Experiences of Transition Research
Background and methodology
What is the potential for mutually beneficial relationships between researchers and transition initiatives, and how can this best be encouraged? To begin exploring this question, it made sense to capture the experiences of people who have had experience of transition research, either as researchers and/or as members of local transition initiatives that have hosted researchers.
Following a call-out to identify people and places that might contribute to this phase of our research, we visited five transition initiatives – Lewes, Totnes, Durham, West Kirby and Cardiff. Between them, these initiatives represented a range of experiences, both of being involved in transition in different contexts, and of different kinds of research. In each location, we interviewed a number of transitioners. Where possible, we also talked to researchers. Our conversations explored the kinds of learning that were happening through involvement in transition, additional learning needs that our interviewees identified for themselves and/or their local transition initiative, and their experiences of research. Interviewees were also invited to participate in the project workshop in Durham in January 2013, though unfortunately many were unable to take part (this in it itself is an aspect of relationships between paid researchers and busy community activists who also often have their own work commitments that needs further reflection).
Findings
Learning needs identified by transitioners
By its nature, transition involves learning through action. All of the transitioners we spoke to brought relevant skills and experiences to their involvement in transition. They also reflected on what they had learned from their involvement in a local transition initiative – including increased awareness of climate change and energy descent as the key concerns driving transition, greater knowledge of their locality, curiosity about the dynamics of transition groups, and the difficulties of sustaining activity over time, often with very limited resources.
Beyond the commonly expressed need for more people and/or more time to maintain and extend transition activities, people involved in transition initiatives also identified areas of learning that they felt would help to inform and enhance their work in transition. Key themes included:
Experiences of research
Experience of transition-related research has been uneven across different locations. While Totnes has attracted a lot of attention from researchers, sometimes felt as a burden, other transition groups have had very little contact from researchers. In some places, transition initiatives have built relationships with their local universities. It is also important to note that some people see themselves as both transitioners and researchers themselves.
The people we spoke to had varying levels of experience with formal research projects. Some had been involved in more than one, others were interested but did not have direct experience. Some research projects required considerable commitment, others only asked/allowed for minimal involvement. Our questions about these experiences generated some interesting reflections:
Conclusions and questions for further consideration
There is clearly no formula that can fit all transition-related research. Rather, the key to research that is both interesting to researchers and beneficial to transition initiatives seems to be honest and transparent communication about the aims, processes and likely costs and benefits of specific research projects. Below, we suggest some questions that researchers and transition groups might ask themselves and each other to establish whether a proposed research idea is worth pursuing:
For transition groups
For researchers
What is the potential for mutually beneficial relationships between researchers and transition initiatives, and how can this best be encouraged? To begin exploring this question, it made sense to capture the experiences of people who have had experience of transition research, either as researchers and/or as members of local transition initiatives that have hosted researchers.
Following a call-out to identify people and places that might contribute to this phase of our research, we visited five transition initiatives – Lewes, Totnes, Durham, West Kirby and Cardiff. Between them, these initiatives represented a range of experiences, both of being involved in transition in different contexts, and of different kinds of research. In each location, we interviewed a number of transitioners. Where possible, we also talked to researchers. Our conversations explored the kinds of learning that were happening through involvement in transition, additional learning needs that our interviewees identified for themselves and/or their local transition initiative, and their experiences of research. Interviewees were also invited to participate in the project workshop in Durham in January 2013, though unfortunately many were unable to take part (this in it itself is an aspect of relationships between paid researchers and busy community activists who also often have their own work commitments that needs further reflection).
Findings
Learning needs identified by transitioners
By its nature, transition involves learning through action. All of the transitioners we spoke to brought relevant skills and experiences to their involvement in transition. They also reflected on what they had learned from their involvement in a local transition initiative – including increased awareness of climate change and energy descent as the key concerns driving transition, greater knowledge of their locality, curiosity about the dynamics of transition groups, and the difficulties of sustaining activity over time, often with very limited resources.
Beyond the commonly expressed need for more people and/or more time to maintain and extend transition activities, people involved in transition initiatives also identified areas of learning that they felt would help to inform and enhance their work in transition. Key themes included:
- Systematic mapping of local resources, e.g. food production, land use, networks, or available expertise.
- Access to practical guidance and knowledge that can usefully inform transition projects and processes (for example, guidance on the costs and benefits of different organisational set-ups, group dynamics and facilitation, community development and outreach to under-represented groups, examples of successful transition-related projects).
- Increased engagement with policy-making processes that bear on transition projects (e.g. around renewable energy).
