Rethinking Research Partnerships: Discussion Guide and Toolkit

"How do organisations with different structures, goals and interests collaborate? Can they work together productively around these differences? What tensions exist and what is the impact of these? How is power distributed and which voices are amplified or lost in the process?"

Rooted in the idea that research partnerships must be entered into with care, this discussion guide and toolkit provides ideas and approaches to encourage critical engagement with issues such as the roles different actors play in partnership and what types of evidence are valued, used, and produced. Its purpose is to open up space for more voices, perspectives, and knowledge to inform research design, implementation, and communication.

Christian Aid observes that, in recent years, there has been a drive towards research collaboration between academics and international non-governmental organisations (INGOs). These partnerships offer opportunities to improve learning and practice in international development, leading, ultimately, to a better impact on poverty eradication. However, they also present challenges. "[P]artnerships without serious considerations of the power dynamics risk reaffirming certain interests and voices and marginalising others, particularly those already experiencing structural disadvantage, undermining the real benefit that these partnerships can bring."

Christian Aid co-led with the Open University on the production of this resource, drawing from a seminar series (February 2015 to March 2017) that brought together academics and NGO staff to reflect on their experiences of research partnerships. Funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), the consortium engaged with questions of participation and the politics of evidence in academic-NGO research partnerships. This publication is one of the outputs of the consortium/seminar series. It includes some discussion and insights from that emerged from the series and the participatory tools used in it.

Specifically, the six chapters of the guide reflect the different aspects of a research partnership:

1. Understanding the context
2. Establishing the partnership
3. Sustaining the partnership
4. Designing and implementing research
5. Communicating and ensuring impact ["Collaboration in research communication not only refers to decisions about which data should be included in outputs, but also about how the research is presented, and in what formats. Journals, social media, cartoons, posters and radio all reach different audiences. Whether you choose to present findings as tables, charts, statistics, quotations, diagrams or artwork will affect how different audiences understand, value, reproduce and share the research; and ultimately how much impact it might have."]
6. Beyond the partnership

Each chapter has a checklist highlighting the key points to consider. This is followed by a discussion of the issues, as well as questions to think about and to ask yourselves and your partners. The chapters include tools to use or adapt to facilitate discussion and critical reflection. The resources also includes examples of how INGO practitioners and academics have negotiated their partnerships and their experiences. Because each partnership is different, and partnership does not often run in a smooth, predictable line, the sections are often linked and cross-referenced to help the reader find relevant connecting points.

The tools in the guide draw on participatory methods such as storytelling, self-reflection, and visual approaches to stimulate discussion and understanding. The aim of these tools is to provide a practical route into discussing concepts that might at first seem theoretical and abstract, but have a strong impact within research collaborations. Through framing discussion in this way, the guide's authors intend to bring theory into practice, and also to enable a practical and applied response to this theory - so that analysis can inform action and strengthen practice.

Christian Aid's research, evidence, and learning (REL) team encourages readers to contact them (RELhub@christian-aid.org) with questions or suggestions or to share how they have used the material.