Our research team has been working with Black Beetle Health, a community public health organisation, to share research skills and knowledge across academia and community-based health work. This work was funded by the University of Manchester School of Social Science Community Partnership Fund which allowed for staff at Black Beetle Health to be seconded to the Dating App Connections research team, contributing to research activities and receiving training in research skills.

As part of the collaboration, we organised a workshop for academics and community organisations to discuss collaborations between universities and community organisations. We held a series of ‘think tank’ discussions to share experiences of collaboration and to identify barriers and benefits to this type of engagement.

Our new report, Collaboration for change: Exploring effective collaboration between academics and community organisations, shares our findings.

The report sets out seven key areas to consider, in order to support effective collaboration. They are: capacity, remuneration, empowerment, upskilling, mutual growth or benefit, transparency and trust and stakeholders. We outline the experiences, expectations, benefits and challenges of collaborative projects.

The report includes five principles for for effective projects:

1. Co-production – working together across all stages of the project.
2. Mutual benefit – making sure that all people and organisations involved benefit in some way eg skills training, public recognition, financial benefit.
3. Transparency and trust – clear and open communication is a fundamental principle for effective collaboration.
4. Accessibility – addressing and removing barriers to participation by considering the audience and their needs.
5. Cultural appropriateness – a sensitive, intersectional approach to the project is important to ensure the research considers diverse cultural perspectives.

Thanks to all the workshop participants, and in particular to Harvey Kennedy-Pitt, Elliss Lewis-Turner, Cherokee Seebalack and Patrick Ettenes from Black Beetle Health. Jaime Garcia Iglesias, Brian Heaphy and Neta Yodovich took part in the collaboration for the Dating App Connections project.

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