If you can’t imagine it, you can’t do it with Helen Underhill (Episode 90) – Helen is experimenting with how to do research which leads to transformation
For this episode of the Research Adjacent podcast Sarah talks to Helen Underhill. Helen is the manager of the Research for Transformation Lab at the University of Manchester’s Global Development Institute. She is also an independent researcher working on a variety of social justice and international projects from fire safety in refugee camps to young people and museums.
Sarah and Helen talk about
- How she fell in love with the idea that knowledge can be a pathway to creating change
- What it means to do research for transformation and why it’s a slow process
- Power and politics in global research partnerships and why we still have a long way to go
- Her ‘portfolio’ career which meandered through computer programming, adventure travel and school teaching before landing in social justice research
Timestamps
- 00:00 Introduction
- 02:19 Straddling both research and research-adjacent roles
- 05:05 Inside the Research for Transformation Lab
- 07:09 Why transformative structural change takes time
- 11:33 Relationships, equity power and partnerships in social justice research
- 17:51 Helen’s squiggly career via programming, adventure travel and teaching
- 24:13 The fire safety project that Helen keeps going back to
- 31:19 Imagining better futures
Find out more
- Connect with Helen on LinkedIn
- Find out more about the Research for Transformation Lab and Global Development Institute at the University of Manchester
Theme music by Lemon Music Studios from Pixabay
