Community Researcher Open Call

Story Of the Changing is trialling our first round of Community Researcher micro commissions. We are asking people in and around York, UK to research and plan for a crisis plan relevant to you or your community, and to share your learnings to support our communities to be more prepared for the times of uncertainty we are facing now and in the future. 

Application is now open and closes on the 14th of December at midnight!

This is our first time running a project like this, if you have any feedback, or want to alert us to ways it can be more accessible please email us at storyofthechanging@gmail.com.

What is a community research micro commission? 

It’s a way to fund people in community to play the role of researcher, into topics that we aren’t taught in school, but are necessary learning for this moment we live in: where multiple crisis are taking place: financial, environmental, political crisis which all bring greater risk to people who are racialised and have other marginalising identities. 

What research are we looking to commission?

For this application, we are looking for research in crisis planning that will benefit communities in York and surrounding areas. 

What is Crisis Planning? 

Crisis planning can be anything from a plan you have in place for an elderly family member’s care to a large scale plan for what to do in case of a city-wide or global state of emergency like a pandemic. A crisis plan can be something planned and carried out on any scale - as an individual, couple, household, or as a community, a coalition of grassroots organisations, a business, or as a key national service. 

Whilst it is handy to have a rapid response muscle that is well-trained in terms of crisis, we are trying to frame crisis planning outside of reactivity. Instead, we hope that crisis planning can be viewed through a lens of sitting with the times ahead - what if we used our imaginations to muster the unthinkable thoughts, to help us plan and feel more prepared for an ever more threatening world. Crisis planning isn’t about creating fear, or living in a state of panic, nor are we looking at the extremes of ‘doomsday prepping’. It’s key that we aren’t shrinking ourselves in fear, and calling for an exit plan before the journey has begun. There is a lot of hard graft to be done in the social justice world, we view crisis planning as an opportunity to feel empowered in our preparedness, to feel self-sufficient, to build infrastructure to last us for the long run. 

We learnt from Lauren Olamina in Octavia Butler’s Parable of the Sower that we must be watching for the turning tides, and ensuring we are equipped with the tools, skills, plans and practices for what is ahead. Whilst Parable of the Sower was released as a Dystopian Sci-fi novel in 1993 we know that as the days go by our world mirrors more and more of the horrors we see play out in the book, and it’s sequel. So much of why Lauren’s character in the book is well-prepared is because of her forward-thinking, discipline and mental capacity to prepare when others were avoidant. 

We know as marginalised folks in society it is important to hold our hope for a brighter future, and at the same time hold the potential reality of harm that become more real for us with the various crisis that we see unfolding. Just a handful of examples include: the devastation of Hurricain Melisa in Jamaica, wildfires in Portugal and Spain, starvation and genocide in Sudan, the attacks on mosques and asylum seeking hotels, transphobic policy changes in supreme court rulings, waste in our rivers and seas, all happening in England. We must keep working towards liberation, and part of that is planning for our safety to build the rafts that will get us through these storms. 

You might consider wanting to create a crisis plan for any of the following scenarios: 

• Needing to rescue a family member from a country where climate pollution is too high

• Power cuts and water shortages in your town

• Losing a job

• A mental health crisis

• Relapse of addiction by a loved one

• Fleeing domestic violence

• Your home being at risk of flooding or other environmental crisis

• A global pandemic break out

• A key community organiser is burnt out and needs to step back

• Carceral imprisonment of a family member

• A raid leading to deportation threat of a community member

• An uprising of fascism, catalysing the raising of nationalist flags and racialised attacks in your city

• Privatisation of the NHS

• Long term internet black out

• Food shortages

Who can be a community researcher? Who are we looking for?

