Researching Together: A New Project with Dwellbeing Shieldfield

Hello Dwellbeing Shieldfield friends. I'm Helen, a Steward at Dwellbeing Shieldfield and also a research student at Northumbria University. I'm excited to share that over the next few years, I'll be doing research on our community work here in Shieldfield.

A bedraggled Helen (and Dwellbeing friend) planting seedlings in the pouring rain

What's the research about?

I'm interested in how people work together in community projects like ours. I want to learn about who gets involved, how decisions are made, and what helps people feel connected to the work we do.

How will the research happen?

I'll be taking notes during our normal activities and events. I tend to do this already so you might not notice anything different! Sometimes I might ask to take photos or record discussions to help my memory, but I will always ask permission first.

I might invite Worker Members and Stewards to join small group chats a few times a year to talk about what I'm learning. This is so they can tell me what they think about the data I am collecting, helping the research to show shared understandings.

Will I be in the research?

It's completely your choice. Notes I make won’t contain any names and no one will ever be identified or named. If you'd rather not be included in my notes or photos, just let me know. This won't change your relationship with Dwellbeing (or me!) or affect how you can join in activities. 

What will happen with the research?

The research will help me complete my university studies, but more importantly, I hope it will give us all useful insights about our community work. I hope that it will help us work together in more effective and enjoyable ways. Throughout the project I will share what we are learning in blog posts like this.

Want to know more?

If you have questions or want to know more, please chat with me at our next event or email me at Helen2.Simmons@northumbria.ac.uk. I will be happy to send you an  information pack which give more detail on the research and what I will be doing. 

Thank you for reading this post and I look forward to what we learn together!