This is a joint research project being led by NCVO in partnership with the Institute for Volunteering Research (IVR) and Involve. Each organisation has a history of researching the different forms of participation that will be explored together in this project. The project has been funded by the Big Lottery Fund through its Research Grants programme. It is a 2.5 year project, which has commenced in April 2009.

What are we studying?

The research project is exploring how and why people get involved and stay involved in different forms of participation in their communities. It aims to increase knowledge of people's pathways into participation and of the factors that shape this over time. We are looking at participation in a very broad sense, to consider to the act of taking part in a wide range of social or civic activities, such as volunteering, being a member of a local community group, purchasing fair-trade goods, attending a PTA meeting, acting as a representative on a local strategic partnership, responding to a consultation and voting. Rather just focus on one of these forms of participation, it will explore how people get involved in all these different ways over their life times.

The research will focus on the following four questions:

• How and why does participation begin, and continue? 
• Can trends and patterns of participation be identified over time? 
• What connections, if any, are there between participation in different forms of activism and what triggers movement between them? 
• How can policy-makers and practitioners enable and encourage different individuals and communities to participate in activism?

What approach will we take?

This will be a qualitative research project. It will begin with a literature review, one output of which will be a framework for understanding participation.

Three case study communities will be identified through a scoping study. The three cases will represent contrasting areas: one inner city, one suburban and one rural. These case studies will become the focus of the research. 

Within each case study area a series of participatory mapping workshops will be carried out with the local community to gauge the scope and diversity of participatory places and spaces. This will be followed by a number of in-depth interviews with participants and non-participants, which will explore individuals' histories of participation.

The final research phase will involve participatory workshops where emerging findings and recommendations will be discussed and explored with stakeholders.

Visit the Pathways website! www.pathwaysthroughparticipation.org.uk

For more information about this project, please contact Eddie Cowling at eddie@involve.org.uk or 020 7920 6480