Participatory Action Research Process Research Articles

Problematic participation: reflections on the process and outcomes of participatory action research into educational inequalities

ABSTRACT This paper reports on the process of participatory action research from a three-year project to co-create ideas to reduce educational inequity with young people funded by Erasmus+. The project involved 10 academics and 50 university students from Norway, Denmark and England who co-researched 200 young people’s experiences of educational inequity. The process of participatory action research was challenging but rewarding for its potential for social justice. The participatory process used and the difficulties encountered are identified and discussed in this paper for the benefit of future research. The co-created output from the research, the Wellbeing, Education, Learning and Development Model (WELD) is provided as an example of the potential of action research to inspire multi-level social change.

Can care coordination across levels be improved through the implementation of participatory action research interventions? Outcomes and conditions for sustaining changes in five Latin American countries

BackgroundFinding new strategies for care integration has become a policy priority for many fragmented health systems in Latin America. Although the implementation of interventions through a participatory action research (PAR) approach is considered to be more effective in achieving organizational change, its application is scarce.This study, part of the research project Equity-LA II, aims to analyze the impact of PAR interventions on care coordination across levels, and key aspects for their sustainability and transferability, from the stakeholder viewpoint in healthcare networks of Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Uruguay. Different interventions were designed and implemented through a PAR process to improve communication and clinical agreement between primary care and secondary care doctors: joint meetings to discuss clinical cases and/or training; shared care guidelines; offline virtual consultations; a referral and reply letter; and an induction program.MethodsA qualitative, descriptive-interpretative study was conducted in the healthcare network of each country. Focus groups and semi-structured individual interviews were conducted with a criterion sample of participants: local steering committee (29) and professional platform members (28), other health professionals (49) and managers (28). Thematic content analysis was conducted, segmented by country and type of intervention.ResultsInformants highlighted that joint meetings based on reflexive methods contributed substantially to improving contextually relevant elements of clinical management coordination – communication in patient follow-up, clinical agreement, appropriateness of referrals – and also administrative coordination. The meetings, alongside the PAR process, also helped to improve interaction between professionals – knowing each other personally and mutual trust – thus fostering willingness to collaborate. The PAR approach, moreover, served to spread awareness of the coordination problems and need for intervention, encouraging greater commitment and interest in participating. No noteworthy contributions were identified in remaining interventions due to low uptake. A necessary condition for the sustainability and replicability was that PAR process had to be used appropriately in a favourable context.ConclusionsEvidence is provided on the substantial contribution of interventions to improving locally relevant clinical coordination elements and professional interaction when implemented through an adequate PAR process (in terms of time, method and participation levels), a necessary condition for their sustainability and replicability.

THE ROLE OF SOCIAL CAPITAL AND INTERPERSONAL RELATIONS IN THE ALLEVIATION OF EXTREME POVERTY AND SPATIAL SEGREGATION OF ROMANI PEOPLE IN SZEGED

Even more emphasis is set on social capital in understanding, analyzing and planning poverty alleviation measures and policies. However, our understanding of the role of social capital in alleviating extreme poverty, enhancing social mobility and fighting spatial segregation, is still inadequate. Within the present study, we aim to examine and understand (1) the mechanisms that relate to social capital in the case of the segregated urban underclass and (2) the potential interventions for poverty alleviation concerning social capital. In order to examine the dynamics of poverty alleviation measures related to social capital, special attention is paid to the experiences of a cooperative network aimed at creating artificial bridging capital through the introduction of interpersonal relations locally between the middle class and underclass, the patronage network, which was initiated within a broader participatory action research (PAR) process. Our results show that bonding ties and related specific norms as tools for everyday survival easily overwrite system integration efforts for poverty alleviation and social mobility with long-term and uncertain benefits for the segregated urban underclass. In order to overcome this failure, social institutions should place more emphasis on developing meaningful interpersonal relations with the underclass since these might be able to provide personalized help, facilitation, and approximation of perspectives - all being vital for poverty alleviation and social mobility.

