In this episode, host Jessie Sullivan (University College London) speaks to Olivia Sheringham (Birkbeck, University of London), Rachel Benchekroun (University College London), and Rebekka Hölzle (Birkbeck, University of London) about how we can create more caring and ‘care-full’ research with migrant communities. We look specifically at creative and arts-based methods, sharing diverse examples of our own creative practices, including collage, photography, theatre, storytelling, and sound art. We speak about how creative methods can contribute to more participatory research practice and offer communities meaningful alternative impacts. At the same time we also share some of the challenges involved, and reflect on how many ‘practicalities’ of care in research, such as food or childcare for participants, are often sidelined and underfunded. Sharing our own doubts and unlearnings, we try to embrace the complex and messy reality of collaboration across differences. We conclude that neither care nor creative methods are a simple fix, and highlight the importance of a critical reflection on our own privileged positionality as researchers. Mentioned resources: Fair Food Futures UK Project (funded by NIHR)Granovetter, M. (1973). The Strength of Weak Ties, American Journal of Sociology, 78(6), 1360–1380. https://doi.org/10.1086/225469Hölzle, R (2025). Soundscape of the Hostile Environment. Full audio available on Soundcloud. For more creative outputs of the project, a zine, and an accompanying radioshow, visit: www.rebekka-hoelzle.orgHölzle, R (2026). ‘Building blocks of something extraordinary’: refusing damage-centred research with migrant communities in the UK through creative methods (pp.165-187). In L. Ladlow & L. Way (Eds.), Insights Into Creative and Participatory Research: Key Issues and Innovative Developments. Bristol Policy Press.Home-city Spaces of Care Project (Birkbeck, University of London)Tuck, E. (2009). Suspending damage: a letter to communities, Harvard Educational Review, 79(3): 409– 27. https://doi.org/10.17763/haer.79.3.n0016675661t3n15 Further suggested resources: Hölzle, R. (forthcoming). "This is the academic part... but there should be a fun part as well!" Reflecting on Radical Ethical Praxis with Migrant Communities beyond 'Doing no Harm'. ACME: An International Journal of Critical Geographies.Lenette, C. (2022). Participatory Action Research: Ethics and Decolonization, Oxford University Press.Bristol Policy Press Creative Research Methods in Practice Series, edited by Helen Kara. Available at: https://policy.bristoluniversitypress.co.uk/creative-research-methods-in-practiceNagar, R. (2019). Hungry Translations: Relearning the World through Radical Vulnerability, University of Illinois Press.Sheringham, Olivia, Taylor, H., Duffy-Syedi, K., Atsede, A. & Matondo, C. (2025). Care stories - creating together against the hostile environment. Home-City Spaces of Care.Tuck, E. and Yang, K.W. (2014). R-words: refusing research (pp 223-47), in D. Paris and M.T. Winn (Eds.), Humanizing Research: Decolonizing Qualitative Inquiry with Youth and Communities, SAGE Publications. Active listening questions: How can creative methods enable alternative forms of knowledge production?How can creative methods contribute to a more caring research practice? What other methods, practices, but also practical structures are important for a ‘care-full’ approach with vulnerabilised communities?How can you incorporate care and creativity in your own research or academic work? Have you organised or participated in creative research projects? What has worked and where might the limitations of creative methods be?
