Francesca

• Name: Francesca Ranalli
• Affiliation: Postdoc - Dynamics of Youth, Utrecht University

Procedural starting point

The way I described my methods or process in my last funding application was: In the last funding application, I described the #methods I conduct in my #action-based research as #creative methods and the methods I study as #visual_art methods. Specifically, my methods are various formats of #walk-along #group_discussions, including walking through the #senses, and visual art methods, such as #drawing, #modelling, #mapping, and #co-designing.

What I actually did was / what I usually do is: It is an #accurate description of my methods, even though it does not include all the range of methods I use and #adapt to the target group at hand. However, I am now completing a systematic review of the literature to strengthen my knowledge on the use of those methods, including combination with other qualitative methods and data analysis. This is because in #interdisciplinary contexts, those methods are not always intended as I address them. Specifically, the main goal and #ability of using creative methods in my research is to #connect different age groups, including children, adults and the elderly, while also connecting #research and #practice. To #explain the need to use those methods, I address how those methods are able to include different #skills of participants, such as intergenerational and vulnerable communities, policymakers and professionals.

My previous experience between 'academic' and 'artistic' work:

It all started with art projects with children with an artist from New York. Our work has been a shared process since then. I believe it symbolises how approaches that are #different and #similar at the same time can learn by embracing reality and observing with fresh eyes their surroundings. I found academic and artistic work connected and more similar processes than we tend to assume. The whole #process of developing an idea from the surroundings belongs to both academic and artistic work. Even though academic practices tend to aim to be rigorous, it is still subject to the researcher as the artwork is to the artist, while also both needing #communities to make meanings out of them. To go back to my roots and experience, I worked as an architect for 9 years before moving to research in the last 9 years: I am in the middle of this experience, and I aim to connect research and practice more and more. In the last 9 years of research, my work has been embedded with art-based methodologies to engage with different age groups in cities in ways that are meaningful to them and align with participants’ different ways of communicating. I mainly adopted design, drawings, modelling, walking, and art exhibitions as a process to share different perspectives among participants and create new meanings and understanding throughout the process.