Building Constellations of Creative and Participatory Research – Online

Creative and participatory methods can help you tackle complex research questions, include people who are too often left out of research, and generate impact that reaches from grassroots to social policy. This interactive two-morning online workshop from the National Centre for Research Methods (NCRM) shows you how to design, run, analyse and share this kind of research.

The course is led by Dr Linzi Ladlow, Senior Research Fellow at the University of Lincoln, and Dr Laura Way, Senior Lecturer at the University of Roehampton, editors of Insights into Creative and Participatory Research: Key Issues and Innovative Developments (Policy Press, 2026). Across the two days they look at why and how to use a range of creative and participatory methods, and how to bring them together in analysis to form a “constellation”. Two peer researchers the facilitators have trained and worked with join them for the session on co-creation in action.

For dementia researchers these approaches sit naturally alongside patient and public involvement and co-production, offering practical ways to involve people affected by dementia in shaping, analysing and sharing research.

Programme

Day 1 (Tuesday 9 February 2027, 10am to 1pm UK time)

• What we mean by creative and participatory methods, and why they matter
• Planning and setting up creative and participatory research tools
• Focus on zines as a creative and participatory method
• Ethical considerations specific to this kind of research (part 1)

Day 2 (Wednesday 10 February 2027, 10am to 1pm UK time)

• Ethical considerations (part 2)
• Creative and participatory research with children and young people, and with marginalised communities
• Focus on co-creation in action, with peer researchers
• Co-analysis and co-dissemination
• Generating meaningful research impact, plus an advice clinic to close

What you will learn

• Key debates in creative and participatory research, and the potential and challenges of these methods
• How to engage ethically in creative and participatory work
• Practical skills in approaches such as zines, photovoice and co-creation, including peer research
• How to design, conduct, analyse and disseminate creative and participatory research
• How to build these methods into generating meaningful research impact

Who should attend

The course suits qualitative researchers at any career stage, including postgraduate students, and is pitched at intermediate level. You do not need to have used creative or participatory methods before, but a working knowledge of the purposes of qualitative research and of qualitative data generation and analysis is assumed. If you want a refresher first, see our guide to qualitative data analysis for PhD research, or listen to our Methods Matter podcast on visual and creative methods.

Cost

The course runs across two mornings and counts as one teaching day for payment purposes. The fee is:

• £60 for students
• £150 for staff at academic institutions, Research Councils and other recognised research institutions, registered charities and the public sector
• £350 for all other participants

A full refund is available if you cancel up to two weeks before the course; no refunds are given after that.

Register

Organised by the National Centre for Research Methods, University of Southampton. Full details on the NCRM course page.