Participatory Action Research: A Tool for Enhancing Inclusive Teaching Practices Among Teachers in South African Full-Service Schools

Previous studies conducted on the implementation of inclusive education in South African full-service schools showed that teachers lacked knowledge and expertise in inclusive teaching practices. Furthermore, in some international studies, it is recommended that, to enhance inclusive teaching, it was necessary to involve the teaching communities concerned, using their in-depth understanding of the problem at hand, to come up with emancipatory solutions that could assist in the design of effective teaching strategies to enhance inclusive teaching. Therefore, this study investigated the role of participatory action research (PAR) in enhancing teachers’ inclusive teaching practices in full-service schools. This qualitative PAR study was conducted for 6 months by a research team comprising 12 teachers in a full-service school in the Johannesburg East District of South Africa. Data were collected through PAR stages of planning, observation, action, and reflection. To analyze data, during PAR, group interpretative meetings were held with coresearchers and, after PAR process, an inductive qualitative thematic content data analysis was done by the researcher. Among the findings from the study was that teachers’ understandings of inclusive education were varied. Their conceptions about what it meant to be an inclusive teacher in a full-service school context were also vague. However, the study has found that through PAR participation teachers were able to share and develop own understandings of these concepts. Furthermore, the study identified a need for teachers in a full-service school to be reflective, critical, and innovative about their teaching practices to cater for diverse learner needs in the classroom, which are skills necessary for enhancing inclusive teaching and learning. The study has confirmed PAR as a viable change strategy of teaching toward inclusion.

Adapting Digital Storytelling Methods to African Contexts: Insights from the Utaifa Project

ABSTRACT This article is drawn from a larger action research study that seeks to explore the extent to which “ordinary” citizens, on the margins, can actively access and use digital platforms for self-expression and self-representation. This paper, in particular, discusses insights gleaned from a collaborative participatory research project, with a focus group from the Abakuria community in Kenya, on adapting digital storytelling as a research method for an African context. Two overarching strands inform this work. The first is epistemic, guided by critical discourses on African folklore and African ontologies on personhood. Here, works by Bukenya, Finnegan, Courlander, Mbiti, Menkiti, Nyamnjoh and Wiredu, among others, provide a launching pad for the engagement. The argument is that an iteration of digital storytelling that is relevant and effective in an African context needs anchoring on an episteme that is intrinsically African. The second strand focuses on the process that this adaptation takes. Here, Participatory Action Research principles and processes are a central cog. The assertion is that an iteration of digital storytelling that is appropriate and effective for an African context needs to be participatory, emancipatory, transformative, self-critical and empowering, tenets encapsulated in Participatory Action Research.

Co-construction of the family-focused support conversation: a participatory learning and action research study to implement support for family members whose relatives are being discharged for end-of-life care at home or in a nursing home

BackgroundMany people move in and out of hospital in the last few weeks of life. These care transitions can be distressing for family members because they signify the deterioration and impending death of their ill relative and forthcoming family bereavement. Whilst there is evidence about psychosocial support for family members providing end-of-life care at home, there is limited evidence about how this can be provided in acute hospitals during care transitions. Consequently, family members report a lack of support from hospital-based healthcare professionals.MethodsThe aim of the study was to implement research evidence for family support at the end-of-life in acute hospital care. Informed by Participatory Learning and Action Research and Normalization Process Theory (NPT) we co-designed a context-specific intervention, the Family-Focused Support Conversation, from a detailed review of research evidence. We undertook a pilot implementation in three acute hospital Trusts in England to assess the potential for the intervention to be used in clinical practice. Pilot implementation was undertaken during a three-month period by seven clinical co-researchers - nurses and occupational therapists in hospital specialist palliative care services. Implementation was evaluated through data comprised of reflective records of intervention delivery (n = 22), in-depth records of telephone implementation support meetings between research team members and co-researchers (n = 3), and in-depth evaluation meetings (n = 2). Data were qualitatively analysed using an NPT framework designed for intervention evaluation.ResultsClinical co-researchers readily incorporated the Family-Focused Support Conversation into their everyday work. The intervention changed family support from being solely patient-focused, providing information about patient needs, to family-focused, identifying family concerns about the significance and implications of discharge and facilitating family-focused care. Co-researchers reported an increase in family members’ involvement in discharge decisions and end-of-life care planning.ConclusionThe Family-Focused Support Conversation is a novel, evidenced-based and context specific intervention. Pilot implementation demonstrated the potential for the intervention to be used in acute hospitals to support family members during end-of-life care transitions. This subsequently informed a larger scale implementation study.Trial registrationn/a.

