Co-production is invoked as a means of creating research impact, but it is poorly supported by research institutions. Here, Beth Perry, Catherine Durose and Liz Richardson present the Co-Pro Futures inquiry, which aims to put co-production on a firmer footing in UK higher education.

With a funding crisis looming large, debate on what universities are for has reignited. We are at a critical juncture in the future of UK higher education.

At a speech made during the Universities UK Conference in 2023, now Secretary of State for Education Bridget Phillipson emphasised the importance of a wide range of university missions, including research:

“We believe in the value of the research in our universities which illuminates our past and explains our present as well as shapes our future: that tells us who we are, that challenges us to face the truth not simply to wrap ourselves in myth, that evidences the decisions we need to make for today and tomorrow, that sees expertise not as the enemy of our people, but as their strength.”

But how should we produce this research – and importantly, with whom? Where research is done with partners outside of universities, this can often be a fraught question. Most researchers are committed to undertaking research in engaged, ethical, efficient, and impactful ways, but sometimes institutional systems get in the way.

We see significant untapped potential for more use of co-productive research and other kinds of participatory research methods. By co-production, we broadly mean research that is ‘done with, not to’ different groups, at all stages of the research process, from idea generation to dissemination, knowledge exchange and impact.

We see significant untapped potential for more use of co-productive research and other kinds of participatory research methods.

Many universities share the desire to see academics work more collaboratively with others. But that aspiration has not (so far) gone along with reforms of systems, policies and processes to make meaningful partnerships in research easy.

We say this as researchers who have spent the last two decades undertaking live action projects to test the strengths and limits of co-production. While we have benefited from working in participatory ways, sadly, many of our experiences have been coloured by the gaps between rhetorical commitment to more engaged ways of undertaking research, and the realities of our funding and institutional environments.

We have seen that participatory researchers often end up doing their work ‘despite not because’ of the university. There continues to be a ‘missing middle’ between the aspirations for researchers to do their work in a more participatory way and the cultures and structures of the places where they work.

participatory researchers often end up doing their work ‘despite not because’ of the university

Funders often say they want deeper engagement or co-production with stakeholder groups, but lack the tools to evaluate different approaches, or have rigid rules and regulations that make it difficult to be agile and flexible to work iteratively with partners.

Despite some great guidance aimed at individual researchers, there has been little sector-wide reflection on what universities, funders and policymakers need to do to support co-produced research. This can result in co-production falling short of its promise, high levels of bureaucracy, wasted time and effort, and unhelpful trade-offs that researchers have to navigate to ensure value for different groups.

Many are calling for change. We say it is time to get our own house in order.

We want to move past well-documented problems to identify practical and institutional changes that can improve conditions for co-produced research. So, we have set up a Co-Production Futures Inquiry. We are now asking for people’s help to collect evidence and ideas about what needs to change and how. At the end of 2024, we launched our Call for Evidence and Ideas to gather collective intelligence. The Call is open initially until 28 February 2025.

We want evidence to demonstrate: the size and scale of the problem, and the actions and solutions that are already being tried – and which have worked and which have not. We know that in the absence of institutional change, researchers and professional service staff have found innovative ways to work around, or hack the system, coming up with novel fixes to issues they face. Our priority is to identify both everyday practices as well as systemic changes that can overcome barriers to co-produced research.

Our priority is to identify both everyday practices as well as systemic changes that can overcome barriers to co-produced research

We welcome different kinds of evidence, from academic work to evaluation reports, creative outputs or guidance. We also invite ideas for what kinds of sector- and/or institution-level actions might really change the conditions for co-produced research. These may not be documented formally but relate to people’s experience and expertise.

We would like researchers, co-researchers, partner organisations, professional service staff, university leaders and managers, infrastructure organisations, funders and higher education policymakers to submit evidence. This includes those working in the UK and international partners in/funders of co-produced research projects which involve UK universities.
We hope the Co-Pro Futures Inquiry can help universities – and the wider higher education sector comprised of funders, third sector research organisations and policy-makers – to improve the conditions for co-produced and participatory research. We know we are not alone in this aspiration.

How can you get involved?
• Email: coprofutures@gmail.com to join the mailing list
• LinkedIn: Join the Co-Pro Futures Inquiry on LinkedIn: The Co-Pro Futures Inquiry | Groups | LinkedIn
• Submit evidence via our Collective Intelligence Gathering Form: https://forms.gle/cwA5h7tATx9ADHYk7

Find out more:
• Download our report
• Watch this short film

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Image Credit: The CoPro Futures Inquiry.