catalyse and invest in close collaboration with others to build a thriving, inclusive research and innovation system that connects discovery to prosperity and public good.
About The Young Foundation
The Young Foundation is a not-for-profit organisation driving community research and social innovation. We bring communities, organisations and policymakers together to understand the issues people care about and support collective action to improve lives. We involve communities in research and innovate together to inspire positive change. We deliver distinctive initiatives and programmes to shape.