Community Informatics and Women Empowerment: Opening the Black Box of the Female Self-in-Transformation

This article explains a conceptual tool that was used in the Gender Research in Africa and the Middle East into ICT for Empowerment (GRACE) Network, to map journeys of personal and social change toward a self-determined purpose of transformation. Named the Personal Trajectory Map, it was initially intended as a self-management tool for the GRACE members to help clarify thinking, manage emotions and stay focused on project purposes, but its use got extended over time. This article is a moment in the ongoing theorization of this conceptual tool and the approach it was an intricate part of. Its usefulness can be theoretically explained through the interlinkages between the concepts of agency, intent, conation, and the capacity to aspire. Illustrating how it was used in some of the participatory action research processes, this article argues that it is worthwhile to open the black box of the female-self-in-transformation since it will clarify for female participants as well as for their researchers, what they are up against when they want to empower themselves in a male dominated world. Furthermore, offering women a deeper understanding and more guidance in their processes of personal and social change, will not only support female participants, it will enhance research quality and the chances for project success.

Outcomes and conditions for sustaining changes of Participatory Action Research interventions

Abstract Background Finding new strategies for care integration has become a priority for many health systems in Latin America. Although the implementation of interventions through a participatory action research (PAR) approach is considered effective, its application in health services is scarce. Aim to analyse impact of PAR interventions on care coordination, and aspects for sustainability and transferability in public healthcare networks of Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Uruguay. Methods A qualitative, descriptive-interpretative study was conducted in each healthcare network. Focus groups and individual semi-structured interviews were conducted to a criteria sample of Local Steering Committee (29), Platform of professionals (28), professionals (49) y managers (28). A thematic content analysis was conducted, segmented by country and themes. Different interventions were designed and implemented through a PAR process: joint meetings to discuss clinical cases and/or training; shared care guidelines; offline virtual consultations; a (back) referral form; and an induction program. Results Informants highlighted that joint meetings based on reflexive methods contributed substantially to improving contextually relevant elements of clinical coordination - communication in patient follow-up, clinical agreement, appropriateness of referrals - and administrative coordination. The meetings, alongside the PAR process, helped to improve interaction between professionals, fostering willingness to collaborate. No significant contributions were identified in the remaining interventions due to the low uptake. A necessary condition for the sustainability and replicability of the interventions was that the PAR process had to be used appropriately in a favorable context. Conclusions Evidence is provided on the significant contribution of interventions to improving locally relevant clinical coordination elements and professional interaction when implemented through an adequate PAR process. Key messages It contributes to fill the gap regarding the impact of PAR interventions on care coordination. A key aspect for impact and sustainability is an adequate use of PAR approach in a favourable context.

Healthy Pacific Islands Grandparents: ‘Putting your best foot forward’

