In today’s 2hD strategic planning meeting, it was agreed that my research activities should be more closely linked to the practice’s blog and website (currently being reconstructed to feature ‘education’ and ‘research’ as additional primary activities being undertaken in 2hD’s name).
Reassuringly, my co-directors also undertook to involve themselves more deeply in my output as a researcher, offering to comment on my text and to draw any apparently relevant publications to my attention. In particular, it was suggested that I immediately begin to explore opportunities for the ‘action research’ project to be commenced in September — recording developments in relation to this exercise on the practice’s main blog rather than in my blog of personal reflections on the process of writing the Prof Doc text.
It was also suggested that Tom should come to a meeting with my Research Supervisor in September, to discuss 2hD’s role in relation to the action research exercise I will be undertaking in the practice’s name. In the meanwhile, I am to take responsibility for drafting text for the ‘education’ and ‘research’ pages of the practice’s website upgrade… The latter is to feature a call to any community groups who feel they might benefit from this kind of action-research exercise (with costs effectively underwritten by NTU, who are paying me to carry out my Prof Doc) to make contact with us — the aim being to provide alternative options for the ‘pro bono’ research project. If the people who are not selected for the Prof Doc exercise then express a wish to proceed in any case, this could even result in a possible paid commission for 2hD — effectively, in fulfilment of my research objective (how practices can grow in conjunction with community engagement projects).