Inhalt

IJAR – International Journal of Action Research
3-2025: Pushing Boundaries to Enhance the Reach and Scope of Action Research

Editorial
Malida Mooken / Patricia Canto-Farachala (guest editors): Introduction: Pushing boundaries to enhance the reach and scope of action research

Articles
Søren Frimann / Jan Rohwedder / Anne-Birgitte Nyhus Rohwedder / Deidre Le Fevre: Methodological perspectives on composite narrative cases in action research
Aina Landsverk Hagen / Hilde Rønnaug Kitterød: Towards scaling up, out and deep: Debriefing youth experiences of youth participatory action research and citizen social science
María Eugenia Sánchez: Shared life, solidarity action, inter-knowledge research: A narrative of three processes in Mexico that question Participatory Action Research
Beñat Flores-Puga / John Andersen / Aitor Zuberogoitia / Martin Severin Frandsen / Kristian Nagel Delica: University-City learning for sustainable and inclusive urban futures: Two community-based action research experiences in Europe
Maddalena Gambirasio / Giuseppe Scaratti / Giosuè Ruggeri: Care as collective work: Transforming public response to family caregiving through Participatory Action Research

Interview
Patricia Canto-Farachala / Malida Mooken: “Connect. Act. Decenter”. An interview with Isabel Heck on the 2024 IJAR Symposium

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Zusätzliche Information

Zusatzmaterial

Table of Contents / Inhaltsverzeichnis
Extracts / Leseproben

Autor*innen

Malida Mooken

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Patricia Canto-Farachala

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Søren Frimann

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Jan Rohwedder

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Anne-Birgitte Nyhus Rohwedder

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Deidre Le Fevre

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Aina Landsverk Hagen

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Hilde Rønnaug Kitterød

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María Eugenia Sánchez

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Beñat Flores-Puga

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John Andersen

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Aitor Zuberogoitia

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Martin Severin Frandsen

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Kristian Nagel Delica

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Maddalena Gambirasio

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Giuseppe Scaratti

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Giosuè Ruggeri

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Isabel Heck

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Schlagwörter

action research, citizen social science, co-design, community-based action research, composite narrative cases, design thinking, dialogical inquiry, epistemic injustice, family caregivers, Indigenous community, June 2026, local welfare, methodological reflexivity, participatory action research, Participatory Action Research (PAR), participatory methods, Problem-Oriented Project Learning (PPL), Puebla/New York migration, scaffolding, scaling, university-city relations, urban transformation, youth, Zapatista uprising

Abstracts

Methodological perspectives on composite narrative cases in action research (Søren Frimann, Jan Rohwedder, Anne-Birgitte Nyhus Rohwedder, Deidre Le Fevre)
This article examines the methodological possibilities and tensions of using composite narrative cases (CNC) within action research. Building on a Scandinavian, dialogically oriented research tradition, we demonstrate how CNC can support collaborative inquiry and shared meaning-making, thereby fostering participant engagement and a sense of shared ownership. The article argues that CNC can distill complex empirical material into accessible narratives while preserving anonymity and practice-based relevance. At the same time, it highlights key methodological and ethical tensions related to power dynamics, and validation. The findings suggest that, when used reflexively and dialogically, CNC can strengthen the communicative reach, future-forming potential, and participatory quality of action research beyond single-case studies, and we call for further research exploring the role of CNC in diverse communities of practice. Keywords: composite narrative cases, action research, dialogical inquiry, methodological reflexivity, participatory methods
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Towards scaling up, out and deep: Debriefing youth experiences of youth participatory action research and citizen social science (Aina Landsverk Hagen and Hilde Rønnaug Kitterød)
Youth encounter specific forms of epistemic injustice when they are invited to decision making and participatory processes. Our empirical outset is debriefing sessions with youth co-researchers based in Norway who have participated in numerous national and international Youth Participatory Action Research projects and Citizen Social Science projects over the past decade. Here the youth reflect on their role, purpose and competencies built, but also on the perceived lack of societal influence that their knowledge production has. Building on critical and post-colonial theory, we argue that these practice-based reflections open a space of epistemic diversity, and that a novel combination of Action Research, Citizen Science traditions and arts-based methods offer new strategies for scaling: up, out and deep. The youths’ positioning ventures from participating to partnering roles, provoking a re-thinking of the scaffolding needed to provide for epistemic partner growth and care. Keywords: youth, epistemic injustice, scaling, participatory action research, citizen social science, scaffolding
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Shared life, solidarity action, inter-knowledge research: A narrative of three processes in Mexico that question Participatory Action Research (María Eugenia Sánchez)
This article raises some questions about Participatory Action Research (PAR). The author analyzes in the first person three processes in which she has been involved: processes of shared living, solidarity action, and inter-knowledge research. These include daily interaction over 16 years in a Nahuat indigenous community; knowledge construction with a young migrant moving from a rural community in Puebla to New York; and the author’s connection and reflection on the Zapatista movement 30 years after the uprising. Keywords: PAR – Indigenous community – Puebla/New York migration – Zapatista uprising
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University-City learning for sustainable and inclusive urban futures: Two community-based action research experiences in Europe (Beñat Flores-Puga, John Andersen, Aitor Zuberogoitia, Martin Severin Frandsen and Kristian Nagel Delica)
Universities face growing pressure to align teaching with urgent social, economic, and environmental challenges in their territories. This article examines how community-based action research (CBAR) pedagogies can foster reciprocal university-city learning through twoinitiatives at Roskilde University and Mondragon University. Drawing on documents, student work, surveys, interviews and field notes, the comparative analysis shows how CBAR principles were enacted through project-oriented and challenge-based work, design thinking, and shared civic infrastructures. The article shows how CBAR can reposition universities as civic partners in urban transformation while exposing tensions around time, power, and participation. Keywords: university-city relations, community-based action research, urban transformation, PPL, design thinking
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Care as collective work: Transforming public response to family caregiving through Participatory Action Research (Maddalena Gambirasio, Giuseppe Scaratti, Giosuè Ruggeri)
This paper examines how public institutions, supported by university researchers in a facilitative role, can develop innovative responses to family caregivers’ needs through participatory action research. The experience led to the creation of the Caregiver Lab, not merely as a network connecting caregivers and the diverse organizations involved in their support, but as a reflective governance device and co-design arena. Through iterative cycles of listening, dialogue, and collective inquiry, the Lab enabled shared meaning-making, institutional learning, and the co-construction of concrete actions. The study highlights how collaborative infrastructures can address care-related complexity and strengthen democratic participation in welfare systems. Keywords: Family caregivers; participatory action research; local welfare; co-design
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