Abstract Background People of Pacific ethnicity are characterised as at 'high risk' of poor lower limb health by podiatric care professionals, likely due to a high rate of diabetes within the NZ Pacific community. Foot care maintenance is identified as an ongoing health challenge by Pacific elders with seemingly simple tasks, such as regular trimming of toenails, often found to be difficult due to reduced physical flexibility, and a lack of knowledge of appropriate foot health maintenance. A research collaboration between a cohort of older Pacific people and a research team was developed to design and implement a programme to address podiatric health for this vulnerable population group. Methods This research project was based in Auckland, NZ, where 70% of the total NZ Pacific population is resident. The team adopted a Participatory Action Research (PAR) process, placing participants in a leadership role where they are co-researchers involved in the research design and implementation of recommendations. Talanoa - a Pacific-designed qualitative interview method, was used to raise, discuss and identify strategies for healthy ageing among Pacific older people in NZ. Results A total of 78 Pacific Islands elders had their foot health assessed, and participated in footcare information sessions. Overall, lower limb health was good, 21 required follow-ups primarily for thickened toenails and minor issues such as dry skin. 2 participants were referred to their general practitioner for treatment of suspected melanoma underneath their nails. Conclusions The PAR process empowers older Pacific co-researchers to identify their own priority health issues, and determine how they could be more effectively addressed. In view of this, the provision of healthcare assessments in ethnic-specific community settings is a more effective approach for addressing podiatric health and preventing further serious complications. Key messages Utilising appropriate Indigenous research approaches is necessary to ensure more effective and sustainable outcomes for these minority communities. Participatory Action Research is an effective way for facilitating collaboration and innovative strategies to address the health needs of older minority groups.

Actieonderzoek in leefstijlonderzoek is geen sinecure

Action research in lifestyle research is no sinecure. Response to Kromme et al.: ‘Changing together is learning together’, a participatory action research project This is a reply to the contribution entitled: ‘Learning together is changing together: A participatory action research project on the role of the internist in promoting a healthy lifestyle’. Here the authors highlight the complexity of facilitating participatory action research (PAR) in a clinical practice setting and reflect on the first three stages of their research through eight principles that could guide PAR, as described by Van Lieshout et al. (2017). As we developed these principles, we explain the principles of participation, reflexivity, contextuality and transformation in greater detail in relation to the context of this study. The authors made suggestions to change the five-phased model of PAR to get a better grip on the process. The authors rightly highlighted some limitations in the labeling of some phases. However, it is the reflexivity on the multiple perspectives that facilitators encounter and the relationships they engage with during the process, as well as acknowledging the iterative process of PAR, which needs to be embraced and experienced during the entire process of study.

Understanding the factors influencing the implementation of participatory interventions to improve care coordination. An analytical framework based on an evaluation in Latin America.

Healthcare coordination is considered key to improving care quality. Although participatory action research (PAR) has been used effectively to bridge the gap between evidence and practice in other areas, little is known about the key success factors of its use in healthcare organizations. This article analyses the factors influencing the implementation of PAR interventions to improve clinical coordination from the perspective of actors in public healthcare networks of Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Uruguay. A qualitative, descriptive-interpretative study was conducted in each country’s healthcare network. Focus groups and semi-structured individual interviews were conducted to a criterion sample of: local steering committee (LSC) (29), professional platform (PP) (28), health professionals (49) and managers (28). Thematic content analysis was conducted, segmented by country and themes. The PAR process led by the LSC covered the return of baseline results, selection of problems and interventions and design, implementation and adjustment of the intervention, with PP. Interventions were implemented to improve communication and clinical agreement between primary and secondary care. Results reveal that contextual factors, the PAR process and the intervention’s content influenced their implementation, interacting across time. First, institutional support providing necessary resources, and professionals’ and managers’ willingness to participate, emerge as contextual pivotal factors, influenced by other factors related to: the system (alignment with policy and political cycle), networks (lack of time due to work overload and inadequate working conditions) and individuals (not knowing each other and mutual mistrust). Second, different characteristics of the PAR process have a bearing, in turn, on institutional support and professionals’ motivation: participation, flexibility, consensual decision-making, the LSC’s leadership and the facilitating role of researchers. Evidence is provided that implementation through an adequate PAR process can become a factor of motivation and cohesion that is crucial to the adoption of care coordination interventions, leading to better results when certain contextual factors converge.

