Is this research? Yes, it is! Four grounded variations on Action Research in the ETFU project

'Empowering the Future – Youth, Arts & Media' is a Transfer of Innovation project (2011-2014) run by nine organizations cooperating in local workfield–academic partnerships in four European cities. Introducing... [ view full abstract ]

'Empowering the Future – Youth, Arts & Media' is a Transfer of Innovation project (2011-2014) run by nine organizations cooperating in local workfield–academic partnerships in four European cities. Introducing strength-based perspectives, we developed instruments to empower youths through arts and social media. We promote applicable methods of action research as medium for planning, action and evaluation and we present hands-on tools to work with young people in a way they gain control over their ideas, ambitions and resources.
The project is built around a specific interpretation of action research (AR) with a focus on reflection, participation and change. In our contribution we discuss and illustrate the methodological approach we used and the challenges we met during the research process.
The project started from a classical AR–design. In each participating city AR-settings (Labs) were established as ‘free-zones’ for development of innovative practices. In each lab professionals, youngsters and academics took up the role of researcher and three AR-cycles were carried out over a period of 15 months. Parallel three evaluation cycles were carried out on the project meta-level. Soon the top-down design was abandoned for a grounded perspective in which the specific identity and needs of each of the partners were better represented. This resulted in four methodological variations on AR: Critical Action Research (Barcelona), Pärflection (Berlin), Need Articulation (Amsterdam) and ArtLab (Antwerpen). All four connect strongly to the needs of the professionals and youths involved and each approach has its specific ‘roots’ in the local context of the partnerships involved. What started as a uniform research design, evolved into an a-typical but scientifically validated approach of AR as a powerful grounded medium for empowerment, connecting to the participatory and emancipatory tradition of social work research.