About the Rural Durham Community Research Network
Empowering rural communities through research and collaboration
The network supports people in rural communities across Weardale, Teesdale, and Derwent Valley to take the lead in researching the issues that matter most to them.
It places power in the hands of local communities, supporting them to shape questions, lead research, and use local insight to drive meaningful change in Weardale, Teesdale and Derwent Valley.
Whether that's within the broad themes of health and social care, the future of local services, opportunities for young people, or other priorities identified by the community.
The network also helps to connect community researchers with organisations that use research to inform policy and improve services — including decision-makers, service providers, and support agencies.
Informing better decisions for people and places
For strategic leaders, funders, and service designers, the network offers something distinct: timely, place-specific learning directly from communities – insights that can inform more responsive services, smarter investment, and decisions more closely aligned with people's day-to-day experiences of what is and isn’t working in their area.
An introduction to the Rural Durham Community Research Network video
To help people living and working in rural areas to do research within their community.
From the ground up — a local alternative to traditional research
Community-led research helps people who live and work in these areas to explore the issues that matter to them, gathering knowledge rooted in lived experience and using it to influence decisions.
While academic research often starts in universities, community-led research is grounded in local knowledge and priorities.
This means the insights it offers are more reflective of people’s real experiences, and the decisions or services shaped by it are more likely to respond to what communities need.
Benefits of a community research network
Local people helping to create the right changes in their area
Enabling the right rural voices to be heard
Developing skills and confidence for network members
Connecting likeminded people who want to make positive change
Access to funding, support and resources for to do research
Supporting research to shape services and policy
By offering direct support to community researchers, the network ensures that local knowledge is heard, valued, and shared.
The research findings contribute to a deeper understanding of rural life, supporting changes in policies and services at both local and national levels.
Equipping communities to influence local decisions
Through building long-term confidence and skills in community-led research, the network will equip rural communities to carry out research independently in the future, strengthening their ability to lead action and influence decision making.
Funded nationally, delivered locally
Funded through UK Research and Innovation’s national Community Research Networks programme, the Rural Durham Community Research Network is part of a wider effort to support community-led research across the UK.
