How to set up a simple Participatory Action Research Project for collective policy writing

This resource was developed through a collaborative Participatory Action Research (PAR) project between People Support Co-op, RadHR, and three workers’ co-operatives. Together, we used PAR to explore questions of power and voice with members of the participating co-ops.

PAR offers a framework for a collective process of reflection and action. It helps groups understand their situation, reflect critically, and make changes together. It’s not about doing “research” in the traditional sense, it’s about building shared understanding through collective action. 

This short guide outlines a simple process to help you set up a PAR project for collective policy writing. 

Section 1:

Setting up the project

• What policy or procedure do you want to work on together?
• Deciding who will be involved
• Clarifying the the decision-making role of the PAR group in the collective policy development process

Section 2:

Starting the PAR process

It’s important to spend time agreeing how you want to work together before you get started with PAR. This helps build a collective understanding of how the process will be held, and sets out expectations of shared responsibility and mutual accountability.

Section 3:

PAR cycles

PAR is based on a series of cycles of reflection, action, and evaluation. If you have the time and capacity to do so, it may be useful to plan for more than one cycle to develop your new policy or procedure.