The Ideas Fund supported over 20 community-led research partnerships in the Highlands and Islands. You can read more about the projects and the learning from the perspective of participatory grant making for the report here.

Knowledge is Power was a programme of support for community-led action research in Scotland delivered by Scottish Community Development Centre in partnership with the Poverty Alliance. The website contains a toolkit to help community groups to design and carry out their own research as well as a learning page with case studies.

Community Participatory Action Research (CPAR) Programme provides community groups in the South East of England with training and mentoring support in order to plan, carry out and use research for the benefit of their community. CPAR 2, the second round of CPAR, is funded by NHS England, and is being delivered by the University of Reading and Scottish Community Development Centre.

Communities Channel Scotland is a website where community groups can find information, ideas and inspiration to help them achieve their aims. It does this by highlighting useful resources, providing accessible guides to relevant policy and sharing great examples of community groups in action.

Examples of community-led research or research into community-led health initiatives. In 2024, Creative Lives supported two research projects into community creativity. One researched the benefits of creative engagement for individuals living with mental health difficulties, interviewing creative groups and arts charities across Glasgow. Read the report here: Creativity and Mental Health. The second explored the intersection of creativity, disability, and health in the context of Dundee’s creative community groups. Read the report here: Creativity, Accessibility, and Inclusion

For communities:

University of York have put together ‘Stronger Together’, a short guide introducing members of the public to the key principles and practices of co-production in research.

Beacon North East for Public Engagement have put together a Community Toolkit — a guide to working with communities on research project — written by the members of Thrive, a community organisation in Stockton-on-Tees, based on their experience of working with staff and students at the University of Durham.

The Centre for Social Justice and Community Action at Durham University have developed a Visual Guide to Navigating Participatory Research as part of their Participatory Research Innovation and Learning Labs, including a range of experiences, good practice, common challenges and their own list of wider resources.

For practitioners:

The mental health charity See Me have created a working reflection tool for practitioners, which they can use to review their own practice in relation to key elements of co-production.

Healthcare Improvement Scotland have created this Participation Toolkit which includes a range of methods that can be used for planning community engagement and participatory research.

Evaluation Support Scotland and Inclusion Scotland, as part of the Scottish Third Sector Forum, have put together an evidence paper, Evidencing Genuine Co-Production in the Third Sector, identifying key building blocks, common barriers and challenges, examples of good practice and practical lessons. They also have a guide for people in the third sector on working with academics.

A journal article in Research Involvement and Engagement looking at the principles and recommendations for co-creating in public health.

The non-profit thinktank FrameWorks has put together a communications toolkit, Reframing Family, School and Community Engagement, with recommendations for how advocates, practitioners, and policymakers can communicate differently to help the public shift the way they understand engagement.

For researchers:

The public participation charity ‘Involve’ has created a guide for researchers on how to co-produce a research project with communities.

Beacon North East for Public Engagement have developed a Co-Enquiry methodology and toolkit for community-university research partnerships.

The AHRC Connected Communities project ‘Valuing Different Perspectives’, led by have put together a report on ‘Doing and Evaluating Community Research’, which aims to help community partners and academics maximise the benefits of research that is coproduced between communities and academic researchers based in a university.

Research ethics developed by YouthLink Scotland. This policy clearly outlines YouthLink Scotland’s expectations when conducting, commissioning and partnering with other organisations in research and evaluation. This policy could be applicable and helpful for any third sector organisation when considering embedding ethical practice into research and evaluation activities.

The National Standards for Community Engagement have been developed by the Scottish Community Development Centre as good practice principles designed to improve and guide the process of community engagement.

The Centre for Social Justice and Community Action at Durham University have collaboguidance document and toolkit on ethical considerationsrated with the National Coordinating Centre for Public Engagement to create a guidance document and toolkit with case studies, exploring the ethical considerations for researchers involved in participatory research projects.

The Co-Production Collective have produced a guide for university researchers and staff exploring the ethical considerations of working in partnership with people outside the university system.

Community Knowledge Matters has started compiling a database of the existing consultations about mental health and wellbeing across the Highlands and Islands, to get a sense of what’s already being asked and what this network can learn from it. Feel free to add any others you know about or get in touch with the network coordinator if you would like to share them directly.

The Scottish Rural Health Partnership is a membership organisation which is open to all individuals or organisations (healthcare, academic and industry) interested in remote and rural healthcare. It is the leading source of information about rural and remote healthcare, fostering collaboration, innovation and idea sharing between educational, academic, industry, community and NHS members.

The National Rural Mental Health Forum is a strong dedicated network of over 230 organisations from third, private and public sectors across rural Scotland, driving change to enable rural people to be open about their mental health. It creates a solid evidence base for what works to improve people’s lives and develops a programme to influence policy makers to channel resources in ways that bring positive change through a network of rural organisations across Scotland.

Scottish Community Development Centre (SCDC) SCDC is a charity which promotes and supports community development around Scotland. This includes a whole range of things, such as supporting public services (for instance, the NHS and local authorities) to improving how they involve people in decisions, as well as supporting people to take action in their communities (including community-led action research) to help them achieve their goals. Their website has a wide range of support programmes as well as useful resources.

The Community Health Exchange promotes community-led health as a way to tackle Scotland’s persistent health inequalities. Part of Scottish Community Development Centre (SCDC), CHEX works with community-led health organisations, local authorities, the NHS and Scottish Government to promote community development approaches to improving health inequalities. Their website has a range of information, resources and news.

Scottish Public Engagement Network is an inclusive network of people involved in public engagement in Scotland. They provide peer support, collaborative opportunities, and a voice to shape and share good engagement practice.

Scotland’s Third Sector Research Forum is a community of practice for people who do, commission or have an interest in third sector research. They provide support for people and organisations in the third sector that undertake or commission research; promote third sector research and strengthen third sector research practice. They are a project of Evaluation Support Scotland, who also have a great list of resources on their website.

The Scottish Policy and Research Exchange works with research, knowledge mobilisation and policy communities to improve how evidence and expertise shapes policy. Their website has a wide selection of resources and opportunities for learning and building relationships across the sector.

The Scottish Co-Production Network is a hub of people and organisations wanting to make things happen with people instead of to them. Their website has a great list of resources here.

The Scottish Health Equity Research Unit is a joint collaboration between the University of Strathclyde’s Centre for Health Policy and Fraser of Allander Institute. SHERU was set up in 2024 to bring together expertise on public health and socioeconomic analysis and provide insights on the socio-economic factors that shape health.