COMMUNITY RESEARCH
Community Research Network: Refugees and Migrants
Supporting refugees and migrants in Newham to lead research, build evidence and influence change.
5 years
Community Research Programme
A community research programme connecting residents, organisations, researchers and public bodies.
Why it matters
Community-led research
The Community Research Network (CRN) is a five-year programme that brings residents, community organisations, researchers, and public bodies together to change how community research is carried out in Newham.
Rather than involving residents only as research participants, the network supports people to identify the issues that matter to their communities, develop research questions, gather evidence and contribute to decisions about services and policy.
How NCP supports the network
Connecting communities
NCP leads the network's refugee and migrant strand, bringing together grassroots groups, community networks, researchers and service providers.
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Connecting refugee and migrant organisations across Newham
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Creating shared learning and collaboration opportunities
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Organising workshops, meetings and feedback sessions
Building research skills
NCP recruits and supports residents to train as Citizen Social Scientists and progress into placements and community research opportunities.
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Supporting residents to develop research ideas
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Helping community researchers into placements
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Building routes into research, employment and leadership
CITIZEN SOCIAL SCIENTISTS
12
Citizen Social Scientists trained in NCP’s first cohort.
Residents as experts through experience
An important part of the programme is supporting Newham residents to become Citizen Social Scientists. These are community researchers who combine their lived and local knowledge with practical research skills.
Participants learn how research is planned and carried out, how to work responsibly with communities and how evidence can be used to improve services and influence decisions.
Community approach
Local knowledge leads the work
Refugees and migrants hold extensive knowledge about their communities and the challenges people experience. Community-led research recognises this knowledge and enables people directly affected by an issue to take an active role in investigating it.
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The longer-term aim is for refugees and migrants to have greater ownership of research concerning their communities and for their knowledge to be recognised as an essential source of evidence.
NETWORK AIMS
What the network aims to achieve
Over five years, the Refugees and Migrants strand aims to:
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Increase the involvement of refugees and migrants in community research
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Strengthen research skills and opportunities within local communities
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Build stronger relationships between residents, community organisations, researchers and public institutions
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Ensure research priorities reflect the concerns identified by communities
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Produce evidence that can contribute to better services, policies and local decisions
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Develop a connected and sustainable network for refugee and migrant community research in Newham
Working in partnership
WORKING IN PARTNERSHIP
The Newham Community Research Network is led by Compost London and works with Newham Council, UCL Institute for Global Prosperity, and other community partners.
It forms part of the national Community Research Networks programme funded by UK Research and Innovation, with The Young Foundation as a delivery partner.
Join the network
Join the network
We welcome contact from refugees and migrants interested in community research, local organisations that would like to join the network, and research or public-sector partners seeking to work more closely with Newham’s communities.
Contact Newham Community Project to learn more or discuss how you can become involved.