In addition to our research themes, there are several strategic approaches which will weave through the work that we support
- Participatory Research
- Physical & Virtual
- Evaluation & Policy
Participatory Research
Also known as participatory practice, co-creation, or citizen science, we have a strong commitment to diversifying and growing our research community and collaborations. We will work with expert practitioners to combine embodied experience and academic expertise, and co-design both knowledge production and impact frameworks with our audiences. This will include testing new ways of equitable collaboration.
In 2022 we were able to support 6 participatory research projects based across the University museums.
- Building community partnerships to confront the legacies of empire (UCM)
- Evaluation of pilot co-run Youth Collective (UCM)
- Flower Power: a participatory research project at Cambridge University Botanic Garden to engage students and the public with the effects of climate change on the annual life cycle of flowering plants (Cambridge University Botanic Gardens)
- Making connections through collections (Fitzwilliam Museum)
- Nenets Indigenous Heritage Knowledge Exchange Project (Polar Museum)
- Supporting tomorrow’s ecologists to work with today’s collections: Building capacity and support for citizen-science projects in schools (Zoology Museum)
Physical & Virtual
The CCC will focus on innovation in both digital and material spaces to increase engagement with our collections. This will include the use of emerging digital tools to drive research, its impact and interaction between disciplines and collections. We will promote open access and public knowledge of our research using engaging interfaces, breaking down systemic barriers. This will include a project to develop a new collections portal, to bring together objects from across the University collections in new ways. We will also use the digital to provide multisensory experiences with physical collections, using VR, touch and sound.
Evaluation & Policy
We need to understand the impact that our research makes on society but as we move beyond traditional academic research, new methods will be needed to properly assess the impacts our work has. As well as better capturing our impacts, these new and more appropriate metrics will allow us to engage with policy makers (funding bodies, governments, NGOs) using the outputs of this participatory research.
