Video explores impact of co-production in research through zine-making workshop
11 February 2025
A new video produced with ARC West’s support explores the results of a zine-making workshop where community organisations reflected on their experiences of co-production in research.
Co-production in research is a way of bringing people together so they share equal power and influence over a project. This way of working aims to produce results for the benefit of everyone involved.
The zine-making workshop focused on a creative exploration of why more co-production was needed, its benefits, pitfalls and its impact on community-based researchers. Participants produced zines reflecting their experiences and some were later interviewed for the video.
Common Ambition Bristol, a project aimed at reversing HIV health inequalities experienced by people of African and Caribbean heritage living in Bristol and the surrounding area, was represented by Marsha Doran.
Marsha said:
“Involving both stakeholders and community members has been of massive value to this project. We took the work to the people. Seeing my community benefit from this approach has been really rewarding as a researcher.”
Samira Muse, who co-runs a coffee morning set up to socially empower Somali women in Bristol, said:
“The zine we did was all about what it means to be a community researcher, what community research means to you, and how you can include everyone. When researchers come to us now, we give them ideas and those ideas can grow to something bigger than us.”
Beverley Forbes and Jean Smith from Nilaari, a black-led charity dedicated to providing mental health assistance to adults from Black, Asian, and Minoritised Communities, said:
“Creating the zine really allowed us to look at the journey we went on around research and its role in our community. To start with we were very protective. It felt like everyone wanted a piece of us without considering our needs.
“Now, even though we’re not experts, we know we can reach out to the researchers, who are more than willing to work with us. We’re doing this together to move forward, to make things better.”
The zine-making workshop was part of an ARC West project aimed at developing a co-production community of practice by bringing community and university-based researchers together. As part of this, ARC West will develop training and support materials for community researchers working with universities. The community will help build capacity and a supportive network for people working in co-production, wherever they’re based.