We think anyone can be a community researcher and we hope this opportunity enables people who wouldn’t usually call themselves researchers to apply. We’re especially welcoming applications from people who aren’t necessarily researchers by profession, who might not have had access to higher education, or might have been educated outside the UK. We will be prioritising applicants who have marginalising identifies, this could include but isn’t limited to: 

• Black and Global Majority people which includes Gypsy, Roma, and Traveller people

• Migrants, people with Refugee status or people with Asylum Seeker status

• English second/ third language

• People of marginalised faith communities and/or religions

• Someone who is struggling financially now or who comes from a lineage of working class people, or who uses benefits

• Queer, trans, intersex, non-binary folks

• Disabled people and neurodivergent people

• People whose identities are under threat by the state, systems and media

Necessary criteria for applicants

• You or the group you are carrying out crisis planning research with are based in York or the surrounding areas (up to 20 miles) 

• You are able to carry out the period of research, practice and learning capture from January until March. Which means your final crisis planning learnings can be ready for our Community Wisdom Hub event in March (please see our timeline) 

• You are 18 or older

• You agree for the outcome of your crisis plan to be shared at our March Community Wisdom Hub event and published in a Crisis Planning Zine, for non-personal aspects to be made widely accessible online/ through physical distribution. (You can choose to be unnamed if you would like to hold anonymity). 

• You or the group you represent are people(s) with marginalised identities (including but not limited to being Black, Global Majority, Queer, Trans, Disabled, Neurodivergent, Working class)

Why are we doing this? 

Because we believe that the current educational systems aren’t equipping marginalised folks with the tools we need to navigate this world and move towards collective liberation. We are showcasing the way we can all be learners, and teachers. Our researchers will come back to share their learnings in various ways during our first Community Wisdom Hub event in March. 

Our intention is to capture learnings from the short research and practice period in a shared toolkit and zine to distribute the learning and collective wisdom which comes from this project in an accessible and creative way so that more people feel prepared to create and utilise crisis plans. We think a collective zine will enable the learning captured to be shared with a broader audience, allowing people in York and further afield to print and utilise the zine.

How to apply 

Once you have checked you meet the eligibility criteria, use this link to fill out the application form. The form may take you anywhere between 15 and 45 minutes. 

The initial questions are about whether you meet the criteria, how you identify. We are asking for this information so we can make an informed decision to select community researchers that cover varied experiences. 

The key questions on the application form are: 

• What scenario, risk, or topic would you like to research and create a crisis plan for and why?

• What format would you capture your learnings in? (Blog, comic, workshop, song, poem, toolkit, micro webpage, etc). Any format is welcome, even those not mentioned here.

• For those who need, there is optional additional money available for materials that might be needed for the micro research period. Materials must be purchased and organised by researchers, but can be paid for by Story Of. (e.g. booking a room and paying for refreshments to host a gathering or supplies to host a dinner, produce a learning outcome, website domain for microsite or wood to make a tool rack). Please share an estimated amount for how much you might need for what materials.

Timeline for selection and milestones - Community Researchers

**Some of these dates may change to meet the needs of the community researchers and in case of unforeseen events. 

20th November: Applications Open

14th December at midnight: Applications Close

19th December: Selected and unselected applicants  communicated via email

In the month of January: Self led research and practice

Week 2nd - 6th of February (date to be arranged individually): Midway check in with Story Of team (optional means - voice note, online, call, email)

20th February time 6 - 7:30 pm: Attend the Community Researcher meeting with the other researchers, the zine maker and Story Of team to share your process and ideas (online meeting)

1st of March: Share your Crisis Planning with Story of team 

6th March: Share your experience and learnings at the Community Wisdom Hub: Share the outcome of your research based on your learning and practice to a community session (in person)

April: Research collated, designed and printed for distribution by the Zine Maker

**If you cannot make these dates please still apply, as we can be flexible with some of them.

Money exchange

The Micro commission is for £400 per Community Researcher to cover their time attending meetings with us, and to create a crisis plan for their scenario and capture reflections on their learning. Additionally, you can request material costs on top of this amount. 

Payment can be received by:

• Bank transfer - you can claim your invoice from our online banking service (fiscally hosted by Social Change Nest) 

• Vouchers 

You do not need to be part of an organisation, or group to apply. You can request money into a personal bank account. 

What is the selection process?

We are going to select three researchers to research and practice crisis planning based on their applications alone (there is no interview). All the applications will be reviewed by the Story of core team and the final decisions will be based on these points: 

• Whether the applicant meets the necessary criteria 

• Choosing 3 people who represent diverse topics, people, experience, scale and type of crisis

• Preference for applicants with lived experience of marginalisation, or those who demonstrate sensitivity to the experiences of marginalised communities

You will be emailed on the 19th of December by a member of the core team to let you know if you have been selected or not.