Community-based Participatory Research with Roma Communities: Ethics, Power Sharing and Equitable Decision-Making

Description

Background
Community-based participatory research (CBPR) seeks to democratise knowledge production and address power imbalances in research with marginalised communities. However, implementing CBPR with highly marginalised groups such as Roma communities raises critical questions around trust-building, reciprocity and genuine power-sharing. This paper examines the co-researcher model developed in the PlaceAge project, exploring how training Roma community researchers transforms research relationships and knowledge production whilst confronting ethical and practical challenges.

Materials and Methods
The PlaceAge project (2024-27) trained 26 Roma community researchers across three UK sites (Glasgow, Peterborough, and Luton). Training encompassed: research ethics; semi-structured and go-along interviews; and visual, mobile and participatory mapping methods. Co-researchers were involved across all stages, from research design through data collection and interpretation, supported by ongoing reflexive dialogue around power dynamics, representation and cultural values throughout the research process.

Results
The co-researcher model demonstrated transformative benefits. Co-researchers’ cultural knowledge and community trust enabled deeper insights into Roma experiences of place and ageing, producing richer data. Training supported skills development, confidence and strengthened representation and voice, positioning capacity-building as reciprocity. However, realising participatory ideals also raised challenges: trust-building required extended timeframes that conflicted with academic funding cycles; power-sharing involved negotiating institutional ethics with community priorities around privacy, representation and collective decision-making; and navigating dual positionality as both researcher and Roma community member created complex boundary negotiations between professional distance and lived experience.

Conclusions
CBPR with Roma communities offers transformative potential for enhancing research quality, community empowerment and reflexive practice when designed with sustained commitment from all partners. Participatory research emerges as an ongoing negotiation, where reciprocity extends beyond payment to meaningful skills development and community benefit, while demanding critical attention to power asymmetries, cultural values and the emotional labour of insider research.

Period	18 Aug 2026
Event title	International Geographical Union (IGU) Regional Conference 2026
Event type	Conference
Location	Istanbul, TurkeyShow on map
Degree of Recognition	International