Públicos invisibles, espacios educativos improbables: el proyecto “Descarboniza! Que non é pouco...” Como educación para el cambio climático

La actual situación de emergencia climática requiere articular una agenda social que acompañe e impulse la transición hacia sociedades bajas en carbono. Una transformación en la que la Educación y la Comunicación Ambiental se revelan indispensables.
 En este contexto, el Grupo de Investigación en Pedagogía Social y Educación Ambiental (SEPA-Interea), de la Universidad de Santiago de Compostela, desarrolla –desde hace más de una década– una línea de investigación bajo el acrónimo RESCLIMA, que analiza cómo la ciudadanía percibe el Cambio Climático (CC) y qué tipo de iniciativas socioeducativas promueven la interpretación y puesta en práctica de acciones que contribuyan a configurarlo como un elemento esencial en el diseño de cualquier agenda pública. Con la voluntad de transferir este conocimiento a la sociedad, en el curso 2015-2016, da comienzo la experiencia educativa denominada “Descarboniza! Que non é pouco…”.
 Esta iniciativa fue diseñada y dirigida específicamente a población adulta, al identificarla como la cohorte generacional más influyente a la hora de construir la relevancia social del CC. El proyecto –basado en una metodología de investigación-acción-participativa– evolucionó de acuerdo con las necesidades de los participantes –mayoritariamente mujeres– y a las estructuras municipales donde fue implementado –los Ayuntamientos de Santiago de Compostela y Donostia/San Sebastián–, convirtiéndose en una intervención educativa con una metodología propia en la que el género, la memoria colectiva o la gestión de las emociones han sido elementos clave que han permitido trabajar con destinatarios alejados de la problemática climática pero con gran ascendencia sobre sus comunidades.
 El resultado paradójico es que este colectivo, identificado en la mayoría de las ocasiones como vulnerable (personas mayores, mujeres rurales), se muestra más resiliente y motivado para la transición ecosocial. De ahí la necesidad de visibilizarlas y empoderarlas, pues se configuran como auténticas catalizadoras para afrontar la emergencia climática.

A conceptual virtual research environment model for the management of research data, a South African perspective

PurposeThe purpose of this article is to give an overview of the development of a Virtual Research Environment (VRE) conceptual model for the management of research data at a South African university.Design/methodology/approachThe research design of this article consists of empirical and non-empirical research. The non-empirical part consists of a critical literature review to synthesise the strengths, weaknesses (limitations) and omissions of identified VRE models as found in literature to develop a conceptual VRE model. As part of the critical literature review concepts were clarified and possible applications of VREs in research lifecycles and research data lifecycles were explored. The empirical part focused on the practical application of this model. This part of the article follows an interpretivist paradigm, and a qualitative research approach, using case studies as inquiry method. Case studies with a positivist perspective were selected through purposive sampling, and inferences were drawn from the sample to design and test a conceptual VRE model, and to investigate the management of research data through a VRE. Investigation was done through a process of participatory action research (PAR) and included semi-structured interviews and participant observation data collection techniques. Evaluation of findings was done through formative and summative evaluation.FindingsThe article presents a VRE conceptual model, with identified generic component layers and components that could potentially be applied and used in different research settings/disciplines. The article also reveals the role that VREs play in the successful management of research data throughout the research lifecycle. Guidelines for setting up a conceptual VRE model are offered.Practical implicationsThis article assisted in clarifying and validating the various components of a conceptual VRE model that could be used in different research settings and disciplines for research data management.Originality/valueThis article confirms/validates generic layers and components that would be needed in a VRE by synthesising these in a conceptual model in the context of a research lifecycle and presents guidelines for setting up a conceptual VRE model.

Amplifying Action: Theories, Questions, Doubts, and Hopes Related to the “Action” Phase of a Critical Participatory Action Research Process

In this essay, authors Sarah Zeller-Berkman, Jessica Barreto, and Asha Sandler, members of an intergenerational research team, explore findings from a critical participatory action research (CPAR) project on the lived experiences of young people in New York City who fell behind in middle school and/or who had the Administration for Children’s Services (ACS) in their lives. This qualitative companion project to a Department of Education (DOE) and ACS data-sharing initiative included focus groups that surfaced recommendations for healing-centered approaches, equitable schools, and institutionalized ways young people are part of identifying issues and implementing solutions. This article examines these recommendations in relation to past and concurrent CPAR projects conducted by other intergenerational participatory action research and/or activist groups in New York City. It articulates a theory of action as it relates to youth participation on issues that impact young people’s lives more broadly, not just related to school reform.

