A group make a storyboard for their Participatory Video in Tanzania

Bolivia | China | Tanzania

Community Perspectives on Environmental Justice

We trained researchers from the School of International Development at the University of East Anglia (UEA) and partner researchers from Bolivia, Tanzania and China. They were looking at incorporating Participatory Video as a research method in their ESRC-funded ‘Conservation, Markets and Justice’ research programme.

After a week training in the UK, we accompanied them to pilot the process in Tanzania. The pilot experience created the space for fine-tuning the process and framework in which Participatory Video would fit in each country case study. It was a great opportunity for the researchers to co-design and agree on the boundaries as well as space for adaptation to each context.

“I haven’t learnt so much in a formal training process in years. Your style and approach created the environment for real learning. I feel ready to facilitate Participatory Video in our research project.”

Researcher, University of East Anglia

The researchers then went back to their countries and carried out the fieldwork on their own with online mentoring support from our trainers. They were able to both learn about community perceptions of justice that would have been hard using only traditional research methods as well as engage community members as key partners in the research. Also two of the senior UEA researchers won a university engagement award for the PV work they carried out.

“The films have provided an important space for the communities to reflect together on issues of environmental injustice, voice their concerns to wider audiences, as well as provided a unique insight for the research team.”

University of East Anglia website

 

 

You can read more about the results of the research and watch videos from the three countries at UEA website and learn more about our training process in this blog. The research project was initiated by the School of International Development at UEA and funded by ESRC.