We will be holding a workshop ‘Building the capacity of smaller NGOs to partner on research projects’ on 30 January 2023. The workshop will be held virtually via Teams.
We are organising this workshop because we have heard from some NGOs (particularly smaller organisations) that they would like to partner on projects with academic researchers but may have limited experience of it and would like a better understanding of how academic research works.
So this workshop is aimed at NGOs that have little or no experience of research and may not have any in-house research capacity. We hope that everyone who attends will come away from the workshop with a better understanding of the academic research landscape (including funding and institutional structures), how the research process works, how NGOs can be involved, and specifically how they can be involved in Modern Slavery PEC projects.
Anyone is welcome to attend, but we think the workshop will be most useful for staff at smaller NGOs who might be involved in future research projects in some way, whether that’s helping to gather data or handling the finances. The workshop might also be of interest to researchers who are thinking about partnering with an NGO and have not done so before. We also welcome participants who work in other areas than modern slavery.
We are excited to welcome two excellent guest speakers: Karen Eveleigh (Senior Research Facilitator at the Law Faculty, Oxford University) will talk about the institutional structures and processes inside a university and Professor Jo Meehan (Liverpool University) will talk about the research process.
We hope that the workshop will also be an opportunity for people working on modern slavery research to connect with one another and perhaps find potential partners for future research projects. We will share participant details - with your consent - following the workshop to allow participants to contact one another.
Agenda
- Introduction to the workshop: format, objectives, meeting etiquette (10mins)
- Learnings from the Modern Slavery PEC’s work. Partnering with researchers on projects funded by the Modern Slavery PEC: what has worked well, what roles NGOs can play and tips on applying for funding (15mins)
- Institutional structures and processes within academia. What’s the difference between a project collaborator and a consultant? How do you negotiate a partnership with an academic researcher and put together a joint grant application? And how do university finances work? This section will cover the key structures and processes at a university, how they work and what to think about.
- Academic research process. How do academic researchers go about planning a piece of research, gathering data and carrying out analysis? What role can NGO partners play at each of these stages? And what are some of the common questions/challenges that come up at each stage? This second section will look at the research process, breaking it down into stages and walking through what they each involve. (20mins)
- Q&A. (20 mins)
Please note that there may be people in attendance at this workshop who have lived experience of modern slavery. Below we have included a short set of rules for the meeting that we will ask all participants to adhere to, in the interests of ensuring a safe and open space for discussion.
Meeting rules
This event is not being held under Chatham House Rule. This is a public event that is open to all. Participants are free to use the information received in the presentations, Q&A and comments and to identify contributors.
Please be aware that there may be people in attendance at this meeting who have lived experience of modern slavery. There is no requirement to disclose any experiences during this meeting, but please be mindful that statements might be made which disclose personal narratives of modern slavery.
We ask that all attendees:
1) Are sensitive and respectful, listening to all points of view made in discussion and responding to these and any disclosures respectfully.
2) Do not ask any participants for details of their experience of modern slavery. Disclosure is not necessary to participate in any of the Modern Slavery PEC’s work.
3) Please be mindful when using terminology referencing people with lived experience of modern slavery and respect individuals’ wishes in the use of terminology to describe lived experience. At the Modern Slavery PEC, we tend to use the terms “people with lived experience” and “survivors”. We try to avoid using “they” as a collective noun as this ‘others’ individuals’ experiences. We also avoid using the term “victim” as it tends to deny agency to people who have experienced modern slavery.
We use the term ‘modern slavery’ as an umbrella term covering a range of different offences and types of severe exploitation. However, we make no assumption that this definition should be accepted uncritically or should be adopted by others.
4) Respect individuals’ right to anonymity. Some attendees might feel more comfortable keeping their camera off and using an anonymous screen name. Please ensure that these individuals are still included as part of conversations.
5) Ensure they take breaks and protect their own mental health. Discussions of modern slavery can include upsetting and distressing topics. All attendees at meetings have the right to remove themselves, either temporarily or permanently should they need to.
If you have a query or concern while attending or following a Modern Slavery PEC meeting, please see the Modern Slavery PEC’s Safeguarding Policy, available on our website.
To protect people in the meeting and make sure we provide a platform for respectful and open conversations, anyone who violates any of the above rules may be removed from this event without notice and may be banned from attending subsequent events.
This event is being recorded and we will publish the recording of this event, not including the Q&A section. If you have concerns about your image being taken, we recommend keeping your camera off and using a pseudonym for your meeting ID. To do this please refer to the following instructions.