Participatory Action Research: a case study on the school democratisation process

ABSTRACT Participatory Action Research (PAR) in the educational context is a coherent methodology to accompany processes of school democratisation focusing on the key elements of collaborative culture, a sense of belonging and social transformation from an inclusive and intercultural approach. The present case study of a rural school in the Valencian Community (Spain) takes an ethnographic approach to analyse how PAR strategies and processes facilitate the democratisation process and the educational community’s perceptions of the transformations in the school culture. Results show an improvement in participation strategies and a more distributed leadership, but they also reveal some resistance to delegating responsibilities and difficulties in empowering children’s voices. The conclusions highlight the need to institutionalise cultural change by understanding participation as a fundamental strategy with which to build a more inclusive and intercultural school and society.

Co-constructing feminist research: Ensuring meaningful participation while researching the experiences of criminalised women

Traditional forms of knowledge production can serve to reproduce the power imbalances present within the social contexts that research and knowledge production occur. With the interests of the discipline of criminology so closely entwined with the criminal justice system, it is no surprise that crime, punishment, rehabilitation and desistance have not been adequately examined from a gendered perspective. This article examines a participatory action research process conducted with criminalised women subject to community punishment and probation supervision in the North West of England. By examining the feminist methodology within which this research is framed, discussions about meaningful collaboration offer insights into the potential for creativity in research to become transformative. Using a range of creative qualitative research methods, specifically map making, photovoice and creative writing, this research attempts to understand the experience of criminalised women. Charting the way in which this research prioritises the collaboration of criminalised women at all stages of the research process, this article proposes that ‘meaningful’ participation is about more than process management. It is only by moving beyond typologies of participation, towards an understanding of how participation in the created research space responds to the groups wider oppression, in this case by overcoming trauma or demonstrating reform, that collaboration with holders of lived experience can uncover subjugated knowledge and facilitate transformative action.

Exploring the boundaries of ‘good’ Participatory Action Research in times of increasing popularity: dealing with constraints in local policy for digital inclusion

ABSTRACT The popularity of Participatory Action Research (PAR) increases the risk of tokenism and blurring the boundaries of what might be considered ‘good’ PAR. This became a pressing issue when we were invited by the City of Amsterdam to conduct PAR on digital inequality with vulnerable citizens in Amsterdam, within serious constraints of time and budget. We decided to take up the challenge to offer citizens an opportunity to share their needs. This paper aims to increase the transparency of the complex reality of a PAR process in order to help new researchers learn about the challenges of PAR in real-life situations, and to open up the discussion on the quality and boundaries of PAR. Though we managed to implement some core ethical principles of PAR in this project, two were particularly under pressure: democratic participation and collective action. These jeopardized collective learning and might unintentionally feed stereotypes regarding people’s capabilities. Nevertheless, this small and local study did manage to create ripples for change.

Donning the ‘Slow Professor’: A Feminist Action Research Project

Corporatization of Higher Education has introduced new performance measurements as well as an acceleration of academic tasks creating working environments characterised by speed, pressure and stress. This paper discusses findings from a qualitative, feminist participatory action research (PAR) study undertaken by an interdisciplinary team of women academics at a modern, corporate university in England. The study illuminates how corporatized HE erodes faculty autonomy, degrades learning environments, damages professional satisfaction and health. Strategies for resistance and liberation developed through the PAR process are discussed.Key words: slow professor, corporatized academy, Higher Education.

