Short Abstract

A story of how a culture of continuous reflection and regular evaluation can embed multiple principles in research and related projects in ways which maximise their synergy and tackle their tension.

Description

We report on an integrated framework for embedding principles of sustainability, inclusion and co-production in research and related practices. Applicable to policy, practice and academic settings, the ACCESS Guiding Principles Framework fosters a culture of continuous reflection and evaluation, creating pathways for learning and change.

There are increasing pressures on researchers working in all settings to explicitly underpin their professional practice with fundamental principles relating to people and the environment. Some of these pressures are internal – driven by our own values. Others are external – expected by our institutions, funders or partners.

The ACCESS Network*, which foregrounds the critical importance of social sciences for addressing environmental challenges, set out in 2022 to underpin all of its work with three fundamental principles: environmental sustainability (ES), equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) and knowledge co-production (KCP). However, the team quickly realised these principles bump into one another, moving dynamically between synergy and tension in different contexts, and requiring frequent deliberation. This was particularly evident because ACCESS has such a wide remit encompassing delivery of training and networking events, flexible fund management and policy-facing environmental social science research.

To address this, the separate principles were reimagined as an integrated framework within which users are encouraged to continuously reflect on how sustainability, inclusion and co-production intersect. In this approach, which recognises the dynamic and context-specific nature of value-driven research and related work, reflective prompts replace fixed rules as the key tools for practice. And, where possible, partners and participants are invited to join the conversation through informal or formal channels. This supports open, evidence-based and thoughtful decision-making, rendering any trade-offs, compromises, prioritisations or innovations amongst the principles conscious and visible.

An overarching evaluation of the Guiding Principles Framework, based on 26 interviews with users and workshops with 65 members of the wider ACCESS Network, has uncovered stories of unexpected synergies between principles, as well as sticky situations where principles have seemed impossible to reconcile. In both of these circumstances, users of the Framework highlight the value of continuous reflection and regular evaluation. These practices create spaces and evidence for transparent and shared deliberation with partners and participants about what works and what can be improved, paving the way for sustainable, inclusive and co-productive change.