The Participatory Action Research Team Diving deeper into the topic
The PAR team brings together 20 volunteers and staff from all partner organisations in the
Decolonise! project who are actively involved in carrying out Participatory Action Research in their organisation. We also call them the barefoot researchers. They are researching beliefs, behaviours and structures in their organisations from the inside. They do not come as external experts but from their privileged position as a “member” of the organisation, they put on some extra glasses and try to critically observe what is happening in their own organisation. Through dialogue and all kinds of participatory methodologies, they promote critical thinking around decolonisation to transform the organisation and its relationship with key stakeholders.
The barefoot researchers
The barefoot researchers are key to the success of the project and by working in a team they can motivate each other, learn from each other, support each other and bring together their findings so that this decolonisation process can spread and re-enforce the important work they are doing. To facilitate the sharing among Barefoot researchers they have created a buddy system. The whole team meets regularly online and took part in onsite Participatory Action Research Training in Brussels. In July 2023 they will meet to bring together their first findings in the “Food for Thought” laboratory in Italy.
Solidarité et Jeunesse France and Service Civil International Belgium coordinated the PAR team. Furthermore, they can count on support from Filipe.., an external expert specialised in Participatory Action Research. Meet the PAR researchers and get to know more about the work they are carrying out.
Filipe Miguel Moreira Alves is connected as a researcher/lecturer to the University of Lisbon but he also works as a facilitator and mediator between civil society, academia and decision-makers using participatory action-research methodologies and promoting local empowerment and active participatory citizenship. He is highly engaged with social innovation and social entrepreneurship in Portugal and Europe.