As researchers work in transformative research methods and engage with stakeholders in their research, new ethical dilemmas arise that they might not have considered before. Join us for a session where experienced researchers share examples of dilemmas they faced and how they dealt with them, and we explore together how to navigate these experiences.
Just imagine: With a lot of energy and an open mind you kick off your new project with relevant parties around the table. But what if, at the end of the meeting, it appears stakeholders would like to solve a different problem than you had in mind. And contributing to solve this problem is not in line with your intentions and your research agenda. Or imagine: You have done your utmost to involve a diversity of different voices, disciplines and worldviews in your transdisciplinary research efforts. But what if upon sharing your research approach the comment is that you reached out to the usual suspects again and that this only will lead to fatigue with certain groups while it silences other groups of people.
In this training, multiple colleagues from EUR and our partners of the European University of Post-Industrial Cities (UNIC) will share their experiences and participate in discussion:
Dr. Siobhan O'Sullivan (University College Cork) is an expert on ethics and engaged research. She has produced some nice resources on how communities can engage with researchers and the ethics of inclusion of community voice in defining research priorities.
Dr. Kamuran Osmanoğlu is a Lecturer at the Academic Writing Program at Koç. He has multiple years of experience in teaching writing to professionals and researchers from different disciplines. He published an article on racial cognition and continues his research in philosophy of (social) science, philosophy of mind, and ethics of technology.
Dr. Annelli Janssen (Drift for transition, EUR) is involved in the question how entrepreneurs, platforms and policy makers can learn from each other in sustainability transitions. She mainly works on the project Het Groene Hart Circulair. She also plays a role in ACTION, an EU project about citizen science in the context of pollution.
Transformative or engaged research typically involves multiple problem-owners or stakeholders with whom the researcher - or more often - researchers engage around specific societal problems. Such a set-up means that the societal problem will be approached from different angles, each of which will lead to different solutions which in turn may be more favourable for one group than for another. How to know what is good ‘behaviour’ as a researcher in such multi-actor collaborations?
Results
In this session, we together explore the ethical side of working with stakeholders in your research. We kick off the dialogue by inviting a number of colleagues to share a specific ethical dilemma or question that they have been running into when working with stakeholders, before we open the floor to everyone to bring in their own questions and share experiences. Together, we will identify a list of issues to consider when starting up or becoming involved in transformative research.
To sign up for this workshop and receive the zoom link, please send an email to Linda Jansen, e.g.j.jansen@eur.nl.
