Combining work and study

It’s a strange situation to be in, I am doing research-type activities within my role (with project-wide ethics etc etc) and yet I can’t get ethics to do research around my PhD because I need to pass my upgrade/confirmation panel first.

And yet … the panel is to prove I can do research, which I am proving through my work.

Sigh.

Yes, I know and appreciate there are processes and procedures but right now I am frustrated that I cannot use the work I am doing (or the data from it at least) because I haven’t done my panel. There’s a little voice in my head telling me that I should have done my panel ages ago – but hey, life etc got in the way and I took a break for my mental and physical health, which was absolutely the right thing to do.

Still doesn’t stop me being frustrated though.

Anyways, at least the writing I am doing for work – a reflective piece on the Green Futures Storytelling group I have been facilitating – will help inform and add to my thesis in some form or another. I have enjoyed facilitating these sessions and met some wonderful and interesting people. A taste of what we are doing is below.

Overview 

As part of my role as Research & Knowledge Exchange Fellow on the Design HOPES project at the University of Strathclyde, I facilitated a working group within the Community of Practice created for the project.  Green Futures Storytelling was a series of four participatory workshops designed to explore how storytelling can act as a method of engagement and knowledge exchange in sustainability and health contexts. The sessions tested various narrative formats to investigate how stories rooted in personal experience, emotion, and imagination can influence reflection, conversation, and action around ‘greener choices’. 

Aims 

• To examine how storytelling methods support engagement and meaning-making in sustainability-related contexts. 

• To explore the emotional, systemic, and relational dynamics that shape how people make and share choices for a greener future. 

• To prototype and evaluate creative storytelling tools that facilitate participation and dialogue across sectors and audiences. 

You can read more about what we’ve been doing on the Green Futures Storytelling Substack and discover more about the Design HOPES project on the dedicated website. The project doesn’t end until 30th September 2025 so drop me a line if you’d like to be involved.