Building cooperative learning to address alcohol and other drug abuse in Mpumalanga, South Africa: a participatory action research process

ABSTRACT Background: Alcohol and other drug (AOD) abuse is a major public health challenge disproportionately affecting marginalised communities. Involving communities in the development of responses can contribute to acceptable solutions. Objectives: To: (1) document forms, processes, and contexts of engaging communities to nominate health concerns and generate new knowledge for action; (2) further build participation in the local health system by reflecting on and adapting the process. Methods: PAR was progressed with 48 community stakeholders across three rural villages in the MRC/Wits Agincourt Health and Socio Demographic Surveillance System (HDSS) in Mpumalanga, South Africa. A series of workshops explored community-nominated topics, systematised lived experience into shared accounts and considered actions to address problems identified. Photovoice was also used to generate visual evidence. Narrative and visual data were thematically analysed, situated within practice frameworks, and learning and adaption elicited. Results: AOD abuse was identified as a topic of high priority. It was understood as an entrenched social problem with destructive effects. Biopsychosocial impacts were mapped and related to unemployment, poverty, stress, peer pressure, criminal activity, corruption, and a proliferating number of taverns. Integrated action agendas were developed focussed on demand, supply, and harm reduction underpinned by shared responsibility among community, state, and non-state actors. Community stakeholders appreciated systematising and sharing knowledge, taking active roles, developing new skills in planning and public speaking, and progressing shared accountability processes. Expectations required sensitive management, however. Conclusion: There is significant willingness and capacity among community stakeholders to work in partnership with authorities to address priority health concerns. As a process, participation can help to raise and frame issues, which may help to better inform action and encourage shared responsibility. Broader understandings of participation require reference to, and ultimately transfer of power towards, those most directly affected, developing community voice as continuous processes within social and political environments.

Reflecting on the use of community radio and performing arts for seeking accountability for those facing intersecting inequalities

Abstract“Community Radio – a different kind of radio, we work with our people. Together we plan, together we decide; together we implement. We work with our people” (GCRN Community Radio Anthem) 1. This practice-based article presents the experiences and reflections of two pioneer organizations which are continuously innovating with the use of community radio. We share reflections on its use as a tool for building inclusive communities that are able to seek accountability, especially for those facing intersecting inequalities deriving from identity-based as well as other social, economic and spatial drivers. These organizations are Radio Ada–based in the Greater Accra region in Ghana, founding member of the Ghana Community Radio Network (GCRN) and the Soroti Justice and Peace Commission (SOCAJAPIC) in North Eastern Uganda. Both organizations see community radio as central to their participatory practice, through which they articulate and promote the right to communicate as fundamental for inclusion and accountability 2. They partnered with the Institute of Development Studies (IDS) in the UK to explore how participatory action research processes can contribute to building sustainable social inclusion and pathways to accountability for the most marginalized (see Shaw, Howard and López Franco (2020) Article in this issue). The article is primarily based on an interview with Wilna Quarmyne, Kofi Larweh, Ben Boham Okiror and John Elyanu, founding members and leaders of Radio Ada and SOCAJAPIC, respectively, but also draws on research data and from previous stages of work with both organizations as part of the Participate initiative’s research on accountability for those most marginalized (Burns, Ikita, López Franco, Shahrokh, (2015) Citizen Participation and Accountability for Sustainable Development, IDS, Brighton; Howard, López Franco and Wheeler (2017) Participatory Monitoring and Accountability and the Sustainable Development Goals: A Learning Report of the Participate Network, Participate Network, Brighton. Find the full report at: https://opendocs.ids.ac.uk/opendocs/bitstream/handle/123456789/13326/Participate_LearningReport_Final.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y). Other reflective moments and dialogue, resulting through rounds of feedback to drafts of this article, have also shaped the outcome. The piece is organized in four sections in an aim to explain how community radio has been a key driver of accountability for populations confronting intersecting inequalities, through combining this with different expressions of participatory performing arts 3, simplified here as processes whereby “participants instigate and realise their own creative idea. They are the directors/curators of the piece. Professional artist/s are involved if it is the participants” decision to do so’ (Tiller 2013 p11). The first section introduces the work of Radio Ada and SOCAJAPIC, explaining their approach to community radio, performing arts and social change, by each organization. Section 2 presents reflections on using radio as a means for shifting social norms in the quest for building inclusion. Section 3 speaks to the ways that community radio is being used to support multiple marginalized groups in seeking accountability. Section 4 presents some limitations and obstacles emerging for community radio stations to maintain their work towards sustained social change.