Actually, I think how not to write it up is the easy bit and something 
that participatory researchers are good at being creative about.

I think one of the fundamentals about academic life is that we have a 
community of our own that has arisen to share knowledge. That the way it 
does that can feel very unsatisfactory and far removed from any other 
reality is a problem. But I think I told the story about being knocked 
backwards a little when my paper on evaluation last year resulted in 
interest and comment from policy actors (more than the number of 
academics I know have read it).

My line would be that publication is not an alternative to other modes 
of sharing the learning that arises from participatory projects (which 
will depend on the nature of the project). I think given the differing 
needs and interests in a typical project it should be expected that 
there will be different products which different individuals will have 
different degrees of interest in. I also think that often the products 
themselves are really only interesting in terms of the brokerage (in the 
sense Wenger uses in Communities of Practice) they enable.

What I don't think those of us who are participatory researchers who 
make a living as working academics have got our heads around yet as a 
group of like-minded indivuals is how we integrate what we do with the 
practices of the mainstream. It's not a big problem because there have 
been plenty of special interest groups within academia over the years in 
the same position and some of those have become very mainstream, 
affecting the landscape in which everyone does research. I hope we do to 
because of what that will mean in terms of what research is for.

Chris

Participatory Video Network Discussion List wrote:

> Yes, Chris/Nadine, absolutely… and/or how /*not*/ to write it up at 
> all, but do something more interesting else with it instead...!!!
>
>
> That links to the one further wondering I've had (I think!) re the 
> programme concerning whether it wouldn't actually be more profitable 
> (and enjoyable) to think about how to do good, meaningful, 
> action-laden participatory work /*despite*/ government, not spend more 
> time on working out how to convince them of its merits etc; this is 
> being done to death on a number of fronts by people with more than a 
> couple of days to spare.
>
>
>