Universities and Urban Co-Production

In this episode Tom and Beth are joined by Catherine Durose from the University of Liverpool and co-lead of the Co-production Futures Inquiry, and Beth Chitekwe-Biti, Executive Director of Slum Dwellers International (SDI) Secretariat and Community Knowledge Lead for the African Cities Research Consortium. 

Universities are increasingly expected to produce cutting edge research, be relevant and impactful and deliver value to students, governments and industry. They are seen as active players in local, national and international development work with communities. They are also increasingly criticised or even attacked, with scrutiny over their roles across the political spectrum.

In the meantime, many urban researchers have always worked collaboratively, in deep and trusted partnerships with community organisations and residents to improve everyday living or develop advocacy or reform coalitions for urban change. There is plenty of evidence about how universities and academics can work productively together to address urban injustices.

Specifically in this episode, we discuss co-production - what it means, why it matters for urban researchers, practitioners and residents and what conditions we need within universities to do it well. 

Guests:
Professor Catherine Durose is Professor of Public Policy and Co-Director of the University of Liverpool's Heseltine Institute for Public Policy, Practice and Place. She has written extensively on the politics and possibilities of co-production, including for Nature.  She is Co-Lead, with Beth Perry, Liz Richardson and Bryony Vince-Myers, of the Research England-funded Co-Production Futures Inquiry, a collective intelligence gathering exercise to mobilise change to address institutional barriers to co-produced and participatory research. The Inquiry is open to evidence until December 2026. Submit here.

Dr Beth Chitekwe-Biti is Executive Director of the Slum Dwellers International (SDI) Secretariat. SDI is a network of federations of the urban poor across Africa, Asia and Latin America. She is Director of Community Knowledge at the African Cities Research Consortium (ACRC). Beth holds a PhD from the University of Manchester, where her research examined the impact of social movements on urbanisation and urban land policy. Her published work focuses on how organised communities of the urban poor co-produce urban change with the state. 

Recommended Reading:

Outputs from the Co-Production Futures Inquiry

• Getting our own house in order 
• Evidence from across the UK higher education sector
• Doubling Down Not Ducking Out: Why Co-Production of Research Matters Now

Visit the SDI Knowledge Hub

Read outputs from the African Cities Research Consortium

Underpinning Research:

• Co-production as praxis: critique and engagement from within the university
• Is co-production a ‘good’ concept? Three responses
• Leadership and the hidden politics of co-produced research: a Q-methodology study
• Jam and Justice: Co-producing Urban Governance
• Realising Just Cities