Participatory research

 "Participatory science and research are forms of scientific knowledge production in which civil society actors participate actively and deliberately, either individually or collectively", translated from the Charte des sciences et recherches participatives en France (pdf, 546Ko, French only)

By their very nature, these initiatives are part of Open Science as it has been developed at the University of Lille.

The University of Lille's Science Shop (Boutique des sciences) is a participatory research scheme run by the Research promotion department (Direction Valorisation de la recherche). Its aim is to support and fund research projects that bring together academic researchers and civil society (associations and communities).

In addition to this scheme, researchers in certain labs at the University of Lille are developing participatory/collaborative research approaches as part of their work. 

Members of civil society (associations, local authorities, etc.) develop a wide range of initiatives and expertise in response to social change and social or environmental problems. To consolidate their actions, assess their impact or experiment with original approaches, they need to work with members of the academic research community. The Science Shop facilitates dialogue between civil society organisations and the research community. It provides methodological support to stakeholders, in a spirit of parity and co-creation of knowledge. The Science Shop encourages and facilitates cooperation among stakeholders interested in a particular topic, from the definition of the question to the analysis and dissemination of the results. 

This type of system, developed in the 1970s, has been tested in the North of France since 2016. It became a part of the University of Lille in 2020.

In order to promote cooperation between stakeholders, the University of Lille provides support tailored to the needs of the stakeholders involved. The approach adopted is that of Participatory Action Research introduced in France by the PARCS research group and based on the work of J. Chevalier, D. Buckles and M. Bourassa. This approach is based on a set of ‘skilful means’ that need to be adapted to the problems/situations. This technique of knowledge fusion is specifically designed to provide a collective answer to a given question in a collaborative approach.

• Grassroots organisations, NGOs, associations, collectives
• Local authorities
• Researchers from a University of Lille lab
• Masters students