In the spring of 2018, the Institute for Public Policy and Professional Practice (I4P) provided some funding to host a series of exploratory meetings around the possibility of setting up a new inter-disciplinary, cross-faculty research network. The initial overture was made on the basis of interest and relevance of action and action-oriented research approaches, and the underpinning principles such research espouses.
Meetings took place in the spring and summer term, during which time a group of people representing all three faculties, and a range of stages of research experiences and expertise, agreed to formally constitute themselves as a research network as part of I4P. These meetings resulted in the CREATE research network.
In 2021, the CREATE research network is moving forward with a new name, but the same broad scope. The Participative and Action Research Network encompasses research which is participative and community focused. It includes participatory research, community research, action research, design-based research, practitioner research and other forms of research which aim to be inclusive, researching with participants, rather than on participants.
