Pathways Through Participation research project: Starts April 2009
This is a joint research project being led by NCVO in partnership with the Institute for Volunteering Research and [Involve]. Each organisation has a history of researching the different forms of participation that will be explored together in this project. The project has been funded by the Big Lottery Fund through its Research Grants programme. It is a 2.5 year project, which commenced in April 2009.

The research project explores how and why people get involved and stay involved in different forms of participation in their communities. It aims to increase knowledge of people's pathways into participation and of the factors that shape this over time. We are looking at participation in a very broad sense, to consider to the act of taking part in a wide range of social or civic activities, such as volunteering, being a member of a local community group, purchasing fair-trade goods, attending a PTA meeting, acting as a representative on a local strategic partnership, responding to a consultation and voting. Rather just focus on one of these forms of participation, it will explore how people get involved in all these different ways over their life times.

The research will focus on the following four questions:

• How and why does participation begin, and continue? 
• Can trends and patterns of participation be identified over time? 
• What connections, if any, are there between participation in different forms of activism and what triggers movement between them? 
• How can policy-makers and practitioners enable and encourage different individuals and communities to participate in activism?

For more information about this project, please contact Eddie Cowling at eddie@involve.org.uk or 020 7632 0127.