Rural Durham Community Research Network
Durham Community Action and the Rural Design Centre are working with Durham University, Durham County Council, Point North, Insights North East and Newcastle University to develop a Community Research Network in rural County Durham.
This is as 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" rather than “with”.
Members of communities and community organisations have a deep knowledge of their local areas, their assets and needs, shared issues and problems. This isn’t always recognised and made best use of.
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 fund 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.
You can find out more about the programme here Community Research Networks – The Young Foundation
Opportunities to be involved
If you are community organisation within Teesdale, Weardale or Derwent Valley wanting to get involved in research to benefit your community, please get in touch!
See our events page for details of upcoming events in our community research workshops series.
Key contacts
Durham Community Action – Community Engagement Lead
Abby Weatherill Volunteer Manager
abby.weatherill@durhamcommunityaction.org.uk
Rural Design Centre – Project Manager
Liz Gray, Head of Innovation
liz.gray@ruraldesigncentre.com
Project partners
Durham County Council – Home - Durham County Council
Durham Community Action – Durham Community Action
Durham University - Durham University
Newcastle University – ncl.ac.uk
Insights NorthEast - Home - Insights North East
Point North - Point North Community Foundation | Home
The Rural Design Centre - Rural Design Centre
