It is not uncommon to meet researchers who are also activists in their own field, due to their desire to encourage social change and their desire to meaningfully engage with socio-political environments to solve a problem (Sharkey et al., 2019). While research on the positionality of the researcher-activist has been amply developed, literature on how advocacy and research can inspire each other to deliver positive change has not been explored. How can the gap between research and advocacy be bridged? How can these two fields work together to strengthen the human infrastructure of cycling? Why and how should academic language be translated into everyday discourse to foster social awareness and bolster political will for transforming our cities?

This workshop aims to answer these questions through this process:

1. Exploring Perspectives: In the initial phase, the workshop will examine ways to strengthen the human infrastructure of cycling in Tehran and Milano from two distinct perspectives: activists and academics. This will involve open-ended interviews with participants from both fields.
2. Conceptual Framework Development: In the second phase, the workshop aims to develop an initial conceptual framework for the researcher-activist role, identifying key themes and areas of overlap between research and advocacy.
3. Collaborative Focus Group: The final phase will involve presenting and discussing this preliminary framework with researchers and activists at the conference, through a collaborative focus group session. This session could be conducted in collaboration between the UCI team and BYCS. It will include collaborative and reflection activities to broaden the participants’ perspectives and provide useful tools to engage with both researchers and activists in their home context.

Source:

Sharkey, M., Lopez Franco, M., Mottee, L. K., & Scaffidi, F. (2019). Activist Researchers: Four Cases of Affecting Change. plaNext–Next Generation Planning, 8, 10-20. https://doi.org/10.24306/plnxt/42