- The opportunity to reflect honestly on their experiences of being involved in transition, the challenges they face as well as their successes, and their own values and motivations. There is recognition that it is not always easy or possible for groups to do this by themselves, and also that it can be challenging to do as a group.
Experiences of research
Experience of transition-related research has been uneven across different locations. While Totnes has attracted a lot of attention from researchers, sometimes felt as a burden, other transition groups have had very little contact from researchers. In some places, transition initiatives have built relationships with their local universities. It is also important to note that some people see themselves as both transitioners and researchers themselves.
The people we spoke to had varying levels of experience with formal research projects. Some had been involved in more than one, others were interested but did not have direct experience. Some research projects required considerable commitment, others only asked/allowed for minimal involvement. Our questions about these experiences generated some interesting reflections:
- Most research projects to date have been researcher-led. In some cases this has led to frustration – for example when respondents have had to answer similar questions repeatedly, or when transition initiatives have been written into research proposals and expected to cooperate without appropriate prior consultation. In other cases, researchers have found a workable balance between their own interests and pressures and those of the groups that have hosted or responded to them.
- The key benefits of hosting researchers that people talked about tended to be 'side effects', rather than inherent in research projects themselves. For example, respondents valued the time and practical inputs that some researchers have been able to offer, new relationships, and the opportunity to reflect with an 'outsider'.
- People expressed mixed feelings about the idea of direct involvement in shaping and carrying out research projects. While some clearly valued the idea of participatory, co-produced research, concerns about the time and energy that this would require were widespread. Given these constraints, active involvement in research was not a high priority for many of our respondents.
- Similarly, views on the extent to which researchers should be directly involved in transition initiatives were also mixed. Transition groups clearly appreciated the practical help that some researchers had been able to contribute. Some interviewees liked the idea – or the experience - of people being researchers and active transitioners at the same time. Others, however, had reservations about researchers directly influencing their work, and people in one transition initiative really valued the non-judgemental attitude of a researcher who had consciously chosen not to get involved in decision-making processes or disagreements.
- Participants in/respondents to research projects have not generally shown a strong interest in the written outputs of research projects, at least in their academic format. In one example however, people valued a feedback session organised by a researcher as an opportunity for critical reflection on the dynamics of their transition group.
- One of the key factors in successful research projects seems to have been the personal integrity of researchers - including transparency, genuine interest in people, willingness to take on practical tasks, an interest (and skill) in building relationships and trust with people.
- Factors resulting in difficult experiences included poor communication and lack of clarity regarding expectations, researcher agendas that were perceived to clash with the needs of transition groups, research being conducted secretly, problematic representation of local transition projects, and overly instrumental approaches.
Conclusions and questions for further consideration
There is clearly no formula that can fit all transition-related research. Rather, the key to research that is both interesting to researchers and beneficial to transition initiatives seems to be honest and transparent communication about the aims, processes and likely costs and benefits of specific research projects. Below, we suggest some questions that researchers and transition groups might ask themselves and each other to establish whether a proposed research idea is worth pursuing:
For transition groups
- What are our own learning needs? How might we best meet these? Is research the best/most effective way of meeting them?
- What are our core values and commitments, and how might these inform any involvement in research?
- What aspects of this research would we like to be involved in? (For example, are we interested in formulating questions, designing methodology, conducting research, analysing data, writing up and/or disseminating results?) What are the likely costs and benefits of different degrees of involvement, and what can we realistically offer/expect?
- Who among us has the time and energy to be involved? Will this individual/group give the researcher a balanced picture of our needs, concerns and perspectives?
- What level of involvement do we wish the researcher to have in our initiative? Are there areas of our work that we would not want them to be involved with?
- What level of confidentiality do we need, individually and collectively?
For researchers
- What is my/our motivation for proposing transition-related research? How do I see my own relationship to the transition movement? What are my core values and commitments, and how do these bear on the research I am proposing?
- What constraints am I operating under – e.g. timescales, funding, distance or closeness to the transition initiative, other commitments? How do these shape what I can realistically offer?
- How open am I to involvement from members of the transition group I am proposing to research? Which stages of the project are genuinely open to their involvement? What flexibility is there for the project to change and evolve?
- What am I expecting from people? Is it appropriate/possible to pay them for their involvement, or to offer practical contributions?
- Do I wish to become involved with the transition group I am researching and/or with the transition movement more widely? If so, might there be tensions between my role as a researcher and any roles I might play as a member of the group/movement?
- How do I responsibly report on the outcomes of my research, both to the people involved and to a wider public? What would I do if there are tensions between my conclusions and the transition group's/movement's self-perception?
