Participatory Action Research and the Research Forum. Conceptual Considerations and Practical Challenges

Participatory action research is based on a collaborative research process that relies on communication and understanding between practitioners, citizens and academic researchers (Thomas et al. 2021). In the paper, I would like to conceptualise the research forum as a communicative space (Kemmis & McTaggart 2005) that aims at the active participation of co-researchers in the research cycle. The research forum unfolds on four levels, which I would like to illustrate against the background of my research experience:

- Opening spaces for social encounters
- Establishing communicative exchange
- Developing social self-understanding
- Formation of public opinion and counter-public discourse

Citizen engagement can make a difference in the search for knowledge about societal issues. Participation in science can lead to a new and deeper understanding of one's own situation as a basis for new opportunities for action and empowerment. The Research Forum provides a collaborative framework for understanding in which science and lived experience can exchange perspectives. It is characterised by conversation and discussion of common issues and social challenges in an open, safe space where everyone can speak and be heard. The aim is to achieve a convergence of perspectives in an actionable interpretation of the situation and of reality (also in differentiation from each other), in order to promote the effectiveness of one's own knowledge in social practice. Guidelines and quality criteria of the Research Forum will be discussed in a reflection on my research practice.